They were among 500 UK-based organisations and a record 30,000 volunteers from all faiths and backgrounds which took part in the biggest Mitzvah Day to date. The event is the UK’s faith-based day of social action, taking place on and around November 20 each year.
Among this year’s activities was the Light for Leeds interfaith event at Kirkstall Abbey, with attendees including the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Robert Gettings.
Simon Phillips, director of interfaith at the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, said: “Whilst we know that every day is of course a mitzvah day, we in Leeds recognise the importance of marking the annual Mitzvah Day with a variety of initiatives. We should feel very proud as a community that we can inspire people of all ages and faiths to come together in the spirit of Tikkun Olam, ‘repairing the world’.”
Here are seven pictures that give a flavour of how people in Leeds got involved.
. Light for Leeds
Pictured from left at the Light for Leeds event are Simon Phillips, director of interfaith for the Leeds Jewish Representative Council; the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Robert Gettings; Leeds city councillor Abigail Marshall Katung; Najam Khan, and Gurmukh Singh, of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha. Photo: Steve Riding
7. The Zone
The Zone launched a community knitting project, inviting individuals invited to knit squares to be combined into blankets for those in need across the winter months. Pictured are community engagement manager Alex Elf, senior youth worker Sophie Jackson and youth worker Harry Tedford. Photo: Steve Riding