Regional communities supporting Mitzvah Day for the first time included Bristol, where volunteers from the shuls and university collected groceries for the local Refugee Action Centre.

Both the Orthodox and Progressive synagogues installed boxes for members to donate spectacles for the VisionAid charity. A third project was a blood donor drive.

At the Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue cheder in Cambridge, families gave 50 bags of goods for World Jewish Relief clients. Myriam Alexander later transported the items to a WJR collection point. The synagogue also held a mini-fete, selling Judaica and home-made cakes, raising money towards a shul building.

Members of Bournemouth’s Orthodox and Reform synagogues did their bit for the environment by clearing 20 bags of leaves and branches at Coy Pond, a tranquil area two miles from the town centre, before planting bulbs in a rockery.

Organiser Lynda Ford-Horne of Bournemouth Jewish Representative Council said: “Next year we hope to attract more people from the community — and also invite members of the non-Jewish community to join us.”