About Us

For more than 70 years Friends of the Sick (Chevrat Bikkur Cholim), has provided help and support to members of the Jewish community who struggle with old age or illness.

We complement what larger social welfare organisations offer and provide an important alternative to residential care.

We work closely with communal organisations such as Jewish Care, the AJR, Shalvata and synagogue care committees as well as with local councils and GP practices and support people from all shades of religious observance.

We respond to requests for help with minimum bureaucracy. Our approach is informal and friendly.

We ask for a small contribution to cover part of the costs for our services. In some appropriate cases, we reduce or waive our charge.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

In 1947, there was no organisation in the Jewish community to help look after ill or convalescing people; shortly after the second world war, there were very few trained nurses available and babies were delivered at home with the hope that a doctor or nurse could assist and that friends or family could provide a helping hand.

Rabbi Solomon Schonfield called a meeting on 1st December 1947 at the Hendon Adath Yisroel Synagogue where he spoke about the need to organise volunteers to visit sick people in their homes or in hospitals and to support nursing mothers by looking after other young children in the household.

The Society was established and named Chevrat Bikkur Cholim for Northwest London. With much support from the community, the Society became well known and received many requests for help every week.

When Chevrat Bikkur Cholim celebrated its 25th Jubilee, it was honoured to have the Chief Rabbi Lord Jakobovits, Emeritus Chief Rabbi Rabbi Brodie and Haham Rabbi Gaon as Patrons. Since then, all successive Chief Rabbis have graciously agreed to become one of our Patrons.

Today Friends of the Sick (Chevrat Bikkur Cholim) carries on working closely with many communal organisations to provide care and support to members of the Jewish community.

Message from Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis

Our community takes enormous pride in the activities of Chevrat Bikkur Cholim – Friends of the Sick who provide the support needed to help elderly and sick people maintain their dignity and independence while continuing to live in their own homes.

The friendship and succour they offer provide much appreciated assistance and encouragement for the many who benefit from it.

I wholeheartedly congratulate Friends of the Sick for their outstanding work for over 75 years and wish them continued success in all their worthy endeavours

Friends of the Sick (Chevrat Bikkur Cholim) announces wind-down and transfer of its remaining assets to Jewish Care

The Trustees of Friends of the Sick (Chevrat Bikkur Cholim) have reluctantly concluded that after serving the Jewish community in London for almost 80 years the Charity no longer has the critical mass to continue operating independently and that doing so would not be the best way to further its charitable purposes. The Trustees have therefore determined that Friends of the Sick should wind down its operations by the end of January 2027 and then transfer its remaining assets to Jewish Care.

Friends of the Sick operates in a sector that is subject to ever increasing regulation and has faced significant challenges in recent years, particularly since the COVID pandemic. As a small charity it is not feasible for Friends of the Sick to register with the Care Quality Commission as a domiciliary care agency and consequently its support workers are not allowed on their home visits to clients to provide any personal care involving physical contact, such as assistance with washing or dressing. This materially constrains the services that Friends of the Sick can offer, which in turn has resulted in a very substantial fall in both client numbers and hours of support provided, to less than one-third of pre-COVID levels.

The Trustees carefully considered a range of options before concluding that winding down Friends of the Sick as an independent organisation and transferring its remaining assets to Jewish Care offered the best solution. Jewish Care was chosen because of the two charities’ longstanding relationship, shared values and compatible charitable purposes. Friends of the Sick has worked closely for many years with Jewish Care’s Social Work and Community Support Team, which provided the majority of client referrals. As the leading health and social care charity for the Jewish community in London and the South-East, Jewish Care has the established infrastructure, professional expertise and compassionate approach needed to support continuity for existing clients and future beneficiaries.

In the period leading up to closure, Jewish Care’s Social Work and Community Support Team will offer an individual assessment to each existing client to identify potential options for continued support. Friends of the Sick’s remaining assets will be ringfenced to support Jewish Care’s Social Work and Community Support Team, helping to ensure that people have somewhere to turn when they need it most. Each year, the team supports close to 3,000 clients, many at a point of crisis. With no government funding, this vital service depends entirely on voluntary income, making gifts such as that from Friends of the Sick essential to ensuring that such support can continue.

Simon Sackman, President of Friends of the Sick, said:

“It is always sad when an organisation that has served its community for almost 80 years closes. Bikkur Cholim was founded in 1947, before the creation of the NHS, and was for many years led by Dr Arnold Oppenheimer z’l. Across eight decades it has supported the Jewish community in London in many ways: initially assisting women before and after childbirth, visiting patients in hospital and providing nursing care after discharge; and more recently visiting people who are sick, elderly or lonely in their own homes, offering companionship, emotional support and practical assistance.

The Trustees are profoundly grateful to all the dedicated staff and generous donors who have sustained Friends of the Sick over the years. The decision to close has been deeply difficult, but the Trustees’ responsibility is to ensure that the Charity’s objectives continue to be advanced in the most effective and sustainable way. We believe that the resources available to Jewish Care and the values it upholds will best enable those objectives to be achieved.”

Daniel Carmel-Brown, Chief Executive of Jewish Care, said:

“Friends of the Sick has served our community with extraordinary compassion over many years. We will work closely with its Trustees to support an orderly transition and help ensure that every client is treated with dignity and care. Looking ahead, this generous transfer will strengthen our Social Work and Community Support Team’s ability to be there for people across our community when they need help most. We are honoured to carry forward the spirit and values of Friends of the Sick, ensuring that its legacy continues to benefit both existing clients and future generations.”