Social media group supporting Israeli refugees in London grows to 2k members
From Shabbat meals and accomodation to nursery advice and birthday cakes, the two north London women behind 'Helping Israelis in London' speak to Jewish News about the groundswell of community support
A group set up by two friends from north London to offer practical support to Israeli families who fled to London in the wake of the 7 October terror attacks has grown to two thousand members.
‘Helping Israelis in the UK‘ is the brainchild of 38-year old Natasha and 39-year old Lucy.
It was born from the UK’s Jewish community’s desire to support families with requests and advice on issues from accommodation to nursery and school places.
Natasha tells Jewish News: “So I saw that lots of messages were cropping up in my son’s school WhatsApp group saying things like ‘I know an Israeli family coming over, does anyone have a ….'”
“And I thought if these are happening daily just on my school year group, they must be everywhere and it would be much easier to create a central community where people can share and support each other – free from politics and just offering practical support.”
She called Lucy, who lived in Israel for nearly a decade and the two took action.
They say “there’s been more of a response than we could have imagined”.
Lucy adds: “There are offers of support for everything from hosting people for Shabbat dinner, providing activities and resources for children out of school, Hebrew tutors, help with accommodation.
“People opening up their homes free of charge to let Israeli families stay with them. The group has close to 2k members and is just a really positive place.”
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