Director of fundraising and marketing for the Fed, Raphi Bloom said: "The issue of funds at this time is so serious that the three leading Jewish social care charities in the country have come together to ask our community to help us. "As Hillel the Elder said 'If not now, when'.

"We are talking about saving people's lives."We understand that everyone is struggling financially at this time, but we have to act now - it's a crucial and extraordinary time for us.

"Our teams are working round the clock to care for our most vulnerable, and we are all having to invest significantly at our own cost in safety equipment, deploy more specialist staff to cover staff who are isolating or sick and keep our residents at Heathlands Village in contact with their families using technology.

"We need our community's support in our greatest time of need. Fed chief executive Mark Cunningham said: "We all need additional funding in order to keep up with the needs of our staff and those we care for.

"There is a huge gap between the funding we receive from local authorities and the actual cost of residential care, this will be put under even more pressure with hospitals needing to discharge. Between us, we need to raise several million pounds to keep our vital work going.

"As the current chairman of the National Association of Jewish Homes, I know that the 16 other care home organisations are in desperate need, so, supporting the campaign really will be supporting the whole community."

https://www.jewishcare.org/jewishhomesemergencyappeal

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