Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

It all started with a charity bike ride, which then progressed to a 10k run, then came the Moonwalk (twice!), followed by the Peace Hospice Starlight Walk (again, twice!!) and finally the London Marathon ............ well, not quite finally! 

Because despite all the physio treatment I've needed over the past few years and the toll it is taking on my ageing body (!!!), I'm now I'm up for a brand new challenge - Trekking the Great Wall of China - and I am taking the opportunity to help raise the profile and awareness of a charity that would really benefit from your generosity.

British Emunah is a UK registered charity established 85 years ago which fundraises in the UK to support 37 of Emunah’s over 200 social welfare projects for children and families across Israel.

Thousands of children and families in Israel are trapped in a vicious cycle.

What is this
cycle?

From the moment they’re born, events during these children’s lives dramatically impact their future and their dreams and chances are shattered. They are defined by the problems that surround them: Abuse, drugs, alcoholism, violence, crime, mental illness, unemployment, bereavement, neglect and poverty.

These children grow up in crisis and their own lives are chaotic. They are traumatized.A child brought up like this knows nothing different. For them this is normal. Emunah has to show these children that the
world can be a safe place.

Emunah helps them to believe in themselves. To hope. To realize
that their lives can be different.  So that the next generation will get a
chance for a better future. This is the essence of the cycle that we must
break.

The Sarah Herzog Children’s Centre in Afula (known as ‘Emunah
Afula’) was Emunah’s first residential home, built in 1949 for children whose families had perished in the Holocaust. Today it is a residential and day facility for the treatment of children at risk and their families – helping them to ‘break the cycle’.

67 children at risk between the ages of nine and 18 live full time at the Home’s residential campus. In addition there are day care intervention programmes which are attended by 87 needy children who continue to live at home, but spend their days at a special programme returning home at 7.30pm.

The Emunah children’s centre provides the children with all their needs, including food, clothing, shelter, various therapies and social activities and support in schooling. Focus is placed on treatment of the whole family wherever possible and includes counselling, individual care packages tailored to the child, family therapy, parenting training, and parent-child activities.

Recently, in a number of instances the Emunah centre was called upon by Child Services to take in children on an emergency basis. Immediate protection is provided for those at risk while their personal and family situation is evaluated and permanent arrangements made.  It is not uncommon for the home to take in groups of four, five or even six siblings.

The true cost to ‘break the cycle’ is great – and Israeli government funding does not cover the whole cost.  The annual shortfall for one child is £9,300.  For all 67 residential children it is over £600,000.

With your support Emunah can transform the lives of the children who
call Emunah Afula home, turning their young lives from despair to success. Breaking the Cycle.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.