On Christmas Day 2025 – an intrepid group of volunteers gathered in the cold morning air at the St. Anne’s Synagogue and set out to join the magnificent incentive founded in 2018 by Rabbi Albert Chait MBE.
Along with 5000 or so volunteers across UK and Australia, St. Annes Synagogue volunteers visited hospitals, care homes and a fire station across the Fylde Coast to hand out a ‘goody bag’ to the hard working staff and care workers who were on duty on Christmas Day.
Rabbi Chait, who started the initiative in Leeds, where he is the senior minister of the United Hebrew Congregation (UHC), said 2025 had been its biggest year yet.
“It maybe was an opportunity to introduce a little bit more widely who the Jewish community is and what they are about, and the kindness which really epitomises what we are about as a people,” he added.
“This project has no agenda, there’s no politics, no boundaries – it’s nothing but love.”
It is a mitzvah to acknowledge and give support to the wonderful dedication of those working in support of our communities. A great big thank you to the St Anne’s community who turned out on Christmas Day to show appreciation for the dedication of those, in our wider community, who offer service to all. May their lives of service be a blessing. This initiative should be widely shared, so many other Jewish communities around the country will be inspired to show the essential love for humanity which is central to Judaism.