My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered legal entity
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), evidence of access to a lease for the space you are leveraging, and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions.
Yes
First Name
Naomi
Last Name
Baumrind
Pronouns
She/Her
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
1
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
No
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
No
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Beth Jacob Foundation
Lead Organisation Name
Beth Jacob Foundation
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
1967
Initiative Title
Heartbeat
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
www.bjnw.co.uk
Initiative Stage
Growth (You’ve moved past the very first activities; working towards the next level of expansion.)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Health & Fitness
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
Improving access to sports by transforming part of an old community asset into a vibrant centre of sports and play.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
We are seeking to tackle a severe gap in access to sports amongst young people from a deprived community. The project will primarily benefit young girls from the Jewish community in North West London, as well as the wider community in the area. Beth Jacob is very close to the community and the problem, and has already worked to mitigate its impact in the past. As mentioned, the project is targeting the Jewish community which faces significant barriers to exercise and sports. This is due to specific cultural needs including Shabbos observance, kosher diets, and the requirement of single-gender settings and modesty. In addition, the community is facing growing discrimination, hostility and safety issues, which make mainstream sports even more inaccessible. Beth Jacob Foundation has worked within the Jewish community for over 55 years. In addition to their specific cultural needs, our users face additional barriers including low income, overcrowding and other personal challenges – and we work to make support, leisure and education accessible to them. Of Beth Jacob Foundation participants, over 70% come from families with 6+ children, and many more are facing low income. In addition, a large proportion of our users take on considerable responsibility at home including caring for younger siblings etc., as parents are out of the house for many hours every day. This results in them having little space for self-care, development and growth; impacting emotional wellbeing, happiness and future chances. According to the NIH, people with lower incomes are less likely to participate in physical activity. Coupled with the cultural barriers mentioned, financial blocks stop Jewish girls from exercising almost altogether; detrimentally impacting their wellbeing and future.
Your approach: How are you/ will you addressing the problem outlined above? How does your solution unlock or reimagine access to spaces for sport and physical activity? What role do landowners, local authorities, or other decision-making stakeholders play in your approach? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
The ‘Heartbeat’ project will transform a substantial, well-located space into a centre of sports, play and exercise for young people. This will be done at the second-floor extension which we are adding to the Beth Jacob House (173 Golders Green Road), and will be made fully accessible through installing a lift. The transformed space will be used by over 850 young people every year, for a variety of sports including gymnastics, dance sports, Zumba and in-door play. In addition to the space being used by members at their leisure for free, we will be delivering regular sports and play sessions for significantly reduced prices. This will tackle the gap in access to sports on a large scale, increase appreciation of and participation in sports, and allow young people in disadvantage to access the physical, mental and social benefits of movement and exercise. The project idea emerged from our ongoing work with young girls in deprivation, where we are witnessing first-hand how physical, social and financial constraints are impacting our users. It also came up as part of our larger-scale building project (full make-over of the Beth Jacob House), a significant part of which will be setting up an accessible, inviting gym. The Beth Jacob House is an asset which belongs to the Charity. To date, we have completed all legal steps to launch the project – including setting up a CIO, transferring the asset from the Charity (Beth Jacob Foundation; 293460) to the CIO (Beth Jacob Foundation; 1213252), and securing planning permission.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
The ‘Heartbeat’ initiative has been designed for, by, and in response to requests from young people and the community. It fully engages with those at the heart of the problem; will provide access to sports for those facing economic and cultural barriers. It will respond to their needs directly by offering single-gender, culturally-sensitive facilities for exercise and play, pro bono or at greatly reduced rates. As a charity, Beth Jacob Foundation is deeply embedded in the local community and places young people at the heart of all that it does. Our Trustees and staff are members of the local community, some being parents of young people themselves. Most of our volunteers are past users of Beth Jacob Foundation. We engage in continuous monitoring and feedback collection, with all comments being recorded (with permission) and acted upon as appropriate. Some of the methods used include regular surveys, feedback questionnaires, a monitored suggestion box, steering groups in preparation to new initiatives, and regular chats with users and parents. We also collaborate with local schools and youth providers to exchange referrals (in line with GDPR), share resources, and receive feedback around impact and needed support. The initiative at hand has been launched in response to requests from young people – and will continue to be shaped by their comments and feedback. The Trustees decided to allocate this space for a gym because of the identified need for such facilities. We have also utilised specialist support to design the project, as well as listened to requests and included a question about preferred use for the space in our End-of-Year Survey in 2023. The project will directly respond to the needs of this community by taking their cultural needs into consideration.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in unlocking spaces for and access to physical activity and sport so far? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had , and or what impact do you envision having in the future?
The ‘Heartbeat’ project will significantly improve access to culturally appropriate sports for a deprived community. It will generate long-term impact to young people by boosting their confidence, health and emotional wellbeing, as well as benefit the community as a whole by increasing awareness to physical activity and creating better spaces for collaboration and play. OUTPUTS: • We will add a second-floor extension to the Beth Jacob House. • We will equip the designated space for play and exercise. • We will set up membership and maintenance systems. • Approx. 180 young people will use the facilities independently per week, in line with systems and regulations. • Regular play and exercise sessions will take place, involving over 250 young people weekly. IMPACT: • At least 430 young people will access sports and play in line with their needs, every year. • Physical and emotional wellbeing of young people will improve, as well as their academic performance. • Physical activity will be promoted amongst local girls. • The effects of obesity will be reduced. • Participants will have reduced risks of suffering from chronic/mental illnesses later on. • The community will benefit from improved facilities. • Inclusion and diversity will be promoted. We have based the figures above on data from past projects, and in accordance with current levels of participation in other programmes. Within our ‘Fit Futures’ scheme (delivered in partnership with Sport England), 250 Jewish girls accessed weekly physical activity sessions – significantly improving their wellbeing and happiness. Whilst we are still collating data, we have to date received overwhelmingly positive feedback both from participants and parents.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
The ‘Heartbeat’ project is innovative in the way it would “create more space” by extending an existing building. In addition to this approach being many times more cost-efficient, effective and straight-forward, it significantly increases the value of the project by installing sport facilities into an already vibrant community hub. This approach would make sports and play accessible and part-of-life, rather than introducing a new concept in a new location. The project will embrace challenge, collaboration, change and agility. It aims to make a longstanding, meaningful change to the local community – picking up awareness and accessibility to sports in a way unknown until now. As mentioned, our users have minimal access to organised sports at the moment. We will collaborate with users, experts, and community leaders, to ensure the project meets their needs perfectly; working carefully to ensure the desired outcomes are achieved. Differently to past projects, the current project seeks to tackle the root of the problem. It would increase awareness and participation in sports for the whole community, rather than offer targeted sessions to a limited number of participants. Moreover, the project will significantly boost appreciation of sports by creating an accessible, inviting space allocated to physical activity – as well as building, storytelling and fundraising for this initiative. This aims to ‘shift norms within the community’, encouraging more young people to participate regularly in sports. This project is also unique in the way it would fill a gap of need amongst a deprived audience, whose needs are not met by mainstream providers. Making the gym suitable for Jewish girls will require innovation and detail, as well as in-depth knowledge of the community’s needs.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your initiative up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
Our project has been planned carefully, with the support of professionals, to ensure successful delivery with G-d’s Help. To date, we have already secured planning permission from Barnet Council, created a detailed strategy, and received quotes and budget estimates from various construction providers. The Trustees reviewed financial plans and viability of the project in detail, with the support of experienced constructors and property experts from the local community. To ensure operational sustainability, we have hired an experienced project manager (Mr Selwyn Berlinger MCIOB; SRB Group) to manage the construction. Throughout the planning and delivery phases, Trustees will meet regularly to review operations, financial management and required input. At this point, we have completed the legal phases and most of the planning. We have also secured almost 50% of the (full) project’s costs, through a large-scale community fundraising campaign. This illustrates the deep-rooted esteem with which we are held locally. We are currently going to tender, and planning to launch actual construction in the coming months. If you wish, we would be happy to provide a copy of our financial strategy for this project. The ‘Heartbeat’ initiative is a ‘scaling’ initiative by definition – it aims to scale up and significantly increase our ability to provide sports and exercise facilities to young people in the community. Whilst we have delivered exercise sessions in the past, this was without suitable space and at a much lower scale. Through the new gym, a total of 850 young girls will access quality facilities, and at least 250 will attend regular play and movement sessions.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
We will utilise both internal and external expertise to ensure that the project is successful, with the Will of G-d. Whilst the Trustees will review and manage all operations, the following roles will be allocated: Mrs L Finiasz (Chair): Leads Trustees meetings; oversees operations of the organisation. Will set up and manage sport sessions, activities and systems of maintenance and membership for regular participants. Mr A Kraus (Trustee, Treasurer): Financial management and governance officer. Reviews financial plans, budgets, and fundraising strategies. Reports to Trustees around viability and budgeting. Mr R Vorhand (Trustee): Property expertise. As a longstanding property and construction expert, he will guide the project and utilise beneficial partnerships to ensures quality and cost-efficiency. Mrs C Hager, Mrs H Kaufman, Trustees (Trustees): oversee plans and operations. Will meet regularly to discuss progress, feedback and impact. Mr Peter Korn, Interface Legal (Solicitor): Legal support. Supports the Charity with guidance on the legal processes (asset transfer, charity governance etc.) Mrs E Sterngold and Ms J Graham (External Consultants): Budgeting and business plans. Assisting with calculated planning of income, expenditure, and required funding management schemes. Mr S Berlinger, SRB Group (Construction Manager): will deliver the actual works. Provides budgets for planning, utilises efficient providers, and manages the construction on site. Mrs G Povarsky and N Baumrind (Fundraising): manage reporting, story-telling and branding of the project, as well as external fundraising. Mrs A Diamant (Administrator): will install membership and maintenance systems; deliver sports and activities once project is done.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
Below is a list of planned milestones for the ‘Heartbeat’ initiative: Securing Planning permission (secured). Set up of CIO, transfer of Asset to CIO (completed). Tender completion (in process). Fundraising and mortgage – if required (in process). Launch of works (September 2026). Installation of lift (March 2027). Completion of second-floor structure (May 2027). Internal finishing (June 2027). Equipment and furnishing (July 2027). Installation of membership and maintenance schemes (August 2027). Start of sessions and regular use of gym (September 2027).
Capacity-Building Participation and Support Funding: If you were to make it as a finalist, you will be required to participate in an 8-week capacity building programme. If funding/ cost is a barrier to your participation, we may be able to offer up to 10,000 GBP of grant money available to support you. Please break down below, if it is the case, what costs you would incur and you would need covered. (Please note that there are restrictions on how the grant money may be used; please refer to the T&Cs for further details.
A £10,000 grant would be used towards costs which are directly connected to the project, including payment to consultants, financial advisors and the project manager. In particular, we would be delighted to receive £8,000 which would cover the Project Manager’s pay.
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