KLS-Annual Report-17-18-ONLINE

Wider Community
Wider Community
Exploring how we can work
together towards bettering
our society.
Kingston Interfaith Forum
KLS member Fleur Standring represents us on the
Kingston Interfaith Forum (KIFF) where matters of
common interest are discussed by representatives
of the various local faith groups. One example of
KIFF-supported interfaith cooperation is the annual
Holocaust Memorial Day event organised by Kingston
Borough. In the most recent of these the KLS choir
made a well-received contribution.
Interfaith Chanukah party
In 2017, KLS also organised a very well attended
interfaith Chanukah event at which members
of several faith groups talked about how “lights”
feature in their religious tradition and collaborated
in the lighting of the KLS chanukiah before enjoying
refreshments in our social hall.
School visits
KLS hosts visits from several hundred young people
each year. Many of these come to attend one of the
Holocaust Memorial Day workshops that we run
jointly with Kingston’s orthodox synagogue. These
workshops are designed to make teenage school
children aware of the dangers of prejudice and racism.
In 2017 our workshop coordinator Sandra Webber,
was interviewed for local TV (available on YouTube).
Groups of younger school children also visit us to learn
something about Judaism as a complement to their
school curriculum.
Mitzvah Day
KLS participates in “Mitzvah Day” each November
when synagogue congregations do a good deed
(“Mitzvah”) in their local area. In recent years, with
Lilian Somers coordinating, KLS has been involved in
• collecting toiletries and food for ‘Equinox’ a South
London Mental Health Charity
• collecting for the Kingston ‘Food Bank’
• helping with a late-season garden tidy up at
Welcare House, a Charity supporting parents
with young children
• entertaining the residents at a local nursing home
with a musical medley led by our choir director.
High Holy Day Appeal
Each year, at the time of the High Holy Day services,
KLS members make a communal donation to a small
number of nominated charities. Typically the selected
charities will include one that is local to KLS, a UK
non-Jewish charity, a UK Jewish charity and a charity
in Israel that is pursuing social justice. In 2017 the
20 – KLS Annual Report 2017