UJIA’s Camden head office was a hive of activity on Sunday as 80 volunteers hit the phones to raise money for the charity’s Super Sunday, part of its Chanucah appeal.

Participants came from all age groups and backgrounds, including youth movement members and people recruited via the Jewish Volunteering Network. Collectively, over 1,000 canvassing calls were made to Jewish community members in 10 hours. Some £39,000 was raised for UJIA programmes here and in Israel.

Among the cold callers was Simone Silver, 12, who raised £355. She had been involved in the UJIA School-to-School Partnership Programme, which links UK and Israeli schools, and her family had hosted an Israeli family. “I’m glad I’m here today because the experience was really good and I want other people to have the same opportunity,” she explained.

Others were from the UJIA Ethiopian bar/batmitzvah programme, which twins young Ethiopian immigrants to Israel with UK children during their bar/batmitzvah year. They raised funds specifically for their programme.