A northern interfaith initiative has won the JC's Mitzvah Day competition.

Entrants were asked to explain why their particular project had made a significant impact. The judging panel, including Hertsmere MP James Clappison, selected the Faith Network 4 Manchester submission from a shortlist of nine.

FN4M's Growing Faith in Community works with offenders and volunteers to grow fruit and vegetables and nurtures hens, geese and ducks for eggs for food projects for the homeless and vulnerable. The group says Mitzvah Day has become the focal point of the project "at the end of the growing season, when we clean and store tools and settle our plot down for the winter.

"This year, we were especially grateful for the small group who peeled away to clear the plot of an old man with cancer. We also enjoyed taking children to meet our neighbours at the EST Donkey Centre, who provide the manure that keeps our soil fertile."

The Birmingham community was runner-up for its Knit and Natter group, which produced blankets for Jews in Ukraine.