On Sunday 16th November, over 140 members of the Jewish Lads’ & Girls’ Brigade (JLGB) joined the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women on Whitehall for their Annual Parade and Service of Remembrance. The Brigade’s Massed Bands once again provided stirring marches to accompany the parade from Horse Guards to the Cenotaph and back. Brigade Staff Captain Linda Diamond, JLGB Contingent Commander, said, "We were very pleased and extremely proud to once again accompany AJEX on this most memorable occasion. The JLGB members carried out the duties required of them with their usual efficiency as well as being a part of the marching contingent. We are all truly grateful to those who gave their lives so that we can have our freedom”.

Returning to his childhood roots whilst at Hackney Limmud, Lord Levy was on hand to help JLGB recruit members and leaders for a new JLGB group in Hackney. This all forms part of the preparation as JLGB plans to launch its national “Bring a Friend” campaign after the High Holy Days. Lord Levy said: “The fun, friendship and the service to the community that the members of JLGB love, why don’t we share this pleasure with so many other boys and girls because they deserve it and are really missing out”. He continued: “To all the families and friends of the JLGB, let us make a pledge to each other, that although there is a terrific number in the JLGB, that within three years we will double this number. To all the young members of JLGB, this means bringing just one, one of your friends”. With the help of the JLGB’s new movement worker, Antony Grace, the JLGB will be boosting its recruiting campaign at schools, synagogues and communities across the UK to open more JLGB groups in new areas and helping to boost the numbers at existing JLGB Juniors, Seniors and Bands.

The JLGB is bringing 10 children from Sderot to the UK this summer – providing them with respite from the current conditions in the town, with many children still shell-shocked and traumatised. In April, two trustees of the Brigade visited Sderot under the auspices of an agency called Youth at Risk to see how the JLGB could play a role in providing some hope and respite for their children. So moved by what they saw, upon their return they immediately began the task of raising the necessary funds to enable 10 children to be fully subsidised.

Over 320 participants attended at this year’s JLGB Summer Camp. The theme of the camp was “Unite the World”, and the children learned about a different country each day. They immersed themselves in its culture and travelled from “China to America, and from Israel to Nigeria”. Evening entertainment included street dance, Chinese yoyos and an American Broadway night and other activities included all-terrain boarding, archery, abseiling, water sports. Members also took part in the search for a new “JLGB Apprentice”. Keeping with the theme of camp, the children were divided into 8 groups named after Nobel Peace Prize winners – Theodore Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Menachem Begin, Kofi Annan, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Henry Kissinger and Nelson Mandela.

The Jewish Lads and Girls Brigade has become the first Jewish youth group to be accredited under a national scheme recognising organisations which provide a safe environment for young people. The JLGB was awarded the National Council of Voluntary Youth Services Sound Systems quality Kitemark. The Sound Systems scheme, which covers child protection, safe activities and training staff and volunteers, is administered by The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS). A certificate of accreditation was presented at JLGB’s National Summer Camp at Mersea, Essex which ended on Sunday.

Thanks to the UJIA, 30 members of this year’s JLGB Adventure Israel Tour spent the afternoon with Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The JLGB group met Mrs Brown on the steps of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem where they discussed her impressions of Israel and chatted about the group’s experiences over the summer period. The three-week JLGB tour, organised through the UJIA Israel Experience Summer Tour Programme, gives young Jewish children the chance to experience Israel and to learn about their Jewish identity, leadership skills, citizenship and social action.