Members of faith communities in Bradford and Leeds are working in collaboration for this year’s Mitzvah Day, the annual Jewish community-led day of social action, taking place across the country on Sunday November 21.
That Sunday is also the final day of ‘Interfaith Week’ 2021. 
This year’s theme is ‘Together This Mitzvah Day’, and led by the Diocese of Leeds and the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, a range of faith institutions including All Hallows Church, the Bradford Hindu Council, the Khidmat Centre and Sinai Synagogue are acting as collection hubs for a range of items that will be donated to the domestic abuse charities Staying Put and Leeds Women’s Aid.
Donations will then be sorted and packed on Mitzvah Day itself at the BEAP Community Partnership in Manningham, Bradford from 12pm-4pm.
The Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Revd Toby Howarth, will be in attendance.
The initiative is being co-ordinated by Simon Phillips, Director of Interfaith for the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, and Jenny Ramsden, Interfaith Advisor to the Diocese of Leeds, with support from Kaneez Khan from Wellsprings Together and Humayun Islam from the BEAP Community Partnership.
Jenny said: “Mitzvah Day is a wonderful opportunity to work together to demonstrate the value we share as people of faith - to love our neighbour."
Simon said: “It’s wonderful that we can all be together again this year on Mitzvah Day, but we know that Covid and the periods of lockdown have exacerbated the problem of domestic abuse.
“We wanted to show how supporting victims of abuse is a moral and ethical imperative of faith leaders and faith communities.”
For more information, please contact Simon at interfaithljrc@outlook.com, or Jenny at Jenny.ramsden@leeds.anglican.org.