Jewish Care and the Jewish Association for Mental Illness (Jami) have announced their intention to merge to increase resources in mental health services for the community.
Last week, the trustees of both charities said that now was the “right time” to fully integrate their services with each other and bring both organisations closer together.
The charities have been working together for more than a decade after creating a single mental health service for the Jewish community in 2012.
The merger will see Jami’s chief executive Laurie Rackind step down from his role after 17 years of leading the charity and all 92 staff transfer to Jewish Care.
Charity Commission data for the financial year ending 31 March 2022 shows that Jewish Care has an income of £82.7m and Jami an income of just over £4m.
Greater integration of services
Both charities currently share some back-office functions while Jami recently relocated its primary office to Jewish Care’s head office in London to help share running costs.
They said that greater integration of services will help them better use their resources for the community and ensure that needs continue to be met effectively.
Jewish Care will continue to deliver Jami’s services, keep the Jami brand and “transfer across all Jami’s 92 members of staff to the employment of Jewish Care under TUPE regulations, subject to the normal consultation process”.
‘Exciting opportunity for both organisations’
Daniel Carmel-Brown, chief executive of Jewish Care, said: “Jami has built up a fantastic reputation in the community over three decades. Keeping the Jami name is a strong part of who they are and what the community relates to.
“This is an exciting opportunity for both organisations and comes at a time when mental health and its prevalence continues to grow each year. Coming together means that we can ensure Jami’s services are sustainable for generations to come.”.
Adam Dawson, chair of Jami, added: “This is a natural development given how closely Jami and Jewish Care have worked over the last decade. It will expand our knowledge, expertise, and resources to enable Jami to continue providing hope and help to everyone living with mental illness and distress in the community.”
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