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Mayor's £50,000 to aid Jewish sports

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London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced a £50,000 grant to the London Jewish Forum to be spent on promoting mainstream integrated sports in the Jewish community.

The grant is part of £2.4 million funding from his Olympic Sports Legacy programme, for 18 projects across the capital to help increase participation in sports.

The London Jewish Forum, on behalf of the Jewish Committee for the London Games (JCLG), will now raise another £50,000 to match the grant for its Enable programme, which aims to promote disabled and non-disabled integrated sports.

Adrian Cohen, chairman of the London Jewish Forum, said: "We are delighted that City Hall has offered £50,000 for a very exciting project, which offers the chance to make a real difference for the community against the backdrop of the London Games.

"The funding is contingent on an element of matched funding by the community and we are currently discussing the grant with potentially interested donors."

Alex Goldberg, from the JCLG, said: "This is part of our plan to ensure the legacy of the Paralympics and Sir Ludwig Guttmann, the German Jewish refugee who founded the Paralympic Games."

Working with 12 delivery partners, including Jewish Care, Norwood, Kisharon and Jewish Blind and Disabled, the JCLG plans to spend the money on three projects over two years, including three integrated sports events, one of which will be directed at the strictly Orthodox community.

Mr Goldberg said: "City Hall is interested in those who don't do much physical activity. There is a lack of facilities in religious communities."

The funds will also be used to train 50 community professionals and volunteers in disability sports at Stoke Mandeville and create a manual on integrated sports for Jewish schools and youth clubs.

"There is some level of disabled sports in the Jewish community, but there is very little in the way of integrated sports," Mr Goldberg said.

"We identified a lack of knowledge in the community and we hope by training people, they can use this in the years ahead and put on disabled sports activities, utilising equipment and events."

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