Jewish Children's Holidays Fund

The Jewish Children's Holidays Fund is a longstanding Jewish charity dedicated to ensuring every Jewish child, particularly those from low-income families facing financial hardship, experiences the joy and enrichment of summer holidays and respite breaks, transcending economic barriers to foster equality of childhood opportunity. Rooted in values of compassion, inclusivity, community care, and unwavering commitment to social equity, it channels grants to partner organizations delivering these vital experiences, believing that holiday participation drives wellbeing, builds positive memories, prevents exclusion, and strengthens family resilience through shared respite and communal bonds.

It prioritizes project funding for holiday programmes, summer breaks, and respite care tailored to Jewish children experiencing poverty, disadvantage, or disabilities, including physical disabilities, learning disabilities, and complex health needs that isolate families from mainstream activities. Supported interventions encompass residential holiday schemes, special respite experiences enabling family short breaks to alleviate carer exhaustion, inclusive playschemes promoting social inclusion and peer connections, therapeutic outdoor activities for emotional enrichment and confidence-building, and community-led holiday initiatives addressing barriers like financial insecurity that prevent participation in sports, arts, and adventure programmes. These target children otherwise excluded due to family crisis, low-income circumstances, or additional needs, seeking outcomes of improved mental health, reduced isolation, enhanced family wellbeing, and lifelong social skills through accessible, enriching holiday provision across Jewish communities.

Exclusively funding Jewish-only initiatives, it avoids grants to individuals, core funding, capital projects, or unrestricted support, focusing solely on time-limited holiday and respite interventions rather than ongoing services. Distinctive for its laser focus on holiday-derived transformation—uniquely prioritizing summer breaks as a preventative tool against disadvantage for disabled children and their families—it favors grassroots Jewish organizations delivering person-centred, inclusive respite to combat exclusion in underserved communal settings, emphasizing faith-aligned, community-embedded solutions over broad welfare provision.