by Nicky Goldman Perceived by some as traditional and risk averse, the mainstream UK Jewish community has nevertheless long devoted much resource to youth leadership development and empowerment. This is illustrated through substantial investment in leadership development for the Zionist youth movements and the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) through UJIA. This has enabled young people to take responsibility as madrichim (leaders) on a local level (age 15-16), to lead camps (age 17-20), and Israel tours (age 20-21); each year around 40 post-university graduates undertake paid positions as “movement or UJS workers” for a year or two, with financial responsibility for budgets of millions of pounds and human responsibility for thousands of young people at camps and on summer tours. The madrichim … Continue Reading
New Leadership Initiative Launched in U.K.
A ground-breaking, new leadership innovation has been launched in the U.K. with the establishment of Jewish Leadership Excellence and Development (LEAD). LEAD is envisioned as a community-wide resource to help transform the future leadership of the Jewish community. The concept was the brainchild of UJIA’s Leadership Development department and has been shaped over the past five years into a new and independent communal service and resource. LEAD will offer leadership programmes and services to lay, professional and aspiring leaders. The service will begin this month growing over a three year period culminating in the creation of a new Centre of Excellence. Over the past two years, a number of discussions, plans and initiatives have taken place on how to establish a 'Centre for Jewish … Continue Reading
New London JCC Breaks Ground
from The Jewish Chronicle: Boris digs in as JCC starts its £50m building The Jewish Community Centre for London, the biggest capital project ever undertaken for British Jewry, took a step nearer fulfilment with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by 200 communal leaders and activists last Thursday. [emphasis added] "I am pinching myself," said Dame Vivien Duffield, who conceived the idea and has pledged to meet half the £50 million outlay from her family foundation. "I didn't really realise it was going to happen until I got here this morning." A further £18 million has been raised, leaving another £7 million to find to ensure the three-storey centre opens on time in 2013 in Hampstead. ... [Dame Vivien] paid special tribute to Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks for his encouragement, without … Continue Reading
90% British Jewish Students Open About Identity
Jewish students are comfortable being openly Jewish at British universities, despite having concerns about attitudes to Israel on campus. Their commitment to Israel and the Jewish People is robust, but their appreciation of their personal social responsibility lacks muscle. These are some of the findings of the 2011 National Jewish Student Survey, conducted by JPR, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, and published today. The survey was initiated by the Union of Jewish Students and commissioned by UJS in partnership with Pears Foundation. The survey provides the most comprehensive portrait of Jewish student identity ever painted. It examines a wide range of issues including what and where Jewish students are studying, the nature of their Jewish beliefs and behaviours at university and at … Continue Reading
£2.2m Fund for Jewish Refugees Established by World Jewish Relief
World Jewish Relief (WJR) has announced a new program that will support Jewish refugees of Nazi persecution in Ukraine and Moldova. The humanitarian aid charity has allocated an initial £2.2 million over three years to provide critical welfare support to Jewish people born while in evacuation from their homelands during World War II. The new welfare project has been introduced due to recent changes to eligibility criteria for the Claims Conference which means that certain Jewish Refugees of Nazi persecution living in the former Soviet Union no longer qualify for support. WJR’s initiative will fill this gap, providing food, medical supplies, home repairs and warm clothing to 1,568 people living in poverty in the region. Funding will come from money granted to WJR from the Otto Schiff Housing … Continue Reading
Larger U.K. Charities Hit by the Recession
New research from the Charities Aid Foundation’s Charity Trends on voluntary income reveals that larger charities have felt the effects of the recession more than smaller ones. The analysis, which is drawn from information the 162,363 registered charities provide to the Charity Commission in their annual returns, reveals that the voluntary income of large charities (those with an income of over £10m) fell by nearly 11 percent (or £855m) between 2007 and 2009. Whilst medium-sized charities with an income between £500k and £10m, saw their voluntary donations actually increase by 2.2 percent over the same period. Jane Arnott, Senior Advisory Manager at the Charities Aid Foundation says, “Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the impact of the recent recession has been more strongly felt by … Continue Reading
In U.K., Concerns Over Increasing Donation Cancellations
For the second month running Direct Debit cancellation figures are above the norm prompting fears of a prolonged decrease in charitable donation levels. from Charity Insight: Concerns over increasing donation cancellations Statistics from charity Direct Debit specialists, Rapidata have shown that in both June and July of this year cancellation rates jumped to 3.9% - up from 3.2% in 2010. May 2011 saw an even bigger jump from 2.8% in 2010 to 4.1%, reflecting the same behaviour as that experienced during the 2008/09 recession. … Continue Reading
Rockefeller Foundation Funding Global Poverty Study
from ThirdSector (UK): Institute of Development Studies and Resource Alliance in philanthropy study A £1.2m project to map global philanthropy and produce recommendations on how it can tackle poverty has been launched this week. The project, known as the Bellagio Initiative, is being led by the Institute of Development Studies, a charity for international development research based at the University of Sussex, and the Resource Alliance, which builds the fundraising capacity of charities. The US-based Rockefeller Foundation has provided $2m (£1.2m) of funding. … Continue Reading
Institute of Fundraising Offers Staff Bursaries
from ThirdSector (UK): Institute of Fundraising offers staff of small charities bursaries for events The Institute of Fundraising is offering staff at small charities the chance to attend its one-day conferences for only £20 under a new bursary scheme. The bursaries are available to not-for-profit organisations with annual voluntary incomes of less than £250,000. They are being funded through the IoF’s strategic partnership with the Office for Civil Society. The IoF has conferences on digital fundraising, face-to-face fundraising and legacy fundraising scheduled. To apply for places, charities should visit the institute’s website. The deadline for applications is 30 August. … Continue Reading
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