Issue 10 | Winter 2020
Chanukah Celebration Boxes Shining a light on mental health
Welcome Dear Friends Our services may look very different to how they did at the beginning of the year, but I am delighted at how over the last few months the Jami team have found creative ways to connect with people, maintain and develop communities and continue to meet the needs of people struggling with their mental health. We have continued to provide advice, support, education and interventions on anything from combatting loneliness, accessing a hot meal, coping with distress, anxiety or feelings of hopelessness, right through to advocating for access to statutory services, support to access education and developing the skills needed to find work. As the impact of Covid and the consequences of lockdown measures increase, we are now responding to more people needing our support. Although we are keen to resume face-to-face services, many of our new virtual ways of working will become permanent fixtures. Feedback from people using our services suggests that in many ways virtual spaces can be more accessible, and over 90% of people surveyed wanted Jami to continue working in this way. Additionally, people said they have a greater connection to Jami than before. Some spoke of the lack of contact with other people or organisations during lockdown, with Jami being their only form of contact or communication and they feel even closer to us because of this. Thank you for your continued support during these times, Keep safe and well,
Louise Kermode Head of Services For the latest news follow us on Twitter @JamiPeople and Facebook @JAMIMentalHealth or visit jamiuk.org/news
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Rosh Hashanah Update This Rosh Hashanah, we shared the story of Michael and Shoshana. Michael had been struggling with his mental health for a while, but it deteriorated significantly during lockdown. His wife, Shoshana, found it difficult to support him. Both Michael and Shoshana were introduced to Jami, benefitting in different ways. Shoshana received support from the Carers and Family Support Service whereas Michael contacted Jami Qwell, our free and anonymous online counselling service, as a first step in reaching out and getting help. Thanks to you, Shoshana is still able to attend the online carer group and Michael finds the Jami Qwell support he continues to receive invaluable. We are pleased to say that he has started to venture out of his home and visit local shops for his essentials. He is also successfully working towards a long-term strategy to cope with his depression. Through your generosity we have been able to offer more services to more people. Being able to access mental health support whenever it’s needed, wherever you are in the UK, is vital for the future mental wellbeing of our entire community.
Since launching Jami Qwell we have provided 500 hours of support.
Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, we have increased our professional staff team by 25% to meet the demand for mental health services in our community.
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Updates Jami awarded at London Faith & Belief Community Awards Jami are honoured to have won an award at the 4th London Faith & Belief Community Awards. We were recognised for the adaptation of our services during Covid and our Head Room Café programme open to the whole community.
Head Room Café and Jami ‘Bringing smiles to your door’ Head Room Café and Jami recently took part in a fantastic initiative called ‘Bringing smiles to your door’. The Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Caroline Stock, Councillor Sara Conway and Georgina Bye (Mitzvah Day CEO) delivered meals, a plant and a drawing from a school child to our service users. The campaign aimed to highlight the work of local charities, community groups and volunteers and the good they are doing to help people and to raise awareness of the support that is available locally.
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Mitzvah Day
Celebrating Volunteers
This Mitzvah Day Jami encouraged people to make calls of kindness to friends and family that they haven't been in contact with for a while. Students from Yavneh College also made Chanukah cards for Jami service users.
At the end of November we held our annual Volunteers' Celebration Event online, in recognition and appreciation of the incredible impact of our many Jami volunteers. Our Chief Executive, Laurie and Chair of Trustees, Adam Dawson presented the awards for special achievements in volunteering at Jami. Thank you to all our volunteers!
Our Covid response in numbers (MARCH TO OCTOBER)
2565
attendances on Community hub online
1907 meals delivered
2568
hours of telephone support
373
individuals were provided with 1:1 video conference sessions
500
1840
people attended online Head Room sessions
1561
attendances on our Head Room Education Online programme
20
hours of support on Qwell
new Compeer pairs have been matched up, making 32 Compeer pairs in total
(AUGUST TO SEPTEMBER)
110%
increase in referrals from July to August alone and
170%
increase in referrals to Jami's Carer & Family support service
100%
of Jami’s new referrals are Covid related
133% increase
in referrals for people under 25 struggling with their mental health over the last 3 months
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Day in the Jami life This issue we hear from Peer Support Worker, Ben Winton, who tells us about his day to day work during this strange time.
My weekdays begin with coffee, Tefillah (Jewish morning prayers) and a short burst of yoga. After breakfast, I drive to the Jami hub in Edgware while listening to my reading group book. I value this quiet time because it contrasts well with the liveliness of my work during the day as a Peer Support Worker.
used the technology to join Jami’s online programme almost daily to connect with other people. This morning we finalised which smartphone she is going to buy herself, which will make it much easier to stay in touch with her family abroad.
Peer support workers collaborate with service users to identify and enact ways to improve their wellbeing. We emphasise the importance of building interpersonal connections, learning about service users’ individual needs and exploring what makes their lives meaningful; all while remaining their equal in stature. We also bring our own lived experience of mental health struggles, adding an extra measure of compassion. My first appointment on Friday is over Zoom with a lady who came to Jami struggling with depression and anxiety. She gets overwhelmed and endlessly delays making important purchases. Luckily, in the final days before the country went into lockdown, we managed to get her a laptop and internet connection, which have been a lifeline for her in these trying times. She has
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I then provide telephone support for a few people who benefit from routine check-ins while Covid restrictions are in place. This time is used to share concerns, good news, as well as asking for assistance with their Jami-loaned tablets, used to minimise their isolation.
After debriefing anything distressing with my boss, fielding emails and lunch, I jump back onto Zoom to run a Jami Hubs Online group titled, ‘Shabbat Shalom’. Every Friday, service users join to discuss something Jewish in a non-judgmental, crossdenominational space. The group finishes with lighting Shabbat candles, saying a prayer for the sick and lighting another candle to remember friends and relatives who have passed away.
The content of the group varies and this week we looked at whether we can learn anything about perfectionism and being a ‘good enough person’ from the biblical character, Noah. Halfway through the group, a service user burst into tears of joy and relief. She shared that this was the first time she joined Jami Hubs Online, that she had been so lonely since coronavirus restrictions started and regretted taking this long to reconnect with Jami. This probably had little to do with my content, but
everything to do with the supportive, Jewish space that Jami provides for members to feel a sense of belonging. My last task of the week is to check if any members of staff have added new entries to our shared antiracism resource document. In light of the worldwide protests against racism over the summer, I steered an initiative to encourage staff to learn more about racism and to brainstorm ways we, and Jami-at-large, can improve on equality and diversity. Over 50 pieces of content have been added to the document so far. An antiracism working group was also set up to ensure that Jami will be one of the charities at the forefront of the Jewish community’s response to this important issue. As I head home, I reflect on how fulfilling my job is at Jami. I work with dedicated colleagues and most days feel that I have made a difference to someone else. Also, supporting others has been crucial to my own recovery. I look forward to continuing to get as much out of my work as I put in.
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Get involved A huge thank you and Mazeltov to all those who have fundraised for Jami If you would like friends and family to donate to Jami on your behalf for a Simcha or occasion, please call Jami on 020 8458 2223 or email laura.bahar@jamiuk.org
Birthdays
Challenge & Sports Events
Simon Assor Anthea and Anthony Brick Emma Cohen Bert Habib Jennifer Jankel Marilyn Snyder
40th London Marathon Charlotte Rigby Melanie Ross
Golden Wedding Anniversary Marilyn and Lawrence Snyder
Wedding Denise Connick and David Lester
Aurora Kaufman
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100 mile walk Naomi and Harvey Sinclair Batmitzvah Bike Ride Aurora Kaufman Thank you to all our Facebook Fundraisers and to those who donated on behalf of friends or family.
Harvey Sinclair and Naomi Sinclair
Congratulations to Melanie Ross and Charlotte Rigby for completing the 40th London Marathon, (albeit virtually).
Melanie Ross
Charlotte Rigby
If the shoe fits RUN FOR JAMI 3 October 2021
The London Marathon is taking place on 3 October 2021. To apply for a Jami place or for another challenge event please get in touch by emailing muriel.stempel@jamiuk.org
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Social Enterprise Update Most café operators, like many in the hospitality sector, will remember 2020 as a year of absolute horror and uncertainty. Just as so many other cafes and restaurants were forced to close their doors in March, so did our Head Room Café. However, Head Room is no ordinary café. Able to provide so much more than (excellent) coffee and shakshuka, we very quickly adapted to ensure we still fulfilled our role to provide easy access to mental health support for the community and beyond. Within days of the first lockdown commencing, Jami opened the virtual doors of Head Room Café Online. The online programme, like the physical groups in the café, is free and open to anybody who wishes to attend. Jami service users or anyone else needing support were able to stay in touch and get involved in sessions such as Sharing Circle; Kind Co-Working and Art4All. Since March there have been around 2000 attendances at Head Room Online sessions, a 35% increase in the number of sessions run and a 46% increase in participants compared to before the pandemic. Looking forward, the team are recruiting additional staff to provide further support and facilitate more sessions in order to meet this increased demand. Of course, we didn’t completely abandon our ability to provide delicious, healthy 9
food. We were very aware that many of our service users relied on Jami’s Community Hubs for their main hot meal of the day. With the Hubs closed, the staff at the café stepped in and since March, Head Room Café staff and committed volunteers have provided and delivered over 1500 meals to the most vulnerable people we support. Even more importantly, the door-step chats and check-in that take place when meals are delivered are as vital to maintaining health as the food itself.
When the second lockdown forced the café to close its physical doors once again in October, the Social Enterprise team
wanted to ensure that the values of Head Room continued to be shared across the community. Thus, our Chanukah Celebration Gift Boxes were launched in November. Full of delicious treats that could be sent to a loved one, purchasing one of the boxes also allowed us to provide some Chanukah cheer to our service users, delivering additional gift boxes to their homes alongside their usual meals. We also were able to deliver Chanukah treats to people on mental health wards in hospitals over the Chanukah period, ensuing they maintained a connection to the community and felt they were not forgotten.
When ordering a box for a loved one, the purchaser had the option to request a ‘door-step chat’ for the recipient. We have learned during this year that the conversations that come with the food are just as vital in relieving isolation, and provide as much nourishment as the food itself.
The doors of the café in Golders Green are open once again, including on Saturday evenings. You can even get a taste of the café delivered via Deliveroo. Yes, it’s been a very difficult year, but it has also been wonderful to extend the reach of Head Room Café direct to peoples’ doorsteps and into their homes through our online programmes. These inspirational initiatives will continue long after we’ve moved on from the pandemic. Visit headroomcafe.org
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Our annual fundraising event is going virtual! Join Rachel Riley and other special guests online as we explore the impact of the pandemic on our mental health and share our vision of what post-Covid utopia looks like Join us in Youtopia on
Thursday 21st January 2021 at 8pm RSVP at myyoutopia.org
Rachel Riley is a British TV presenter and arithmetician best known for her number expertise on ‘Countdown’ and as a resident team member of comedy show ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown‘. Rachel has recently been at the forefront of the campaign against antisemitism after being targeted on social media and has commented on the impact this had on her mental health. 11
22 - 23 january 2021 The impact of the pandemic MHAS falls annually on Shabbat “Bo�, the weekly Torah portion which tells about the Plague of Darkness, which has resonance with mental illness. For more information about MHAS, to view our events and to register for the toolkit, please visit jamiuk.org/mhas
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Legacies Please consider supporting the mental health of future generations through a legacy Leaving a gift for Jami in your will can help ensure support is there for those struggling with mental illness in the future. Every gift, whatever the size, will demonstrate that you care for the wellbeing of our wider community, now and for the future.
Eve Kushin z"l Eve was born in 1925 Stettin in Germany to Max and Lotte Feilchenfeld. An only child, she lived happily in Berlin. When Hitler came to power she was forced to leave her friends and her school, when sent on a Kindertransport to England in January 1939. Her parents eventually managed to flee to the Philippines. Her early years in London were supported by several Jewish Charities and she was fostered by a wonderful Jewish family in Temple Fortune. She never forgot the ‘kindness of strangers’ and throughout her lifetime she supported many Jewish Charities including Jami.
Eve was a remarkable lady; quiet and unassuming yet incredibly determined. Her husband died young leaving her with two young children. She loved her family, lifelong learning, travel and was an excellent bridge player. When Eve passed away in 2017 her will made a provision to set up a charitable trust in her and her late husband’s name. The trustees made a generous donation to Jami to commemorate this very special lady. Eve’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are absolutely delighted that we have decided to use this donation to fund the role of a Duty and Advocacy worker, enabling us to continue helping people.
A lasting impact on mental health If you have any questions about remembering Jami in your Will, please contact liz.jessel@jamiuk.org or phone 020 8458 2223. 13
Registered Charity 1003345.
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Please return this form to: Jami, Martin B. Cohen Centre for Wellbeing, Gould Way, Edgware HA8 9GL 12 To donate online please go to jamiuk.org/donate
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As a result of the recent pandemic, our referrals are increasing. We are almost solely reliant on the support of the community to fund our work. Please help us ensure we can provide this vital support for everyone.
10
£
£10 enables someone to take part in a befriending session
75
£
£75 provides 13 meals with a doorstep chat for vulnerable people, ensuring human contact is maintained
25
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£25 pays for a carer of someone with depression to attend a virtual support group
£50 pays for two people to attend a seminar on managing burnout
250
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£125 pays for one Occupational Therapy session to help someone manage their illness
£250 buys one tablet and a 30-minute support session on how to use technology, ensuring people remain connected
To donate, please complete and return the form overleaf, donate online at jamiuk.org/donate or call us on 020 8458 2223
Registered Charity 1003345. A Company Limited by Guarantee 2618170
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