Jewish Care unveils plans to weather ‘perfect storm’

V JEWISH CARE has announced its strategic plan for the next five years, committing to being recognised for quality and innovation despite the difficult financial climate it operates in.

The document highlights issues the charity faces, primarily the “almost perfect storm of an ever growing need for our services amid an ever more challenging fundraising environment.

“Our community is ageing and their motivations for giving to charity are changing. As the baby boomers grow older, we anticipate that more people than ever will need our services over the next 20 years.

“We will need to adapt to meet the baby boomers’ needs, not only in terms of the services we offer but in terms of how that generation gives to charity — younger generations are increasingly moved to support causes that contribute to society as a whole.”

The charity also has to deal with the widening care funding gap, with neither central or local government able to meet the rising costs of social care services. The result is a widening differential between the true cost of care and the public money available to fund it.

“This means that those resources that are available are increasingly needed to fund critical care.”

Jewish Care expects community members to understand that individuals will “need to plan to cover much of the cost of social care as they age. People who can afford to will have to pay for their own care. Jewish Care will need to continue to raise funds to care for people without the resources to pay for themselves.”

The charity envisions that by 2025, it will serve the communities of North London, North-West London, South Hertfordshire and East London and Essex from four care hubs. It will also continue to provide services in Southend and Brighton.

“These hubs will enable us to put our services at the heart of the places where the Jewish community lives. They will also give us bases from which we can reach out into other areas of the community, making it easy for people and organisations to engage with us when they need to.

“We will work with other organisations to shape social care in and for our community, now and for the future. We have a long and successful track record of productive partnerships and we are committed to developing more to ensure the community’s needs are met.

This might involve “synagogues hosting weekly activities together with us, Jewish schools promoting volunteering, or other care providers, who must work together to plan for future needs”.

The charity will also strive to maintain the Jewishness of the experience for clients by, for example, “expanding our production of kosher ready meals, enabling us to provide more [of them] for more people in our community who want them”. It will work with “residents, members and tenants to provide kosher food that meets their requirements and [make] continued investment in kashrut training”.

Another commitment is to be “a champion of volunteering”, not least because “without volunteers, we would not exist in the way we do today.

“Co-ordinators, tea party hosts, befrienders… the list is almost endless and the skills they offer are infinite. We must use this gift in the best possible way.”

We will work with other organisations to shape social care’