Mitzvah Day is a Jewish-led day of social action that brings thousands of people together, worldwide of all faiths and none, to give their time, not their money, to make a difference to the community around them.

On Sunday 27^th November, Melanie Mann and Yvonne Stollard organised a fantastic team from the local Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities, to come together to offer free cakes and hot drinks to the patients, their visitors and the staff at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bromsgrove. Not only was this a good way to serve the community, it was also a great opportunity to demonstrate that people of different faiths can, and do, work together in friendship.

Malcolm Glass, Vice-Chair of Bromsgrove Council, was invited to attend. He said, “The event was a wonderful experience. It was lovely to see friendship, co-operation between three faiths, which in reality have very few differences. It was a delight to be helping with something so community-minded.”

Revd. Owain Bell, Chair of Worcestershire Interfaith Forum, who also came to support the event, commented, “It was a wonderful and joyous occasion where people of different faiths came together in mutual respect and friendship to work on a social action project.”

The Rt Hon Sajid Javid, MP for Bromsgrove and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, was hoping to come to the event but was unfortunately unable to attend after all. He wrote in the Jewish Chronicle last week,

“On behalf of everyone in government, I want to thank each and every one of the countless Jewish volunteers who will be giving freely of their time this weekend. You will be helping those in need. But you will also be building friendships across ethnic and religious divides. And, ultimately, that is how we will triumph over fear and intolerance. Not by building ever-higher walls to hide behind. But by having the courage to break down the barriers between us”.