FAQ

Why is our schools’ financial situation so challenged?

A combination of slashed real-terms government funding, additional indirect payroll costs and increased cost of Ofsted compliance have created severe financial challenges on top of the existing £7,000,000 annual schools’ shortfall. This is risking staff redundancies and reductions in programmes and resources.

Am I required to give more Tzedokoh?

No. This new initiative does not request that you increase your already generous existing total Tzedokoh contributions. Rather, every member is encouraged to allocate an appropriate percentage (preferably 20%) of their annual Tzedokoh donations to the HAYC Chomesh L’Chinuch fund.

How are the funds allocated?

The funds will be solely distributed amongst the schools attended by the kehilloh’s (grand/)children, proportional to the number of the kehilloh’s (grand/)children attending each school. However, if you wish, you may specify which local schools (and their percentage allocation) should receive your donations.

Can I donate directly to the schools, and not via the Shul fund? What are the benefits of donating via Chomesh L’Chinuch?

Precedents from other fund raising activities clearly demonstrate that a structured communal response to a communal challenge has far greater success. Additionally, if a significant majority of our HAYC kehilloh join Chomesh L’Chinuch, then other kehillos in NW London will be strongly encouraged to emulate the success and join the initiative. This will help us meet the NW London Chomesh L’Chinuch initial target of £1,000,000 per annum for our schools.

As a parent paying my school fees, what are my obligations?

As a member of the kehilloh, one is halachically obligated to support your local schools, even if one has paid full school fees. Especially, as for all schools whether state-funded or not, the school fees per pupil simply do not cover the costs of education per pupil.

How is this initiative being rolled out in North West London?

Chomesh L’Chinuch was successfully launched in GGBH in 2015, and it has distributed over £110,000 in the past twelve months. So far we have received a very positive reaction from the local Rabbonim — and of course, the schools. Chomesh L’Chinuch aims to expand to all the NW London kehillohs and raise over £1,000,000 per year for our local schools.

Are my donations confidential?

Your donations to Chomesh L’Chinuch are completely confidential. Neither the shul office nor the HAYC CLC representatives have knowledge of the amounts that you are donating to Chomesh L’Chinuch.

As a reasonably affluent community who donate substantial sums to Tzedokoh, are our schools not already receiving a significant amount of support?

Unfortunately this is not the case. Our research indicates that over 80% of our NW London community give less than 10% of their total Tzedokoh allocation to local schools (excluding fees). Given our schools’ £7,000,000 annual shortfall, this share is clearly far too low and damaging the chinuch of our (grand)children. If everyone in the NW London community was to donate 20% of their Tzedokah to our schools, this would significantly address the annual shortfall and enable us to deliver the best chinuch possible to the children in our community.