JVN Blog

In this edition of our blog, Caroline Cosgrove  writes about the volunteering she and her son James did for his Bar Mitzvah. Here is her story… In the lead up to the Bar Mitzvah of my son, James, in August 2016, he was considering what he could do to mark the occasion in a meaningful way – one […]

As we approach Passover and Seder night, and we follow a service from the comfort of our dining table, family members often including several generations read and relive the sort of the Exodus through ritual and through the eternal Jewish story book, the Haggadah. This year our Seder will be even more meaningful as I […]

There is a famous saying about #volunteers: “Volunteers are worthless not because they are no good but,  because the work they do is impossible to cost out – its priceless.” Traditionally, most people volunteer because they will be making a difference to the lives of others, while also generating benefits for themselves – greater confidence, […]

You know those little things that make your day. Those simple tasks that go smoothly, a smile, a nice gesture… They just seem to make such a big difference. Life is in the little details. Ongoing small gestures can mean so much more than one grand display of love. Simple everyday tasks throughout the week/month […]

Those of you more familiar with the work of JVN will be aware that we recently spread our wings and became more involved with the Jewish communities in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. Our Manchester Volunteering Champion Melissa Chapman recently wrote this article for Gesher, the newsletter for Hale Synagogue, and we thought we’d share […]

Those of you who are keen followers of JVN’s Twitter feed or fans of our Facebook page may have noticed that the volunteering efforts of certain JVN favourite have been popping up from time to time. We even mentioned him briefly in our blog about last year’s Jewish Living Expo, way back in the spring […]

JVN were honoured this week to be invited to the office of the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Brian Schama. A member of the Jewish community – he conducts no civic events on Shabbat and other festivals – the Mayor was eager to share his views on volunteering and the Jewish community in the London Borough […]

The passing of Baroness Thatcher last week marked, for many, the end of an era, but her legacy of ‘Thatcherism’ will live on in the actions of governments and the minds of the British public for decades, possibly centuries, to come. Love her or hate her, one cannot deny that she was the woman Prime […]

I wrote a blog a few weeks ago entitled ‘What Makes A Volunteering Role Suitable’, highlighting the need to change our attitudes towards the ‘suitability’ of a candidate for a particular volunteering role. I asserted that ‘those who claim to have individual support needs should be taken on their individual merits, not as part of […]

Another week, another fantastic volunteering story from The Greatest Show on Earth! This week’s entry comes from Eli Benson, who works for Magen David Adom (MDA UK). Used to helping people for a living, Eli tells us how he takes the kindness learned from his job and transfers it into the world of volunteering… The […]