Twelve and thirteen-year-old alumni of our Fed’s Bar-Bat Mitzvah Programme 2023-24 gave a presentation at Heathlands Village on Sunday to an audience of family and friends who had come along to celebrate their graduation.
The centre piece of the event was a talk-show style production when our participants interviewed each other about their experience of the course, and how they had grown through being involved.
Run jointly by Natasha Harries, who is our volunteer coordinator and event organiser and Tammy Friedlander, our NextGen coordinator, the academic year-long programme is designed to awaken a desire in young people to become involved in their community and acts of chesed (kindness).
The monthly sessions took the youngsters through a range of activities designed to be fun but thought-provoking, amongst which they met frontline workers from our Community Advice and Support team and heard about the kind of issues people face and how The Fed is able to help them; they took part in an immersive session on dementia and living with physical disabilities; participated in a sponsored sports challenge and volunteered their time wrapping Chanukah presents and made cards for children with special needs who use The Fed’s children’s centre.
A key part of their learning was keeping a journal after each session where they could reflect on what they had learnt and how this had changed their perspective.
A video montage of their journey with The Fed was put to music and also shown at the event.
Guests were welcomed by Dalia Kaufman who heads up our Volunteer Services Department and the key address was given by Chairman of The Fed, Bernie Yaffe, who focused on the importance of this programme in relation to the future of The Fed.
Each participant was presented with a trophy and graduation certificate by Fundraising manager Rochelle Broman after which they joined their families and Fed representatives for a celebratory buffet brunch.
If you, your child or grandchild would be interested in signing up for our 2024-25 programme please get in touch with Natasha on 0161 772 4800 or email natasha.harries@thefed.org.uk