The executive director of Jewish LGBT+ charity KeshetUK has announced that she will be stepping down from her role in the summer.

In an email sent to community members, Dalia Fleming shared the news that after seven years as KeshetUK’s first executive director, it is time for the charity and its trustees to enter a “new phase”.

“I’ve been Executive Director since November 2017, but I’ve been a volunteer with KeshetUK since 2012 – years before we were a charity,” Fleming said. “I would take annual leave from my previous job to go into a school and deliver a session to young Jewish people, who at the time had often never met or seen a Jewish LGBT+ person.”

KeshetUK is an education and training charity, which aims to ensure that Jewish LGBT+ people and their families are included throughout Jewish life in the UK.

Staff members and volunteers work with Jewish schools, youth and adult organisations, synagogues and other community organisations to instil LGBT+ inclusivity.

“KeshetUK has been a core part of my Jewish identity for over a decade and I love it,” Fleming said. “The honour I feel supporting communities learn and create spaces for Jewish LGBT+ people is something I will never take for granted.”

Fleming said that the trustees will begin the process of appointing a successor after Pesach and added that she was looking forward to continuing her work at KeshetUK until the summer.

“KeshetUK will still be doing the amazing work we’ve been doing well beyond my professional departure,” Fleming added. “I’ve already started a monthly donation and thinking about how I can volunteer in the future – and KeshetUK’s work is needed more than ever and so any support you can offer is greatly appreciated.”