Why does Tzedek  exist?

The roots go back to Band Aid and Live Aid in 1984 and 1985. These events moved millions of people across the globe. The UK Jewish community was no exception and fundraising appeals in the Jewish press brought an unexpectedly high response. People and groups started to think about a specifically Jewish agency to tackle global poverty. Inevitably it took some time but in the spring of 1990 a small group of activists led by Steve Miller, proposed a series of open seminars on global issues to be held under the name Tzedek. These seminars attracted new people and set the tone for the organisation - rooted in Jewish values and seriously engaging with the reality of development work with all its complexities. In the autumn of 1990 Tzedek was formally launched with a public event for children to coincide with the UN World Summit for Children.

The first projects were carefully assessed and supported in South India, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Swaziland. We continued our educational focus with further public seminar series focusing on different aspects of development. Tzedek also played a leading part in the management of the Debt Crisis Network which became Jubilee 2000 and the Make Poverty History campaign. 

Support for overseas projects continued, including reconstruction work in areas recovering from war - South Ethiopia, Kurdistan, Mozambique and Rwanda. In 1994/1995 Tzedek took a major leap forward. Our slim but over-stretched organisational structure could no longer cope with our expanding work - we expanded the Board of Trustees chaired by Clive Lawton, formalised the teams and employed a part-time development officer.

In 1995 Tzedek sent its first  volunteer programme in Zimbabwe. Five volunteers - mostly graduates of Jewish youth movements - took part in the first scheme which was co-ordinated by a long term volunteer in Zimbabwe. Each year's returned volunteers brought a new vigour to Tzedek's work and, in several cases, long term projects arose from their activities.

The following years saw continued expansion and development. The volunteers increased in numbers each year and, when political circumstances limited our activities in Zimbabwe, new programmes and partnerships were established in West Bengal, Kenya and Ghana. New overseas projects developed in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Ghana. Each new project brought new relationships, partnerships and friendships with colleagues in those countries.

Tzedek employed their first full time director in 2007 and won a significant three year grant from DFID for the Jewish Global Citizenship Project matched by the Pears Foundation. Soon afterwards Tzedek were accepted as the first residents of the Pears Foundation's Jewish Social Action & Innovation Hub (JHub) in West Hampstead which has helped Tzedek recruit a number of new staff.

Tzedek continues to develop with our income almost doubling year on year for the last two years. New projects are being supported and in the past year new teams have been formed to give more time and effort towards the volunteer programme and education activities. If you would like to play a part in Tzedek's future successes we would love to hear from you.