JVN Blog

The Yoni Jesner Awards, JVN’s largest programme, held its annual awards ceremony in the evening of Thursday 3^rd July at the Camden Centre, London. The awards celebrate the volunteering achievements of young people aged 11-14 who have volunteered in their local communities over the past academic year for at least 20 hours. 193 awards were presented this year by Marsha Gladstone, Yoni’s mother and Director of the Yoni Jesner Foundation, and the Mayor of Camden Councillor Lazzaro Pietragnoli. This figures smashed the record set last year by well over 30%, an achievement helped by the inclusion of two new participating groups and the introduction of a second-stage award, the Yoni Jesner Award Plus, for those who had accumulated over 50 hours of volunteering over one or two years. Also present at the ceremony was the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who praised the recipients for their acts of chessed – kindness – and their tremendous contributions to community life.

The ceremony this year also featured, in addition to insights into some of the volunteering the recipients had done and the awards-giving itself, a selection of microvolunteering activities completed during a 10-minute interval. The 400-strong audience, plus ceremony staff, all contributed to what was deemed by

Even the Mayor of Camden joined in the microvolunteering by sending a tweet!

microvolunteering specialists Help from Home the largest ever collective microvolunteering event. The microvolunteering was launched by Jewish News Editorial Director Richard Ferrer, who also proclaimed it the largest ever mass volunteering activity in one place at one time in the Jewish community.

JVN President Rosalind Preston OBE commented after the event: “It is really encouraging to see the Yoni Jesner Award Scheme going from strength to strength as the young people in our community become more and more enthused about volunteering. As we know, young volunteers make older volunteers, and we hope to see our charities and community organisations offering more opportunities for young people to contribute to their work in the years to come.”

Yoni Jesner Award recipients from Langdon with their certificates.

The returning participating groups this year were from City of London School for Boys, Hasmonean High School (Boys and Girls), Immanuel College, JCoSS, JFS, King Solomon High School, Yavneh College and the Langdon Brady Club. They were joined by debutants King David High School and North Western Reform Synagogue.

The Yoni Jesner Award Scheme is co-ordinated by JVN with the support of the Yoni Jesner Foundation and the Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade (JLGB). It is generously funded by the Children’s Aid Committee (CAC), the Jewish Youth Fund and UJIA.

You can view a flipagram of cermeony highlights here.

Did you attend the Yoni Jesner Awards this year? Are you an award recipient or a family member of an award recipient that benefitted from volunteering? Tell us about your experiences by contacting us or connecting with us on Facebook or Twitter. And don’t forget to register with us today to find your very own volunteering opportunity.