JAMI

Jami is the mental health service for the Jewish community. Statistics show that one
in four British adults will experience a diagnosable mental health problem each year.

Mental health affects everyone, be it directly or indirectly. Jami is here to address
those needs and now helps over 1,200 people each year.

Jami’s focus is on recovery; moving from lack of control and autonomy to becoming
an active member of Jami, as well as the Jewish and wider community. Jami
promotes and enables recovery by providing services which educate, support and
facilitate – helping people with mental illness achieve their goals and have control
over their life. Our support for Jami has gone directly to the people who can most
benefit from it, vulnerable people in the Jewish community who need to access the
mental health support service in order to be able to move onto their personal
recovery journey.

Alongside the mental health service, our community has directly benefitted from
Jami’s Head Room education team running a very successful Outreach programme
in the shul last year. Jami ran four education sessions on subjects as diverse as
Overcoming Isolation to Listening Skills to help and inspire both those directly
impacted by the issues under discussion and those we can reach out to in our
families and our community. The Outreach programme returns in October with
another four education sessions to enable us to build relationships, be able to better support young people’s emotional health and explore the relationship between our mental health and our families. Jami has worked this year running several pro-bono sessions for our local school Kantor King Solomon High School, working with both the teachers and the students to better understand pertinent issues such as mental health awareness, emotional regulation and impulsivity, and stress management.
 

Jami works hard to educate, support and provide opportunities. The team also
deliver similar sessions to JCoSS and JFS. The education team are passionate about

“skilling up” a group of Peer Trainers, individuals recruited for their empathy,
communication skills and enthusiasm to learn how to facilitate groups; the Peer
Trainers all have live experience of mental health issues and used this experience to inform their work. Jami is proud to include Peer Trainers based in the Redbridge
community who are invaluable resources to us.
Here is an overview about Jami over the past 12 months:
 Over 26,742 separate provisions of service to 1,345 separate individuals
 Educated the community about mental health, offering a range of courses
through Jami’s Head Room education programme
 153 people met with befrienders out in the community
 24 people supported to find paid employment
 796 people under the age of 18 have received Mental Health Awareness,
Stress Management and transition sessions in schools, youth groups &
synagogue

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BEIT ISSIE SHAPIRO

Beit Issie Shapiro (BIS) is an Israeli charity that provides innovative therapies and
services for children with disabilities & their families and directly helps over 58,000
people every year. It works across all Israeli society, including both Jewish and Arab
children & adults and plays a leading role in promoting the inclusion of people with
diverse abilities and disabilities.

As part of the BIS model of identifying unmet needs in the field of disabilities and
developing innovative solutions to meet those needs, BIS uses the latest
technologies in its work involving children with disabilities. The iPad is a revolution
for children with disabilities; it enables them to unlock worlds to communication,
education and recreation that were previously thought impossible to reach. By using.

iPads, children have moved from frustration at the inability to express thoughts,
needs and feelings to active communication in the class, in therapy and at home
with the family. iPads enable children to learn in classes and to complete homework.

They also make play much more accessible, which in turn leads to more social
inclusion.

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BIS use iPads on a daily basis with all 53 children (ages 5-12) in the five classrooms in our Special Education School. As part of the programme, each child has an
individualised therapy plan incorporating the use of the iPad, particularly in speech
and occupational therapy sessions. In speech therapy, the focus is on apps that
provide augmentative alternative communication, and in occupational therapy, fine
motor skills are strengthened using apps that involve pressing and selecting
different images on the screen. The programme includes training for speech and
occupational therapists on how best to incorporate the iPad into the therapy
sessions, including training on which apps to use and how.
 

With the generous support from Woodford Forest United Synagogue, BIS were able
to cover iPad use at BIS for 2 children for the whole year for educational,
therapeutic and recreational purposes. This included the purchase of 2 iPads, 2
covers and the work of therapists with the children. The remaining money will go
towards the purchase of a 3rd iPad.

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Please call the office to make your donation.