Meeting stars of volunteering variety show

The diverse nature of Mitzvah Day activities was exemplified by a whistlestop tour of London projects on Sunday morning.

First port of call was a Norwood residential home in Oakfield Road, Finchley, where Finchley and Golders Green Tory MP Mike Freer was among volunteers cheerily painting apartments and hallways.

Norwood chief executive Norma Brier and local councillors Melvin Cohen, Dean Cohen, Daniel Seal and Andrew Harper also donned plastic overalls as the enthusiastic team painted the lounge of one of the flats yellow in a matter of minutes.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for people to see our services and a fun way to get everyone motivated for charity and the community," Mrs Brier explained.

The MP said he had previously been unaware of the home's existence, "so it's a great privilege to be here. Mitzvah Day is fantastic but it's not just about one day a year. We should carry on this work."

The work of Mitzvah Day was even in evidence on the drive to the next location - Norwood's Kennedy Leigh Centre in Hendon - as the trademark green balloons were bobbing outside a number of supermarkets where volunteers were collecting goods for a variety of causes.

At Kennedy Leigh, children from Edgware Reform Synagogue cheder were helping to paint a huge mural on a wall in one of the meeting rooms.

Volunteer co-ordinator Glo Stoll told them: "It's very important to give something back to the community without expecting anything back.

"If you like your experience, you can come back when you're 16 and volunteer with us, carrying on your mitzvah not just today but through your adulthood, helping children with disabilities."

Ella Tilsiter, 12, said: "I think this is a really nice thing to do because it's giving children who are not as fortunate as us a chance to be happier."

After a quick tour of the centre's facilities, it was off to Kisahron's Tuffkid nursery in Brent Cross, where North Western Reform Synagogue children planted bulbs and cleaned toys. Dr Beverley Jacobson, chief executive of the special needs charity, spoke to them about people with disabilities.

Amy Rostas, 11, said: "People take things for granted and Mitzvah Day shows how some people don't have everything and we should help."

The last stop was Camley Street Nature Reserve in Kings Cross for an example of the many interfaith collaborations.

Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and Reform head Rabbi Tony Bayfield were among communal leaders who joined Hindus raking leaves, making bird boxes, pruning and planting. The Chief Rabbi was keen to make a start, pulling on a Mitzvah Day T-shirt and grabbing a rake.

"This is Jewish values in action," he enthused. "It's bringing the entire community and the Jewish and Hindu communities together. It is a project exactly right for the time. It is religion on a street level where it counts."

In a show of unity, he posed for photographs with Rabbi Bayfield, Liberal Judaism president Baroness Neuberger, European Masorti Beth Din director Rabbi Chaim Weiner and Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue head Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy.

"I can't think of anything else that can bring the leaders of the main denominations together like this," Rabbi Bayfield said.

Also lending a hand were actress Maureen Lipman, author Anthony Horowitz and TV producer Dan Patterson.

The Hindu community staged Sewa Day, its Mitzvah Day equivalent, and Dixit Joshi, president of the advisory board, said it had "very similar values. The Jewish community has set a fantastic template."