Volunteers mark 20 years of Mitzvah Day with activities across Maidenhead

A day of good deeds at Maidenhead Synagogue saw adults, children, councillors, an MP and members of the community mucking in to make the town and the world a better place.

Mitzvah Day is described as the UK's largest faith-based day of social action. This year, it took place on Sunday.

The day sees 55,000 people volunteer across 40 different countries to give their time to local charities and environmental projects.

Sunday was ‘extra special’ because it marked the 20th anniversary of the event.

Maidenhead Synagogue saw 100 volunteers sign up to take part this year.

Within the synagogue itself, a group sat to knit and crochet hats for homeless and elderly people, part of the Knit Your Socks Off’s project for November, hosted by Theresa Carter.

As an added bonus, one volunteer managed to learn how to crochet as a result of taking part.

There was also a card-making activity for Save a Child’s Heart, a humanitarian organisation that provides paediatric cardiac surgery to children from developing countries.

More than 30 cards were made at the synagogue, including one featuring puzzles made out of ice lolly sticks.

In addition, there was cooking for the homeless. Volunteers made more than 150 servings of vegetarian chilli for Share Wokingham, a charity the synagogue is newly supporting this year.

One of the quirkier traditions also made a return; walrus-watching from space for the World Wildlife Fund.

Participants reviewed more than 15,000 satellite images during the morning, finding at least 1,000 walruses.

Sticking with the environmental theme, young volunteers made dozens of bird feeders, bug hotels and hedgehog boxes and enthusiastic litter-pickers filled up three large bags of litter.

Out and about, there was a collect-a-thon of children’s books for the Children’s Book Project. Ten bags of books — making ‘well over’ 100 books in total — were collected.

There was also a stint at Braywick Cemetery, in which a group of about a dozen volunteers visited to clean the Jewish graves.

It was ‘a meaningful event for many’, as they were able to place small stones as an act of remembrance on the graves of people to whom they had a connection.

Volunteers also visited the elderly residents of Maidenhead’s Herewards House care home, who require extra care due to frailty or cognitive issues.

The visitors ‘really enjoyed the time’ and are looking forward to planning a visit in January 2026 to continue fostering that connection.

They said they are already thinking of ways they could enhance the lives of residents further, perhaps by bringing gifts or providing pampering sessions.

Maidenhead MP Josh Reynolds also dropped in to support the event alongside Hurley and Walthams councillor George Blundell and Wokingham town councillors Morag and Keith Malvern.

Alexandra Domingue, Maidenhead Synagogue’s Mitzvah Day organiser, said: “It was a fantastic day where we took time out to make a difference and brought a little joy into the world.

“It felt a bit special, as after a day of rain, when we arrived the sun was coming out and we had a rainbow over the synagogue. A good sign for a great day.”