30/11/11

By Andrew Holt

Mitzvah Day, a national day of social action where thousands of people take part in hands on projects to support charities and build stronger communities, is the latest winner of the Prime Minister’s Big Society Award.

Mitzvah Day was created in 2005 and this year over 150 local charity and community projects benefitted from people giving their time as part of the event.

Based on the Jewish values of tikkun olam (repairing the world), tzedek (righteousness) and gemilut chassadim (acts of lovingkindness), the aim of the day is to reduce hardship and poverty and to help the environment.

Projects which have been supported in the past include Sunshine to Seniors where volunteers visit a residential care home to sing, read and help out, and tidying up enclosures at an animal sanctuary.

This year’s event took place on Sunday 20 November with over 25,000 people donating over 50,000 volunteering hours including:

Office staff from over 30 offices donating their lunch to homeless shelters and soup kitchens as part of the Give Away Your Lunch initiative

Over 100 people from four different synagogues helping to plant trees at Heartwood Forest near St Albans for the Woodland Trust

An estimated 40 tonnes of non-perishable goods and clothing were collected for a range of homeless and refugee charities

Congratulating Mitzvah Day on the award, the Prime Minister said: “Mitzvah day is a fantastic initiative to inspire people to come together on one day and do something positive for their community.

"The results have been outstanding with projects all around the country benefitting from the support of over 25,000 thousand volunteers.

“I would like to congratulate the organisers of Mitzvah Day for all their hard work in making this day happen and all the volunteers who have supported it over the years. I hope the event continues to grow and make even more of a difference to the communities involved.”

Accepting the award, Laura Marks, chair of Mitzvah Day said: “Mitzvah Day is a great example of grass roots social action that works. Only six years old, the day is now not only firmly marked in the Jewish calendar, but is an important day in the calendar of schools, churches, mosques and other community groups.

"In 2011, Mitzvah Day volunteers racked up over 50,000 hours of volunteering and we are absolutely thrilled to have our efforts recognised with a Big Society Award from the Prime Minister. We are proud to partner with so many great charities and organisations and they share this award along with us.”

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