Donations up by over £200,000 this year as community responds in force to call for even greater financial support, raising a record £1.36m for Anglo-Jewry's leading Children and Family Services charity
The Rt. Hon Margaret Hodge, MBE MP was the guest speaker at the Norwood Annual Dinner, the flagship fundraising event for Anglo-Jewry’s leading children and family services care organisation and one of the UK’s leading children’s charity’s.
In her address to a record audience of nearly 800 loyal supporters attending its Annual Dinner on Monday 3 November 2003 at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, the Children’s Minister praised Norwood’s work and recognised the charity’s position as a valued partner in the UK’s Social Welfare Sector. She said: “We are committed to reforming children's services so that every child is able to reach their potential. Our children's Green Paper sets out our proposals to improve the universal services that all families use and the specialist support available to those in need of it. Services such as Norwood, which provides specialist services to socially disadvantaged children and their families, provide a vital safety net for the most vulnerable members of our community in times of crisis whilst also helping prevent families from reaching crisis point."
RAC Chair, Sir Trevor Chinn CVO, President of the charity, was joined at the event by Norwood’s Chairman John Libson and religious, business and community leaders including the Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks, Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy, spiritual leader of the Sephardi community in the UK, Lady Amilie Jakobovits and key communal philanthropists.
Introducing the recently appointed Minister of State for Children, Sir Trevor Chinn CVO said: “The issues to which Margaret has devoted her political life are the very same issues to which we as a Jewish community are passionately committed. Through organisations like Norwood we are setting the pace and providing a distinguished example to the wider community in the field of welfare. Similarly, our Jewish schools continue to stand as a hallmark of educational excellence, blending the best of our tradition with the needs of our time.”
Sir Trevor Chinn CVO presented a special award on behalf of the charity to Clive Marks, Norwood’s Life President publicly acknowledging the enormous contribution that he has made to Norwood and the welfare of children throughout the community. Sir Trevor announced the evening’s focal point, the appeal film presentation - a moving and highly informative documentary reviewing on the broad range of specialist services that the charity provides for socially disadvantaged children and their families, and people of all ages with learning disabilities.
The Norwood Annual Dinner was chaired by Norwood’s Vice President Jahnene Green. In her welcome Mrs Green said: “Norwood is an outstandingly successful organisation, providing critical services to people in need. We should all be so proud of the work that it does. Seeing record numbers of people here tonight is testimony, if any were needed, to the excellent work that Norwood does providing critical services to troubled and disabled children and young people and their families. Your attendance here shows that you, like me value the charity’s work enormously and are committed to helping ensure its continued success and development. It is truly a mark of a caring community that it looks after those within it that are less fortunate and it is clearly an obligation of those who can help financially, to do so.”
The evening closed with a performance by Jamie Cullum, one of the rising stars in jazz.
