This week marked the launch of a new 501(c)(3), World Jewish Relief USA. The organization will support the global projects of World Jewish Relief, the UK Jewish community’s international development and humanitarian agency, enabling them to scale up their lifesaving work.

On Monday I had the privilege of taking Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis to Krakow for the day – not your usual Bank Holiday daytrip. We went to visit the Jewish Community Centre, whom World Jewish Relief is supporting through our Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

World Jewish Relief’s Patron, His Royal Highness The former Prince of Wales, visited the charity’s offices in Northwest London on 28th April 2022 at his request. His Royal Highness, who has been a Patron of the charity since 2015, came to learn about their work particularly in Ukraine, where they have assisted more than 20,000 vulnerable individuals including refugees with humanitarian relief in-country, and aided evacuation efforts.

In Lviv, the daily air raid sirens are one of the few indications of war, along with the boarded-up monuments and covered ornate church windows, the sandbags and checkpoints, and the quiet evening streets as the curfew approaches. Yet after just a day or two, these signs of war simply sit faintly in the air, like a background smell. It is not an all-pervading stench as it is further East, but you can still sense it.

Elena* is from Odesa. Before the Russian invasion, she lived there with her husband and two children, and had a good job at a logistics company. They were happy. But on 24th February 2022 they woke up to the sound of explosions, and everything changed in an instant.

We are deeply moved to receive this letter from our Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales, showing his continued support for us and the vulnerable people we support as we face the challenges of Covid-19.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24th February has caused the fastest and largest displacement of people in Europe since World War II. 10 million people have been forcibly displaced, more than 1,000 civilians are believed to have been killed, and attacks have taken place on civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools and places of shelter.

World Jewish Relief has been there since day one of the invasion, continuing close relationships with our 29 local partners. We have been in daily contact with partners to understand and swiftly respond to their communities’ most urgent needs.