The JC's Covid Heroes are awarded in partnership with Healthcare Clarity
Editor's note
One of the many joys of being editor of the JC is hearing the stories of unsung heroes in our community. Every edition has them — someone going above and beyond to help others.
Since the first lockdown — a year ago this week — we have been inundated with such stories. Across our community, in every age group, every area and every denomination, people have been putting the needs of others first, often with little recognition. It has been altruism in its truest form.
That’s why we decided to run our awards for the JC’s Covid Heroes. Just because someone isn’t after recognition doesn’t mean the rest of us shouldn’t be aware of and celebrate what they have done.
When we asked for nominations, I had no idea what to expect. They flooded in — well over 200. Honestly, we could have taken any of them at random to make up our shortlist and they would all have been worthy winners. But somehow we had to reduce the number to something manageable, so readers would be able to vote.
The shortlist we came up with was designed to reflect all aspects of the heroism that people have shown, from those in communal leadership roles to doctors and individuals who simply decided to help people.
And it is clear from the number of you who voted that the list, and the awards, stuck a chord. Well over 2,000 people voted by the time we closed the poll last weekend.
Our original intention was to have a winner, a runner up and a third place. But as the votes poured in — everyone on the shortlist received many votes — it dawned on us that this would be against the spirit of the awards. The point of them was to celebrate our community’s remarkable spirit of generosity. Everyone nominated was really a winner. And so, rather than ranking the votes, we decided that those who received the highest number of votes would all be winners.
And what winners they are!
Alby Chait, senior minister at the UHC in Leeds, was described by one nomination as “the most positive and remarkable man I have met in my life. He has almost single handedly kept our community going.”
Dr Leora Harverd, who has been a pioneer in how she has transformed her practice into a Centre of Vaccinating Excellence, was called “an angel” by one of her nominators.
And Simon and Joanne Lappin, who were nominated by their son (I have confess to welling up as I read it) were referred to as “the embodiment of Jewish values” by one voter.
This has been an unspeakably appalling year. But it is wonderful to be able to make something uplifting from it. Mazeltov to all our nominees — and especially our winners.
Stephen Pollard
Dr Leora Harverd, who helped lead Barnet's vaccination drive
A Temple Fortune GP who helped lead Barnet’s vaccination push said she had been “completely blown away” by the award, which coincided with her birthday.
“It was probably the best birthday surprise ever,” Dr Leora Harverd, 53, told the JC on Monday shortly after receiving her trophy.
“I had no idea that I was nominated because I have been so crazily busy with the vaccination programme. It was a real surprise, completely out of the blue,” she said.
Dr Harverd transformed a car-park to the rear of her practice into a vaccination hub as part of a pilot scheme, which has so far seen around 18,000 local residents receive jabs.
She and other GPs at the practice felt a “sense of duty” to join the scheme. “It was a no brainer. I just wanted to roll it out as quickly as we could.”
As a GP “working in the midst of the Jewish community in NW11”, she had been concerned about its disproportionate number of fatalities during the first wave, a trend she linked to simchas and the “Jewish bubble” effect.
“Everybody knows somebody who died last March and April from Covid so we just felt a sense of duty to make it happen,” she said. “The whole world has been hit by Covid but the Jewish community is such a tight network, a Jewish bubble.
“I think that’s why there was such a high percentage of deaths, because of our lifestyle, Jewish festivals, coming together, Purim, reading the Megillah, breathing in the same air, and all the barmitzvahs and weddings.”
The period leading up to the go-live date flashed by. “It happened so quickly. We didn’t know how quickly we were going to have to get there, when vaccines were coming.
“It was a leap of faith and I think we’ve done really well with it. The patients have been incredible and they’re so grateful. It’s been quite an emotional journey for some of them.”
The vaccination centre has involved a heavy amount of planning but despite the many sleepless nights involved, she has not looked back.
“I don’t regret all the hard work for one second. I’ve literally been living and breathing it and haven’t been sleeping because there’s been so much planning to do when you’re dealing with the vast numbers, the IT and the whole machinery of people who have been involved in the running of it to make sure that it runs smoothly each time.”
She said a particular highlight has been the dozens of volunteers who brave the cold winter weather to donate food or help with security and marshalling. “They’ve been seeing what had been going on and they wanted to be part of the process and just give and give.”
She also said her colleagues — doctors Karen Grossmark, Sherry Taylor, Luisa Pettigrew — are also equally deserving of recognition.
“We’ve put our heart and soul into this, every morsel of energy in our DNA into this, so I feel they should also be able to hold this lucky trophy.”
Mathilde Frot
Simon and Joanne Lappin, who raised money to support the NHS
Intensive care consultant Dr Simon Lappin and his fundraising spouse Joanne make an impressive double act but Ms Lappin insists the honour came as a complete surprise.
“It’s humbling and I didn’t expect it,” the 47-year-old told the JC on Monday, thanking the community for their “overwhelming support.”
The husband and wife duo were recognised both for Dr Lappin’s frontline work in the fight against the virus and her fundraising activities to support his colleagues at Barnet Hospital.
Dr Lappin, 46, lives with type one diabetes, a condition that renders him particularly vulnerable to the virus, which he contracted on his birthday in April last year.
“He woke up on his birthday with a high fever and all the symptoms. He had it badly for a week and then had a few symptoms,” his wife recalled.
But he returned to work soon after making a full recovery despite his wife’s concerns about his safety. “We did argue about it. I didn’t really want him to go back onto the Covid wards,” she said. “He’s very loyal to his staff and team and he wanted to go back.”
The consultant, meanwhile, praised his wife’s “amazing” fundraising efforts that had been a “real pep” for his team amid an “incredibly difficult and strenuous” workload.
“This last second wave is not so much a unique situation and members of the public are not as aware of the strain it’s been putting on hospital workers,” Dr Lappin said. “Thankfully things are improving.
“I think a lot of my colleagues are pretty worn out and wouldn’t want to go through a third wave if, God forbid, it was ever to occur. Everybody in the hospital is really looking forward to trying to have a holiday more than thinking about having to cope with redoing all that work again.”
In recent months, Ms Lappin has been donating around 600 essential items and treats each week to Barnet Hospital staff, including hand creams, lip balm, coffee pods and snacks.
“We got phone calls from some of the nurses and doctors in tears thanking us, saying they feel that no one thinks of them and don’t appreciate what they’re going through,” she said.
Ms Lapin, who has raised over £8,000 for the initiative which she plans to extend until the summer, was inspired to do her bit as she struggled to cope with the emotional burden of her husband’s gruelling night and day shifts.
“My husband was coming home basically exhausted, depressed and traumatised especially by the phone calls he had to make to families who had relatives in ICU wards dying of Covid,” she said.
“I decided to channel all the negativity into something a bit more positive because I think all the doctors and nurses he works with represent the best of society.”
The project was also a learning opportunity for their three children, Joshi, 12, Katie, 6, and Benji, 10, who have been helping pack items.
“I’m trying to teach them that doing good deeds for people can alleviate a lot of the pain and negativity that they’re feeling,” Ms Lappin said.
Mathilde Frot
Chazen Alby Chait, who runs a music streaming service
Chazen Alby Chait’s musical streaming services have amassed over 500,000 views over the past year— but it was the one woman no longer tuning in who mattered most to him: his mother, who died five weeks ago.
Minutes into a conversation with him it’s impossible not to understand why masses turned to him for a dash of hope during the dark days of
the pandemic. His daily online offerings, which featured everything from a pianist to a full band, became a lockdown staple for Jews from around the world.
The senior minister at United Hebrew Congregation Leeds radiates positivity, enthusiasm and love for his community, who rallied together to feed the hungry, visit the lonely, and celebrate simchas while their shul was closed.
Mr Chait’s infectious outlook is all the more astonishing when one learns about his own heart-breaking year. “My mum [Helena] passed away five weeks ago,” he revealed. “She was my biggest support in the world, I can’t begin to tell you.
"My dad taught me everything I know, my mum was my biggest supporter. I think that was the beauty of my parents.
“And every single service she’d always comment.”
Chanukah was Mr Chait’s biggest highlight. Every night he would livestream a candle lighting from a different Leeds venue, from the Grand Theatre to a care home. Over 20,000 people tuned in. The eighth night was the most memorable for the trained opera singer, who “can’t even tell you how important” sport is to him.
Leeds United opened up their Elland Road stadium and allowed the native Liverpudlian to broadcast the bracha from the middle of the pitch. The club gave him the VIP treatment, putting on the floodlights and beaming Chanukah message “to Alby and all the community” on the LEDs.
And his mother Helena couldn’t miss a chance to poke fun at the Reds diehard during the ceremony.
He fondly recalled: “When I was at Leeds United I was wearing a Leeds United top and she was saying, ‘get that off you, you’re a Liverpool supporter!’
and everyone would engage with some of the funny things that she would say.”
When Helena passed away suddenly five weeks ago, aged 63, over 1,000 people tuned in to participate in the online shiva. “Tens of thousands” have now viewed it — a testament, Mr Chait said, to the “massive” number of lives she touched, not just in the north of England but globally, thanks to his
newfound virtual Jewish community, from Australia to America.
Mr Chait, who also serves as a chaplain for the NHS, last saw Helena just in September. Staying apart was a conscious decision in order to protect his father, Henry, a former cantor himself, who is “very, very unwell” with Parkinson’s disease.
The father-of-three girls would ring his mum before and after every service. Arielle, 8, and Emily, 5, were a regular on-screen presence, and Helena delighted in watching her granddaughters help their dad.
He said: “When she passed away, it was extremely difficult. It is very difficult. I don’t like awards, but she’d be so proud. I know she would be.
“She was a massive part of what we do, because her wisdom, her advice… I’d like to dedicate this award to her.” When asked why he’s devoted so much time to the Jewish community over the past year, his answer is simple.
“As cheesy as it sounds, I didn’t want faith to be furloughed,” he explained, adding, “I hope I’ve shown how beautiful Judaism is.
“What I wanted to do is show a whole different perspective on faith and service and practice.
“I really think during the pandemic people became closer to their faith than at any other time before.
“And to think that the synagogue was closed during that time is crazy. The synagogues closed and yet we’re closer to our faith. That’s unbelievable.”
Rachel Steinberg
