During the 10-day programme, they dressed up in biblical clothes, went donkey riding and baked traditional bread in an old-fashioned brick oven.

Mathew, 23, said: “I loved stroking the donkeys and riding them. I was also interested by the equipment that was used a long time ago to make pita bread.”

At a park just outside Akko, tour members took to the treetops for team building exercises including a zip line and abseiling down a tree.

“I climbed the tree and I felt like I was flying,” said Gabriel, 18.

Group members then travelled to Jerusalem, visiting the Western Wall and the Kotel, and went on to explore Masada, take a dip in the Dead Sea and indulge in some retail therapy.

Emma Forman, Norwood’s Jewish cultural adviser, said it had been a joy to see young people supported by the charity “experience Israel in a way they never knew was possible”.