Securing our Future through UJIA March 2016
FOR
TOMORROW Strengthening our UK community and supporting northern Israel.
UJIA March 2016
UJIA is the leading organisation for Jewish youth engagement in the UK, making sure young people have a reason to stay involved with the community and Israel. We are also the biggest Jewish charity for Israel, raising money for life-changing educational initiatives in the Galil for 15 years. Both areas of our work are equally important for our future as a people, and we are committed to continuing to change over 20,000 lives every year. The challenges we face both here in the UK and Israel are significant but UJIA offers those who are passionate about the Jewish people and Israel, an opportunity to make a difference. Yours sincerely, Michael Wegier, UJIA Chief Executive
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
THE UK LANDSCAPE The UK is a great place to be Jewish but we cannot escape the fact that our community has shrunk by a third since its post-War peak. Families, synagogues and schools all play their part in imbuing our youth with a sense of belonging, but informal Jewish and Israel education provides an essential layer of engagement, often reaching those 8-21 year-olds who would not otherwise stay involved. UJIA directly reaches 11,500 young people every year through 3 main types of activity: youth movements, students and schools; taking youth to Israel and programmes which connect communities here with those in the Galil, our partnership region in Israel.
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
YOUTH MOVEMENTS, UJS & SCHOOLS Twelve Zionist youth movements reach 8,500 children and young people every year and UJIA funds more than 50% of their total operational costs. Put simply, without UJIA, the weekly meetings and summer/winter camps would not happen. As well as the financial support, UJIA provides vital mentoring and training to movement workers and madrichim (leaders), ensuring a high standard of education, as well as social and welfare safeguarding. UJIA is also a key funder of the Union of Jewish Students, and initiated their Israel engagement programme to ensure that Jews on campus have opportunities to continue to nourish their relationship with the Jewish homeland. UJIA JAMS (Jewish Activities in Mainstream Schools) is another way of reaching over a thousand Jewish pupils in mainstream secondary schools, by helping to create and then supporting J-Socs. Our staff organise speakers for weekly meetings and nurture leadership skills at over 30 schools across London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. “The JAMS Programme... ensures a constant relationship with Judaism and Israel within the constraints of secular schools. We couldn’t be more grateful at the opportunity to run such a diverse educational programme with such a great team aiding the organisational process!” – J-Soc Chair, Watford Grammar School for Girls
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
ISRAEL TOUR, UJIA BIRTHRIGHT & GAP YEAR Every year UJIA supports 2,500 young British Jews to visit Israel on short, medium or long term trips. There is no better way to engage young people with Israel than to take them there and UJIA helps underpin an entire system enabling these trips to go ahead.
UJIA is also the sole provider of Taglit-Birthright Israel trips for 19-26 year olds in the UK, giving this group a once in a lifetime educational trip. This programme offers an amazing opportunity to engage or re-engage with Israel and their Jewish identity.
Israel Tour is the jewel in the crown of organised UK trips to Israel, with over 50% of mainstream Jewish 16 year-olds taking part. 1,200 teens spend a month touring Israel with one of the Zionist youth movements, visiting an array of sites and learning about the story – past and present – of the Jewish homeland.
For longer term programmes, UJIA is instrumental in youth movement and other options in Israel, which enrich our home communities with young people who have had a deep engagement in Israel. Due to a fall in participation over recent years owing to a variety of factors, UJIA is investing in enabling more people to take part.
“I’ve learnt to appreciate Israel and to understand more about the people and the history of the land. You grow to love it and grow to be a bit more patriotic rather than just view Israel as a place to go on holiday.” Lucy Summerfield from north west London, on Bnei Akiva Tour 1, 2015
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
LIVING BRIDGE Every year, our Living Bridge programme reaches 1,200 mainly young people across the UK and the Galil. Jewish communities in London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Glasgow have been able to forge long lasting relationships with Israelis from over 25 Galil schools and communities in recent years. Not only does this enrich UK Jewry, but it enables them to play a part in helping develop the lives of Israelis in the Galil, where 45% of children live below the poverty line. Our three flagship programmes are:
UJIA Ethiopian Bar/Bat Mitzvah Programme An educational and welfare programme which supports the integration of Ethiopian immigrants into Israel, and twins participants with UK clubs. UJIA School-to-School Partnerships An initiative currently partnering 11 UK Jewish Schools with 11 primary and secondary schools in the Galil, strengthening the participants’ Jewish identity and enhancing the school curriculum. UJIA Magic Moments A programme bringing over 70 Israeli teenagers to communities across the UK for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut.
“Our community was so lucky to be a part of this project, it is a blessing from G-d that we have had this privilege, both parents and children. My son waited each day for the activities, we were honoured to host our UK twin’s family in our home… . I hope our children, that were blessed to be a part of this project, will grow up to be good and educated people in Israel. I would very much like to continue to volunteer and contribute to this project. Thank you to everybody.” – Abba Mula, from Kiryat Bialik, UJIA Ethiopian Bar/Bat Mitzvah Programme 2015
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
THE ISRAEL LANDSCAPE Israel is achieving great things and is a source of pride for Jews the world over. At the same time, there are major challenges in education that threaten the future stability of the nation. OECD reports have consistently ranked Israel as significantly behind other developed nations in this area and the country’s leading macro-economist, Dan Ben-David, warns that in Reading, Maths and Science, Israel ranks 24th out of 25 relevant countries: ‘We’re on a course that’s unsustainable. It’s fixable but we need to get our act together while there’s still time.”
Peripheral areas like the Galil are still too far behind in terms of average incomes (the lowest in Israel at 70% of the average income), jobs and educational opportunities, and UJIA has been working with our partners in this region to bring transformation to communities. We reach nearly 15,000 young people every year through our capital and programmatic initiatives, transforming many futures for the better.
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
CAPITAL PROJECTS UJIA has funded the building of numerous educational facilities in the Galil, including most recently, the Western Galilee College School of Management faculty building (November 2014) and the Beit Midrash at Yeshivat Netiv Tefachot, which provides programming for at-risk youth (June 2015). The Faculty of Medicine in Tsfat, Shlomi High School and the Early Childhood Centre in Merom Hagalil are also the result of UJIA’s work with partners in the area. You can help us with our new capital projects, which include: Carmiel Children’s Village – Dormitories Upgrading the dormitories at this group home for 4-18 year-olds in northern Israel. Kibbutz Eshbal – Camp site Creating an educational campsite for youth groups and school trips, with the aim of helping this community for at-risk youth become more financially independent. Zefat Academic College – School Building a new campus for the overextended and vital School of Nursing in Tsfat. Kiryat Bialik Community Centre Renovating this building to transform it into a communal hub for the town’s population, most of whom are Ethiopian immigrants.
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
PROGRAMMES We aim to change the social and economic fabric of the Galil through education to achieve more fulfilling and higher paid employment and build human capacity to make a positive change in the region.
From funding Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programming in Darca Danciger School, to bringing the co-existence through football Equalizer Programme to the Galil, to providing opportunities for higher education, UJIA is enriching the educational experience in the Galil.
Please see our UJIA Projects brochure for a summary of all our projects.
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
CASE STUDY Moriya Ben Chaim’s grandfather made Aliyah to the Galil, northern Israel, from Morocco, living in a tent encampment as a labourer. Two generations on, Moriya lives with her family in the run-down development town of Hatzor Haglilit. A third year Behavioural Sciences student at Tel-Hai College, Moriya says she’s now living out her mother’s vision that her children would go on to something better. “My family, especially my mother, my grandparents, they never studied, they emigrated from a very poor country... My mother wasn’t able to go on to higher education, and the most important thing to her was that my life should be different. I can tell you that without the help of a bursary from UJIA, it would simply be impossible for me to be at college.”
www.ujia.org
UJIA March 2016
HOW YOU CAN HELP UJIA directly impacts over 25,000 young people every year and is acting to secure our future both here in the UK and in Israel. The reality is that we cannot do any of what we do without the dedication and generosity of our supporters. You can be part of UJIA’s mission to secure a vibrant engaged UK Jewish community, and improve life in Israel, our homeland.
We would like to ask you for a donation of ÂŁXXXX to XXXXXXX. I hope that you will consider helping us to make a difference. Thank you.
NB: All figures in this proposal include 15% programme management on Israel programmes
www.ujia.org
@UJIAcharity
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United Jewish Appeal is a registered charity in England and Wales No.1060078 and in Scotland No. Sc 039181. A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No. 3295115. Registered office: 1 Torriano Mews, London NW5 2RZ. For a definition of terms regarding Israel and Judaism, please visit www.ujia.org/definitions
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