James Nesbitt is guest speaker at WJR Manchester Dinner
On Wednesday 17 September, WJR's (World Jewish Relief) Manchester Committee hosted its second fundraising dinner with guest speaker, actor James Nesbitt.
Nearly 200 people attended the impressive event at the Airport Radisson Hotel, raising a remarkable £104,000 for WJR.
James Nesbitt spoke warmly about his role as UNICEF ambassador and the ever debated question of moral and social responsibility, commenting, "I'm thrilled to be here tonight with people who have all heard those questions and have said 'yes we do'. Drawing similarities between his background as a Protestant Irish man and that of those within the Jewish community, Nesbitt reflected on the strong Jewish/Irish family ties, "a very strong sense of family and spirit which is so evident tonight." Nesbitt expressed his admiration of WJR working in countries such a Georgia and providing children in particular with hope for the future. "I'm acutely aware about the stigma of disabled children having seen them in Georgia. They have no one to care for them, love and hug them. I'm delighted to come here and to hear about your work going on in that country. It is only an accident of birth that condemns children to that kind of life."
Chaired jointly by Gabrielle Adlestone and Julia Harris, the WJR Manchester Committee have been working together for WJR for five years. The Committee includes Daniel Harris, Bernard Verby, Debra Lazare, Phil Geller, Eliana Blankstone, Emma Harris, Sarah Isaacs, Natasha Lieberman, Amanda Curtis and Suzie Cohen.
Previous Chairman of the committee Daniel Harris, spoke of WJR's global reach and the charity's effective and direct responses to situations that are profiled in the national press; the crisis in Zimbabwe, the Georgia/Russia conflict, the collapse of the Argentinean economy. Describing his recent trip to Moldova and visiting the thousands of Jews living on less than 2$ a day, Daniel commented:
"There has been a great deal of talk over the last few months in this country about the credit crunch, even in organising this evening's dinner, we have sought to keep our costs to a minimum, not only to make it affordable but to ensure that all the money raised this evening, will reach those who need it most.
"We are to here to raise money at a time when many of us are looking at our own expenditure, whether it is changing our car, turning off the lights, looking at holiday costs etc., but it is important that we don't lose sight of the fact that we are seeking to help people who can't possibly comprehend how this is in any way "cutting back", whose survival is a hand to mouth experience and whose daily choices are to eat or buy shoes, to heat their freezing homes or to prepare warm soup, or maybe do without both in order to buy the medicine they so desperately need, who can't possibly "cut back" as their lives don't allow for the luxury of such choices."
Paul Stein -- Head of Fundraising and Communications at WJR, who chaired the evening, said:
"Our thanks go to James Nesbitt for giving his time to come and address us all and of course to the Manchester committee, who have worked tirelessly to ensure the event was a success. We were delighted to see so many new people with whom we were able to share WJR's valuable work and we want to thank everyone for their contribution."
