A Jewish-led refugee charity is among hundreds of civil society organisations set to take part in a week of community action to tackle hate and division in the UK.
Some 200 charities will partake in A Million Acts of Hope’s initiative from tomorrow to run events in communities across the country aimed at bringing people together.
David Mason, executive director of Jewish-led refugee charity HIAS+JCORE, told Civil Society that the campaign was needed amid a tough socio-political climate.
Mason, who was a rabbi for 20 years, said: “Things are not easy at the moment so the creation of positive stories is really important.
“Being Jewish, where it’s often a bit bumpy, the relationship, in the way we’ve lived in the last however many decades or more, we’re very passionate in our organisation that we could play a really positive part in communities.”
When asked about recent attacks on Jewish people in London, Mason said that a number of charity leaders he had worked with previously had contacted him to offer support.
“The Jewish people are nervous about what’s going on at the moment, but at the same time there’s much to feel positive about being British and a minority,” he said.
Other charities including Crisis, Save the Children, and the Muslim Charities Forum, are among those set to be involved in A Million Acts of Hope, organised by Hope Not Hate with support from NCVO in its first year and involving more than 350 communities.
A separate march backed by far-right leader Tommy Robinson called United the Kingdom, Unite the West, is due to take place on Saturday.
Charities needed amid fearful climate
Jehangir Malik, interim director of Together With Refugees, said his charity has had to work hard amid an incendiary climate and respond to “horrific” events.
Malik said he was part of a response to anti-refugee and migrant hatred in Birmingham two years ago.
“We realised how quickly in 2024 that you could strike a match with misinformation and how quickly that could spread in today’s world,” he said.
“So, we have to be mindful of how easy it is to strike the match of fear and therefore we have to work really hard to build community trust, togetherness and solidarity.
Malik urged civil society leaders to unite and demonstrate that through this concept of “hope”, irrespective of organisational mandates.
“This [taking part in collective action] goes beyond our ordinary mandate because that’s what’s required.”
Malik said that the campaign has had a “phenomenal” response and said collective action was critical to addressing deep-seated issues in the UK.
More charities urged to take part
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of learning disability charity Mencap, said he was pleased to have 200 charities sign up but called for more to join.
“We’d always like to see more organisations involved,” Sparkes said. “This should become a habit for us to celebrate kindness and the things that bring us together.”
He added that it was particularly important to have projects such as A Million Acts of Hope to help address resentment as people reel from soaring living costs.
“The rhetoric and stories of division have seemed to increase,” Sparkes said. “The fact that so many people are feeling cost-of-living being difficult – you can see why activities that people apart and emphasise division are on the rise.”
Sparkes said the week of action was a response to this from the sector, one that would not distract charities from other areas of governance.
“This isn’t something that charities are spending loads of money on, it isn’t distracting from our core purpose – it's simply shining a light on great things,” he added.
