Legadel | Annual Legadel Events

Lorrine Marer - 31 May 2023

On 31st May acclaimed ADHD Coach & Behavioural Specialist Lorrine Marer presented “How to Manage Challenging Behaviour and Still Smile”.

This was the final event in our series of three wellbeing talks for parents. The event sold out and attracted over 80 parents many of whom were hoping for some support and advice.

Lorrine specialises in Challenging Behaviour and aggressive conduct disorders and is successful in breaking well established patterns of inappropriate behaviour and tackling the root of complex family issues. She suggested approaches which could be used at home to help change the dynamic between parent and child during confrontation.

Feedback was positive with parents stating

“I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for organising the fantastic speaker last night. The topics covered were truly enlightening, and I gained valuable knowledge. Once again, thank you for hosting such an outstanding event”

“To Lorrine- the super mum who gave the talk last week ….. for Legadel.The talk was super- I wish I would have heard this 31 years ago when my oldest was 2”

The event was recorded and is available to purchase for anyone who was unable to attend by emailing events@legadel.org.uk. All proceeds kindly donated to Legadel

Leanne Cowan - 16 March 2023

On 16^th March acclaimed Clinical Child Psychologist Leanne Cowan of KindleKids presented “Helping your children understand and manage their emotions”.

The evening was huge success, with tickets selling out and over 85 parents and Legadel supporters attending. Leanne’s relaxed and conversational approach was easy to understand and follow. She gave ideas and techniques to try to de-escalate children’s triggers of behaviour explaining why some children react in ways parents don’t understand. Leanne uses a preventative rather than a reactive approach to lessen anxiety and frustration.

Feedback was really positive with one parent stating

“I attended Leanne Cowan's talk last week Thursday night. I just wanted to feedback to say how useful it was and how much I benefited from it! It was so eye opening into understanding why my kids act the way they do and I gained such useful tools.”

The event was recorded and is available to purchase with printable resources for anyone who was unable to attend by emailing events@legadel.org.uk. All proceeds kindly donated to Legadel

Staff Appreciation Dinner with Inspirational Speech by Legadel Founder Yoeli Schwartz - 1 March 2023

The Legadel annual staff appreciation dinner was held on Wednesday 1^st March at The White House Express. Our Purim themed dinner was an opportunity for the Trustees to thank all the wonderful staff for their hard work and dedication delivering essential therapy intervention to the Legadel children.

The evening began with Sharonie Melavsky, the Legadel Service Manager welcoming and thanking staff for all their continued support before introducing Founding Trustee Yoeli Schwartz to speak.

Yoeli gave a heart-warming and inspirational speech sharing the challenges and personal experience of his struggles with learning at both Cheder and Yeshiva. This formed the backstory of why Legadel was created.

It took some time for the community to really believe in Legadel and to embrace its ideology and really understand not only the need the community has but also how to support its children. What began as an idea, initially rejected for a variety of reasons, developed into a thriving Early Intervention preventative charity. A place where children’s struggles are caught and identified early thereby closing the gaps that create barriers to learning.

In 10 years Legadel has grown raising children’s confidence and enjoyment at school enabling them to be fully integrated children within the classroom setting. It has serviced 665 children in 15 schools with further expansion into more schools on the horizon. Each week over 120 children receive over 300 therapy intervention sessions delivered by 17 Therapists and 25 trained Key Workers.

Staff Event 2022

Since large gatherings were not possible during the corona lockdown period, it has been a while since the last Legadel staff event. Therefore, we were particularly excited to reconvene on 28^th March 2022 for a staff appreciation dinner. Hosted at White House Express, the dinner was a chance for staff to meet, relax, reminisce and to receive a hearty thank you for the continual hard work which they invest in the Legadel children.

Mrs Faigy Gross- Legadel trustee and SENCO for Pardes Primary School- opened the night with a speech. As one of Legadel’s founders, Faigy shared Legadel’s humble beginnings of a few staff members working out of portacabins (!) and how we have grown into an organisation providing vital support to close to 80 children across 10 different Jewish primary schools.

Faigy impressed upon the staff the uniqueness and importance of Legadel’s work, sharing feedback from parents on how comprehensive the program is and how it makes a difference to their children’s abilities, and more importantly, to their confidence.

We also took the opportunity to show our gratitude to Mrs Sharonie Malevsky, our service manager. Sharonie oversees every aspect of the support provided to each and every child, ensuring that progress is made. Liasing with schools, parents and the Legadel staff, Sharonie brings together all of the people involved in a child’s care. Additionally, with her background in Psychology as well as Special Education, she regularly addresses phonecalls from parents and school staff seeking advice on all matter’s relating to a child’s wellbeing.

Staff Event 2019

On 11th Dec 2019 Legadel held its annual staff event at White House in Hendon. Legadel is now in its 7th year and true to its name Legadel continues to grow both in numbers and success stories. This year sees a few changes within Legadel. At the end of the Autumn term Daniella Spector the deputy Manager will be leaving Legadel to peruse her studies and Amanda Cummings has been appointed the new Deputy Head. Amanda currently works as a Numeracy specialist in Legadel and will be expanding her expertise in the role of Deputy Manager.

As always, our fantastic therapists and key workers continue to work together making sure the children we work with have the support they require to help them achieve their maximum potential and enjoy their years at school.

Legadel continues to work with 13 schools across the community, together with Sencos and parents. With the Kehillah’s support we look forward to continuing to service more children across the community, ensuring no child who needs us gets left behind.

Legadel Charidy Campaign 2019

On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, Legadel embarked on the mammoth task of raising the £500,000 required to continue to support all of our children in reaching their scholastic potential.

It was a huge task but once again the community pulled through! An amazing effort was put in by individuals across the community who pledged their personal targets to raise essential funds. With 100 pages taken and 4,558 generous donors, Legadel succeeded in reaching their goal prior to the deadline, and set about trying to raise another £150,000 as a bonus round. The combined tireless efforts of the founding trustees and the committee enabled Legadel to raise a total of £650,054.

Legadel extends thanks to everyone who gave of their time on the day to help out with making calls and further promoting the campaign. With these funds Legadel hopes to offer children therapeutic services, in particular families who without their support would be unable to provide their children with the help they so desperately need at such a critical stage in their life. Legadel not only reduces the stigma but also makes therapy affordable and accessible for all, by offering parents a reduction of up to 40 percent of the cost of the service.

Not only does a child receiving Legadel’s service get cost-effective therapy, but the Legadel package means that each child has both a therapist and a keyworker specifically delegated to them. This means that the pressure of consolidating targets and ensuring the child makes progress is no longer solely a parent’s responsibility. Last term Legadel started to work with Beit Shvidler, which now brings the number of schools they are working with to 13. With the kehillah’s support they look forward to continue servicing the community and its children.

Pre-Launch BBQ Event 2019

Last Thursday, Legadel held an exclusive BBQ buffet for the upcoming fundraising campaign.The attendees were encouraged to take up a page to pledge for our charidy event. We bH had 100 pages signed up and were set and ready to launch the campaign.

Staff Event 2019

Another year to be celebrated at Legadel

Last Monday night Legadel staff got together for their Annual staff event, an evening of appreciation and chizuk for all they do. The evening was held at Soyo restaurant where staff had an opportunity to interact, share ideas and experiences they have had which have led to best practice.

This year we were very honoured to have a parent address us on the night as a guest speaker. She spoke about life for her family before Legadel and after.

‘Before Legadel, I felt so lost and often told my husband how North West London is missing a central organisation where you can go, to be directed to the right help and sent down the correct avenues.’ She went on to give two scenarios that had happened to her and how knowing that there was an organisation called Legadel out there, that was able to ensure her child received the support they needed in school and was linked so closely with the school made all the difference for them as a family. She ended by ‘Thanking Legadel for normalising special help for regular children; thank you Legadel for educating our SENCo’s and schools with in-house intervention.'

This term, Legadel is delighted to be starting to work together with both Beis Yaakov Primary school and Menorah Foundation. Working in these new schools means we are now able to support the children in those schools who would also benefit from just having that very specific support at the right time in the right area, to help make school a more manageable place for them.

With the communities continued support we hope to take on more schools, to support more children to reach their own unique potential.

Legadel’s 5th Annual Event 2018

Legadel: Making Our Kids Great Again

It was the charity’s fifth annual event and it came only one night after a massive asifah in the same venue for a similar purpose. Neither of those factors deterredthe North West London kehillah’s charitable passion last Wednesday night once again as many hundreds gathered in admiration of one its most beloved causes – Legadel, for a memorable evening held at Kinloss Suite.

With “early intervention” its raison d’être, Legadel offers learning assistance, six kinds of therapy and extra-curricular activities for children who struggle in school. It now operates in 11 schools in North West London and has positively affected hundreds of Yiddishe neshamos and, by extension, their families too.

As in previous years, the guests regaled in Reich’s lavish buffet and the soul stirring melodies sung by Shayele Gluck’s delightful voice-only choir. Throughout the evening, Rabbanim, senior askanim and friends took the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets with fantastic prizes, by committing to make a regular contribution to allow our youth to flourish spiritually, emotionally and academically.

The chairman of the trustees, the renowned askan Mr Aryeh Melinek welcomed the gathering and thanked all those who made the event the resounding success it was. He paid tribute to the therapists and keyworkers as well as the dedicated office staff members led by service-manager Mrs Sharonie Melavsky and deputy service manager Mrs Danielle Spector. Effusively praising Reb Yoel Schwartz, the founder of Legadel, Mr Melinek described him as one who, “lives, sleeps and dreams Legadel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” The aim of the organisation he said is “to maximise the potential of every child by supporting chinuch in order to counteract problems”. The chairman reiterated what is unfortunately often only realised in hindsight, that “early intervention is the cure for so many issues that become bigger issues”.

The Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Reuben Thompstone whom the chairman described as a “a true friend and supporter of Legadel” was then called upon to address the audience. Describing his close relationship with Legadel since its start, the mayor said how delighted he was to attend and support the “tireless efforts to tear down the barriers to learning” and to give every opportunity to help people grow.

When the time came for the highlight of the evening the audience soaked in the important messages contained in the keynote address by world-renowned ba’al eitzah and lecturer, Rabbi Shais Taub. For close to an hour, the guest speaker took the crowd on a virtual journey across the Jewish world and throughout our glorious history, emphasising the crucial point that in every relationship it is not tolerance that is desired, rather it is interdependency - the need to feel needed. In relation to children, this starts by recognising that every child can succeed with the unique traits Hashem has given them to perform their mission in this world. “Every child can excel in something – every child is the Gadol Hador in their mission” he insisted.

Rav Taub inimitably demonstrated this with stories of Gedolei Yisrael from Shaarei Chesed to Lakewood, “770” to Bnei Brak, all of whom used creative ways to ensure that people from all parts of the religious and social spectrum were made to feel that they have an exclusive purpose. “Every child can achieve excellence if we judge them by their own criteria”.

Too often, Rabbi Taub said, we try to “sell” Yiddishkeit with its many benefits to our children to encourage them to adhere to it. He suggested that we reverse this message and should emphasise what we can do for Yiddishkeit and to bring light to the world at large. The tragedy of a child leaving the fold, R”l, is not only that they’ve lost out on Torah and Yiddishkeit. “We are not losing our kids to the world – we are causing our world to lose the kids.”

His final message drew upon lessons from Chazal regarding our matriarch Leah, “Stop breeding shame in our children for being special and start cherishing every child by recognising that they are Hashem’s only one”.

The mission of Legadel was so aptly summarised by the event chairman Mr Eli Sternlicht, who described the painful niche that existed before the founding of Legadel and explained that the two chinuch-related events held one night apart both focused on pressing needs: the asifah for the chinuch of the tzibbur and Legadel caring for each individual child. As an example of the great progress that Legadel has made in the past year alone, it was publicised at the event that music lessons will now be offered to any child who is need of that outlet. This is alongside the various means of professional help that is offered to hundreds of children in need, all in fulfilment of Legadel’s holy motto that, “No child will be left behind”.

Staff Event 2017

Legadel recently held its annual staff dinner as a show of appreciation to all its members of staff, whether key workers, therapists or office staff. The event was held at Reich’s Banqueting Suite and was attended by over 50 people. Legadel is now in its fifth year and, as in previous years, the evening was an opportunity for the staff to receive words of appreciation and thanks as well as chizuk for all the hard work that they do to support all the kehillah’s children.

After a welcome speech, guest speaker Mrs. Esti Hamilton addressed the gathering. Mrs. Hamilton expressed her thanks and appreciation as a parent to all members of the community who, despite doing a “job,” chose to be involved in this specific type of “job.” She explained how raising children with any type of need is really a communal responsibility, and very often parents simply can’t do it alone! She went on to describe how the name Legadel was so fitting for this organization, as it really focuses on the concept of not only helping people to grow, but also to be a “Gadol” – someone who is able to see things from a broader perspective. As she said, “To be able to think out of the box, especially when looking for ways to help a child who doesn’t necessarily thrive in the approach that may work for other children.”

Over the next academic year, Legadel hopes to expand and take on another school, so that more children can receive the help and early intervention that can help them find school and learning a smoother and more successful experience.

‘Partners In The Future’ Event 2017

Tuesday 22nd May 2017, Kinloss Banqueting Suite

GROWING WITH LEGADEL

FOLLOWING ON FROM LAST YEAR’S MAGNIFICENT SUCCESS, THE ORGANISERS OF LEGADEL’S ANNUAL FUNDRAISER SOUGHT OUT A LARGER VENUE FOR THIS YEAR.

The communal response, however, indicate that Legadel will need an even larger venue next year. An overflow crowd from across the community gathered at the festively- decorated Kinloss Suite on Tuesday evening for the long-awaited event in support of the sacred work carried out by Legadel. In the four years since its inception, it has grown from operating in two schools to eleven, with a vision to expand to “all schools requiring its services”, in the words of Legadel Chairman Mr Aryeh Melinek.

Following a sumptuous buffet, catered by Reich Caterers, the gathering excitedly awaited the internationally-renowned dynamic Guest Speaker Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Jacobson. Drawing on sources as early as Midrashim, through the masters of Chassidus and as recent as 20^th century Gedolei Yisroel, the guest speaker spoke for over an hour to an enthralled audience on the topic of welcoming and encouraging every child to flourish in their unique manner. He urged the assembled to ensure that Yiddishkeit is transmitted with joy and is not seen as an obstacle to happiness. He explained the manner in which this is achieved, primarily by being fully emotionally present for children and enabling them to have an image in their mind that invokes memories of love and happiness. What enabled Yosef Hatzaddik to “refuse” the temptation of Potifar’s wife was the “refusal” of his father to give up on “the rejected brother”, despite his having many other children who were Tzaddikim. Every child must be appreciated as “an ambassador of love, life and hope and a prince of the Ribono Shel Olam”. In his energetic manner, Rabbi Jacobson shared many anecdotes from his rich experience as an educator.

A presentation was made by Mr Yoeli Schwartz founder of the organisation, in recognition of the Event Chairman Mr Eli Sternlicht. Eli worked tirelessly to secure the success of the evening and was ably assisted by Rabbi N Yaffe, Mr A Bloom, Mr S Chontow, Mr Y Fisher, Mr Z Grosskopf, Mr M S Krauss, Mr C J Kesselman, Mr S Lipshitz, Mr S Miller, Mr Y Osteicher, Mr M Rogoff, Mr M Sondhelm and Mr M Weiss.

A Choir arranged by Symphony Productions delivered stunning renditions on many Chinuch-themed songs. The event was attended by Rabbonim from across the Kehilla.

The evening was dedicated L’ilui Nishmas the unforgettable deputy head of Pardes House Kindergarten, Suri Dubiner. The committee had made this decision in recognition of the fourteen years she devoted to bringing out the best in each child as well as being involved in many Chessed endeavours outside of the classroom.

The participants left spiritually and emotionally recharged, with strong appreciation for the work of the organisation. With its mission being, in the words of project manager Mrs Sharonie Melavsky, to “support each and every child with early intervention” tens of therapists and key workers have already made an enormous impact on all the schools they has reached, working together with parents and staff to navigate what was only recently, unfamiliar territory. Many parents have expressed their relief at their child being given another chance to succeed within the framework of the schools.

Staff Event 2016

Last Tuesday night Legadel held its annual staff event. This much-anticipated evening is a great opportunity for Legadel to show its appreciation to all its dedicated staff members. Legadel’sstaff includes both professional therapists of all sorts – speech therapists, occupational therapist, physiotherapists, and specialists in literacy, numeracy and kriah – key workers, who sit in on all the sessions and carry out the child’s targets during the week, as well as office staff. They come from a wide spectrum of the community and beyond, but they all have one thing in common: their care and dedication to the children with whom they work with.

Legadel wanted to give something back to the people who make the organisation what it is. Last week’s informal evening enabled everyone to relax and chat with each other whilst enjoying a fabulous meal sponsored by Reich’s Catering. The staff were welcomed to the evening by Sharonie Melavsky who manages Legadel. Mr. Aryeh Melinek, chair of trustees, thanked all the team for their incredible dedication to the organisation, before introducing Rabbi Dr. David Roth, who was instrumental in helping to set up Legadel four years ago, to share some words of inspiration.

Legadel now supports nine schools and, with its dedicated staff body and trustee team, it hopes to continue to grow and support all those schools who would like to work together with them.