Jewish Care volunteer gets ‘point of light’ award from Sunak

Rita, who was awarded an OBE in 1994 for services to the shipping industry which included confidential government work, first volunteered at a hospital as a teenager in the 1960s, then trained as a youth manager for her local Jewish youth club before volunteering for the charity.

She also chairs her local League of Jewish Women and was one of the founding members of Jewish Care’s Meals on Wheels service back in 1973, cooking food from her kitchen at her home in Southend and delivering hot meals to vulnerable people in east London and north London.

“I started volunteering as a teenager all those years ago,” she recalled. “But I never thought I would need Jewish Care.

“I really don’t know what I would have done without them, being there when my mother needed care.”

Her mother went into full-time care in 2016 at Jewish Care’s Rosetrees home in Friern Barnet, but sadly died a year later — just as Rita began fundraising for them.

Rita promised to continue her support and still visits regularly, holding morning sessions with residents, meeting their families and organising events.

“It’s given me a huge understanding of the care for older people and those living with dementia,” she added.

Rita makes the long trip from Essex to Rosetrees just to give the residents and staff there their favourite chocolate — they call it “Rita’s Chocolate Drop”.

The charity’s chief executive Daniel Carmel-Brown said: “Her dedication is nothing short of outstanding.”

Rita and husband Leon carried on delivering Meals on Wheels twice a week in Barnet and Redbridge during the pandemic. She and her team also delivered essentials and treats to Rosetrees, when it was permitted, despite not being able to enter the home because of Covid restrictions — yet still managed to raise £100,000 for them.

Rita volunteered at a local Jewish Care home taking over a paid staff member’s job on a voluntary basis who had suddenly left. It was one of the typical examples of her 50 years of dedication in the Jewish community.