Mavar

17/08/2026

https://mavar.org.uk/celebrating-exam-success-at-mavar/
This is a wonderful piece of news, of which we all at Mavar can be proud. Our support for Mum and children has helped this child to achieve an extraordinary set of results, in the face of huge challenges.
This was made possible by our wonderful mentor and support from the whole team (supervisors, colleagues, and staff) who ensured a "village-like" approach for a family managing huge changes.
Mazal tov! 😍

When someone leaves the Charedi community, or decides to increase their secular knowledge, it is often in the face of opposition from the original community. This is the case for men and women, but also for the children they might bring with them. Today, Mavar is celebrating the BTec Exam success of...

14/08/2026

https://mavar.org.uk/slowing-down-to-a-dead-stop/
Our CEO, Erica Marks reflects on slower summer days, and taking a breath...

In the Jewish Leadership’s Dangoor Senior Leadership course, we were encouraged to slow down to speed up, in the sense that by sometimes living life at speed, we lose track of what is really important in our lives and work. We can call this being mindful, or work-life balance, or any mixture of wo...

04/08/2026

Our CEO Erica Marks, and Mavar team have just completed the first member survey of 2026.

The results are here https://mavar.org.uk/member-survey-july-2026/ and it was an uplifting and worthwhile experience.

Huge thanks are due to the whole team, staff and volunteers, but especially to our amazing Mavar members, who have trusted us to be with them on their journeys so far.

I have now had the pleasure of being in post at Mavar for 3 months. It has been lovely getting to know the team, volunteers, Trustees, donors, and most importantly, members. Everything we do is informed by the needs of our members so I was delighted to complete with the team the first survey of …

20/07/2026

Reminder about Mavar's Study Skills Course - a three week course (one two-hour session each week), fully funded, accredited, with practical skills across education and work. Please see details below (share with friends/colleagues!) and contact us if you are interested, or need to find out more!

Mavar is delighted to announce that, following successful funding received from The National Lottery, a fantastic study Skills course has been designed by the Mavar team and is now ready to be delivered!

Dates for the FREE course will be 10th, 17th and 24th August, two modules on each day.

The course is open to all adults coming from the Charedi communities who wish to access secular learning with Mavar specialist support.

Please apply to [email protected] with your contact phone number, for support with how to register, or book directly online via https://www.try booking.com/uk/GQYI

You will need to pay a deposit of £10 to access the course, which is FULLY REFUNDABLE on completion, and you will receive a continued professional development (CPD) certificate detailing the skills you have achieved.

Places are limited to ten and preference will be given to Mavar members.

You can attend with your mentor, this will be a mixed gender course, and every attendee will need to agree to our confidentiality rules.

Feel free to share with anyone you think can benefit from this!

17/07/2026

https://mavar.org.uk/who-are-we-after-a-life-threatening-event/ our CEO Erica Marks was inspired by hearing others talk about how events changed their lives. Shabbat Shalom.

In the last few weeks, I have attended events commemorating life-changing or traumatic events, and heard from people who have chosen or been able to change their lives and move on positively from their trauma. They have managed to “make lemonade out of lemons”. Psychology statistics (Hadassah Ho...

14/07/2026

Our CEO, Erica Marks recently graduated from the JLC's Dangoor Senior Leadership Programme. Erica said she did this course to help organisations she worked with to have better support across the community, and access to more resources, but also found a supportive network and colleagues who became friends.

Erica said, "Anyone thinking of applying for this course, or any of the Lead courses, should do, as they are hugely beneficial. They support and challenge in the right measure and give participants so much breadth of knowledge and experience".

08/07/2026

Our CEO Erica Marks has now been in post for ten weeks at Mavar, and has written a piece based on feedback received from Mavar members, which shows the needs of those leaving or thinking of leaving the Charedi community, and why Mavar’s work is so needed.

Through discussion with members over a twelve-year period, Mavar has come to understand some of the challenges faced by those who come for support. This reflective piece is based on anonymised member interviews and examines the experiences of people who leave or seriously question membership of stri...

06/07/2026

Mavar is delighted to announce that, following successful funding received from The National Lottery, a fantastic study Skills course has been designed by the Mavar team and is now ready to be delivered!

Dates for the FREE course will be 10th, 17th and 24th August, two modules on each day.

The course is open to all adults coming from the Charedi communities who wish to access secular learning with Mavar specialist support.

Please apply to [email protected] with your contact phone number, for support with how to register, or book directly online via https://www.try booking.com/uk/GQYI

You will need to pay a deposit of £10 to access the course, which is FULLY REFUNDABLE on completion, and you will receive a continued professional development (CPD) certificate detailing the skills you have achieved.

Places are limited to ten and preference will be given to Mavar members.

You can attend with your mentor, this will be a mixed gender course, and every attendee will need to agree to our confidentiality rules.

Feel free to share with anyone you think can benefit from this!

26/06/2026

Dreaming of ice cream and cooling swims in the sea?!

If you can't get to the sea, make sure you grab an ice cream at least.

Have a cool and restful Shabbat!

22/06/2026

Well done Erica and Benjy for completing a very hot 1km fun run to raise money for our members. Such important work and the support of all our team and donors is hugely appreciated.

Erica said, “Thank you, everyone for your support, donations, and general loveliness as we competed this challenge. We continue to raise funds to support members from the Charedi communities who need additional support with secular education, pastoral care, wellbeing, employment and other social care needs.”

Our direct link for the Fun Run can be found here:

https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/erica-2026-maccabifunrun