1. World Jewish Relief Fact Sheet

What we do

World Jewish Relief is dedicated to fighting human suffering and serving the urgent needs of, primarily but not exclusively, Jewish communities who are at risk or in crisis (outside the UK and Israel). With your support, we help overcome appalling poverty, despair and isolation. Moreover, through our commitment to programmes which strive to enhance community infrastructure, people can go on to build their own better future.

WJR’s work is carried out in a number of countries through trusted partners on the ground who have long records of providing first rate assistance to people in need. Projects are located across the world: the Former Soviet Union (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Serbia, and Poland), South America (Argentina), Africa (Rwanda and Zimbabwe) and Asia (India and Indonesia). The charity also operates in other countries, as required, at times of international disaster.

How we started

Established in 1933 as the Central British Fund to rescue Jews from Nazi Europe, the charity rescued over 100,000 Jewish people from Germany before WWII. It was also largely responsible for organising the Kindertransport whereby 10,000 unaccompanied mainly Jewish children were rescued from Nazi-occupied Europe. This assistance to refugees continued after the war and was extended to other areas such as Aden, Hungry, Czechoslovakia, Iraq, Ethiopia and Egypt.

Following the political, social and economic collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, CBF began to increase its focus on welfare for the two million Jews there, many of whom were impoverished and in urgent need of support. In 1994 the charity changed its name to World Jewish Relief, to reflect the global nature of its work and in 2007 completed an integration with World Jewish Aid. This ensured that the charity’s work continued to meet both Jewish and non-Jewish development needs.

How much we raised (2008 / 2009)

Voluntary Cash Donations £3.83m, Voluntary Gifts in Kind Donations £2.96m.

What we are aiming to raise (2009 / 2010)

Voluntary Cash Donations £3.90m, Voluntary Gifts in Kind Donations 1,900m3*.

How many people we are helping (2009 / 2010)

Core Jewish Programmes:                   33,804

Non Jewish Programmes (including emergency funds): 4,854

Total: 38,658

Number of staff we employ

17 Full Time Equivalents

Our fundraising ratio (expenditure for generating voluntary income as a percentage of voluntary income)

15.8%

*WJR’s Voluntary Gifts in Kind Donations target is now to be measured in volume rather than value, as WJR is focussing on sourcing goods of the highest utility, not necessarily the highest monetary value.