Coronation Street actress Kate Anthony opened the Leeds Mitzvah Day programme, telling supporters at the Marjorie and Arnold Ziff Community Centre that “people shouldn’t just do a mitzvah on Mitzvah Day, but should do a small good deed to help somebody every day”.
She then made her own contribution by taping a short story for users of Leeds Jewish Blind Society’s Talking Books scheme.
Also in the city, volunteers ran a bingo session for Donisthorpe Hall’s elderly residents, who were further entertained by an X-Factor-style talent contest co-ordinated by Helen Frais.
Volunteers additionally collected clothes for Leeds Jewish Welfare Board’s WellFair shop in Moortown and items from shoppers at the Kosherie which will go to the needy.
There was growing demand in Oxford where, led by organiser Kathy Shock, volunteers planted 200 saplings at the Cumnor Hurst charity project. And over 50 cheder children and helpers turned T-shirts into hospital gowns for the Blue Peter Operation Smile appeal, in addition to collecting five bags of clothing and blankets for World Jewish Relief’s Operation Winter Survival scheme.
Forty children from Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue did Mitzvah Day good deeds along the lines of the scouts’ “bob-a-job” activities. Maisie Jackson, 10, spent two hours at a Sainsbury’s helping people pack their groceries. Oliver Harris, 11, gave a piano and clarinet concert at a tea for 50 elderly shul members.
Sabrina Cohen led a youthful programme in Birmingham, where student activities included a social call on elderly residents at Andrew Cohen House. They and local BBYO members also created gowns for Operation Smile.
Liverpool’s Harold House Community Centre hosted The Big Bring, where donated clothes, games and toys were collected for Barnardo’s. Members of youth movement FZY helped to clean a Jewish cemetery and visited Stapley nursing home in a Sunshine to Seniors project.
Dublin Progressive Jewish Congregation and BBYO Dublin staged a concert for residents of the Jewish Home of Ireland. There were selections from Fiddler on the Roof, Frank Sinatra favourites and a medley of Hebrew songs performed by cheder pupils.
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