A Big Thank You From the Al Tafawk Centre, Jenin, West Bank, Palestine

We raised £860 for the children of the Jenin Refugee Centre

Last month we launched our biannual appeal for the Al Tafawk Centre in Jenin.  We raised a record amount.  Most of the schools in the area have closed because of Trump’s cutting off of funding to UNWRA. Many of the children rely on the Centre for their only meal of the day, so every penny is needed.

We asked people to channel any money they wanted to pay via The Brighton Trust which paid the £25 transmission charge. Amongst those giving were Brighton and Hove UNISON (Local Government) Branch (£100) and UNITE SE 6246 Branch (£100).

We will be making another appeal around May/June as the Centre is particularly busy over the summer when there is no school.  Once Again Many Thanks and here are a few pictures of a child holding the receipt.

If you would like to contribute in the run up to the summer please send any donation to:

The Brighton Trust,

Sort Code 09-01-28

Account Number: 91420311

Tony Greenstein

Xmas Appeal for the Al Tawfawk Centre of Jenin Refugee Camp

Please support the children of Palestine this Xmas

Once again I am asking you to dig deep and support the ALTawfawk Centre. As a trustee for The Brighton Trust I am asking you to contribute what you can afford to making Xmas in Palestine that bit more bearable for the children of Palestine.  .

As a result of an approach from members of the New Education Union in Brighton and Hove the Trust agreed to adopt a community centre in Jenin. So far both Brighton and Hove Unison and Unite SE/6246 Branch have contributed.  We hope to be able to send the Centre as large a donation as possible before Xmas.

This is from the Head Teacher Mona Jalamnh‎ 

I am the head teacher and founder of Al-Tawfawk English Center in the Jenin Refugee Camp, Jenin, Palestinian Territories. We are in desperate need of volunteers to make the center bigger, safer, and better for our kids.

We currently have three rooms, and five local volunteer teachers. We serve kids aged 6-16 after school, and currently we have 52 students. Our goal is to provide a safe, clean environment for the kids, where they can have a healthy snack and learn English to better their futures. If funding is secured, we would like to open up another floor of the building that we rent, so that we could take 2-6 year-old children during school hours (8am to 2pm), and have additional space for other students.

We have been open for nearly six years. I started with only 4 students, and now, unfortunately, I have to turn students away. This is because we have a lack of space and qualified teachers. Our dream is to expand the school to allow more students to study, as well as attract volunteers who speak English as their first language. We prefer education-based volunteers, and would require background checks, but our main requirement is unaccented examples for the children to practice with.

Our biggest need, currently, is funding. We need to complete some repairs on the rooms that we currently use, and we sometimes struggle to pay the rent. Students pay for the classes, if they can. However, if they cannot, we have a system in place that allows them to continue in the classes. If funding is secured and we are able to expand, our next need will be volunteers.

We are looking for young men and women who love kids and are interested in Arabic culture. Room and board would be provided for the volunteers, but we don’t have much money to offer as compensation. We currently have room for three volunteers, and if interested, we ask that they stay a full school year (9 months), to have continuity for our students.If you, or anyone that you know, are interested in this project, or if you have any more question, please contact me at

al.tafawk.center.jenin.camp@gmail.com .

Thank you for your time, Mona Jalamnh

Jenin was the subject of a massacre in 2002 when Israel used military bulldozers to demolish homes with their inhabitants still inside them.

In the past year many schools have closed as a result of Donald Trump having cut of US funding to UNWRA. The Al Tawfawk Centre is the only one left standing.

The Brighton Trust has agreed to donate £50 per month to the Centre. I would like to appeal to all those who read this to consider sending a donation, however small or large to the following account.  We will then forward it on.

For more information about the Centre see their Facebook page. We will pay the costs of a SWIFT transfer which is £25.

Please Donate to:

Account Name:          The Brighton Trust

Account Number:       91420311

Sort Code:                   09-01-28

AND PLEASE MARK IT ‘AL-TAWFAWK’

Tony Greenstein

Please Support the Al Tawfawk Community Centre in Jenin - Donate Generously

This Centre Could Be Anywhere But It Isn’t – It Operates Under Military Occupation

Apart from being a political activist and blogger I’m also a trustee for a charity, The Brighton Trust.  The Brighton Trust was set up by members of Brighton and Hove Trades Union Council.

The aim of the trust is to donate money to unpopular causes, campaigns aimed at changing rather than just putting sticking plaster over the problems in our society. As a result of our contacts with members of the New Education Union (formerly NUT) in Brighton and Hove who had adopted a community centre in Jenin, we decided to do the same.

Jenin was the subject of a massacre in 2002 when Israel used military bulldozers to demolish homes with their inhabitants still inside them.

In the past year many schools have closed as a result of Donald Trump having cut of all US funding to UNWRA. The Al Tawfawk Centre is the only one left standing.

Our trust has agreed to donate £50 per month to the Centre. We will be sending the money this Wednesday before I go on vacation!

I would like to appeal to all those who read my blog to consider sending a donation, however small or large to the following account.  We will then forward it on together with our own donation.  It must reach us by Wednesday.

For more information about the Centre see their Facebook page

We will, of course pay the costs of a SWIFT transfer which is £25.

Please Donate to:

Account Name:          The Brighton Trust

Account Number:       91420311

Sort Code:                             09-01-28

Many thanks

Tony Greenstein