Thirty volunteers have taken part in the first training session for the Board of Deputies’ controversial joint anti-hunger project with Oxfam.

At last weekend’s training camp the volunteers worked with activists from Oxfam, World Jewish Relief and Tzedek to learn about schemes to reduce hunger and arrange better distribution of food resources.

Debbi Rosenthal, 23, from Finchley, said: “The leaders armed us with a wealth of expert advice about how to sustain a successful campaign”. She is to run a Challah for Hunger network in London, and the money raised will be shared between international anti-hunger projects in Asia and Africa and charities in this country, including Jewish community groups.

Lara Smallman, 26, a Hendon Synagogue member, is launching a project to send leftover food from Limmud conferences to homeless shelters.

Oxfam campaigns assistant Tom Linden said: “Doing this over Shabbat was a very creative way to learn about the importance of food within Judaism. We came away with a strong sense of a new alliance on food justice and how we can help each other.”