Additional Projects
Ichlu Reim
The Ichlu Reim Soup Kitchen responds to the challenge of “insufficient food and inadequate nutrition” for Israel’s poor by providing warm and nutritious daily meals to elderly, indigent and at-risk residents of Jerusalem. The soup kitchen, whose name means “Come eat, dear friends”, endeavours to meet the needs of vulnerable individuals with compassion and dignity.
Located on the Jaffa Road in Jerusalem, Ichlu Re’im is open 7 days a week, including Shabbat and Festivals and is supported by a dedicated team of volunteers. A new kitchen, funded by donations from the UK and JNF, was opened in July 2009, quadrupling the number of people that can be fed at each sitting to 200 and allowing a larger meal delivery service to operate, providing sustenance to the sick and housebound (including more than 100 Holocaust survivors).
To ensure it is able to continue and expand its life-saving work, the JNF has pledged to provide £5,000 a month until the end of 2010. Help us to fulfil our pledge to Ichlu Re’im to ensure that the needy do not go hungry by donating now.
If you would like to know more about this project or visit it, click here to email us now.
Beit Uri
Beit Uri is an exceptional residential centre for 86 mentally challenged residents aged between 8 and 50 in Afula, Northern Israel, supported by JNF UK. There is a special needs school for younger members and for the adults there are a wide variety of rehabilitation workshops producing high-quality handicrafts, which are sold to the public through regular bazaars and other events.
Beit Uri’s unique philosophy enables every member to be a partner by contributing what they can to the centre and to the wider community. In 2009, in recognition of the work the residents have done to keep local woodlands rubbish-free, President Shimon Peres awarded them the Council for a Beautiful Israel Prize 2009 for environmental activity and awareness.
JNF UK has provided long-term support through committees from Hull, Leeds, JNF Golf (both the men’s and women’s team raise funds every year for the Centre), KKL Bequests and JNF Future.
To date JNF funds have paid for renovation work on the bedrooms, provided new workshops, new kitchens, new laundry, new dining rooms, new therapy rooms, a petting zoo, an outdoor sports area, and indoor recreation and community hall – as well as work currently underway including a new greenhouse, vegetable garden and new offices.
Today, the Centre continues to grow as more and more people outside the locality recognise its innovation and professionalism. Beit Uri runs a joint day centre for the disabled of the local Arab communities.
Beit Uri runs a scheme to introduce the residents into the local Afula society by taking them into town, allowing them to work in local factories and encouraging the local community to volunteer in the Centre.
To donate, please click here.
If you would like to know more about this project or visit it, click here to email us now.
Jerusalem Botanical Gardens
Download the latest Friends of JBG Newsletter here.
The Botanical Gardens in Jerusalem are supported by the British Friends of JBG, who raise funds to provide scholarships for horticultural graduates to work there for a minimum of six months. This successful scheme has been in operation for more than 27 years and over 100 students from around the world have participated. Download the application form here. Applications should be made by the end of June each year. Interviews are usually held in NW London in July and the successful candidate’s scholarship will usually begin in October.
The Gardens provide much needed green space for the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem and serve as a centre for education, research, tourism and recreation. They are the largest and most important botanical gardens in Israel, covering more than 45 acres and displaying more than 10,000 species from all over the world, laid out in geographical regions. Medicinal plants and spices are grown separately and the Tropics are represented in the newly replanted Dworsky Tropical Conservatory. Bulbs, trees, bonsai and other important collections are displayed throughout the Garden. The Gardens act as a living gene bank to protect endangered plants in Israel and beyond. 370 plant species are in immediate need of protection in Israel. Many of them are grown in the garden for conservation and educational needs.
JNF supports the Gardens by providing office accommodation to the administrator of the Friends, while in Israel, KKL are one of a small number of organisations who provide financial backing. Each year at least one Working Holiday is organised to the Gardens (usually one in March and one in November) and more information can be obtained from the JBG Administrator.
To find out more about the Friends’ activities and events or to help support the Gardens, contact the JBG Administrator on
020 8732 6100 or click here to email her.
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