More good deeds planned as Mitzvah Day volunteers return - The Jewish Chronicle

Mitzvah Day leaders are anticipating a more traditional schedule for the annual day of social action, now only a fortnight away.

Last year’s programme was significantly curtailed by the pandemic, “although we had the month of mitzvahs to keep things alive”, recalled Mitzvah Day founder and chair Laura Marks.

“We could bring small groups together but people didn’t feel comfortable.”

And there were relatively few interfaith events, a key Mitzvah Day platform.

While 2021 will see some activities still precluded, such as going into homes for the elderly, Ms Marks is expecting participation returning to past levels with 25,000 people involved in UK projects — and a further 15,000 in other countries, with notable expansions in Germany and Spain.

Chief executive Georgina Bye reports more than 400 UK sign-ups to date from shuls, schools, youth organisations and businesses. The final total is likely to be nearer 500. A good number of the sign-ups will be organising multiple projects.

Many have gone back to basics by planning collections and cookery events.

But organisers believe there will be a freshness to activities given that some volunteers will be back together for the first time in two years.

Ms Marks noted that “the silver lining of the pandemic, if there can be such as thing, was an upsurge in volunteering. But there is evidence of some decline.

“Our job is to maintain or rekindle interest, particularly in light of the £20 universal credit cut and the furlough scheme ending.

“What’s going on, particularly at economic level, is potentially quite profound.”

There was also the need “to find projects which have long-term relationships. We’ve always said that but now it’s essential.”

For example, being on a rota to support a local food bank was a year-round commitment.

Mitzvah Day was additionally broadening its remit, working with “groups we don’t normally do things with”.

Around a quarter of this year’s projects will be interfaith, which Ms Marks viewed as especially significant given the strain the Gaza conflict had placed on Jewish-Muslim relations.

“We might not agree on politics but we can agree on supporting refugees. That’s the beauty of Mitzvah Day.”

Ms Bye added that the charity had undergone something of an “evolution in the way we have been operating, involving us stepping out of our comfort zone.

“People might not be interested in ritual or prayer but they engage with social action.

“And we have found so many Covid-safe ways of doing things.”

https://mitzvahday.org.uk/