Congratulations to 12 year old Belle Davison, who has raised over £1200 towards ORT UK’s ‘It’s Okay Not To Be Okay,’ mental health campaign.

Belle chose to fundraise for ORT UK in honour of her great-grandfather Sydney Sadler, who recently celebrated his 101st birthday! In 1939 Sydney was one of 106 boys rescued from Nazi-occupied Berlin, by British ORT. The ORT Technical School students and their teachers fled to the UK and a temporary ORT school in Leeds was set up, to allow the teenagers to complete their studies and begin a new life in safety. Sydney still resides in Leeds today.

To raise funds, Belle decided to take part in the Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge weekend in the Lake District, which would involve climbing 958 metres up Helvellyn with her dad. However, days before they were due to set off, Belle’s dad Wayne, tested positive for Covid-19 and the whole family had to isolate! Undeterred, Belle used a stepper machine to climb the steps at home and complete the challenge.

“Even though my legs are so sore from all the steps I have done, I am really proud of myself for completing this challenge!” Belle told us. “I am so grateful to have such incredible family and friends, who helped me raise so much money. I feel proud to know that I helped ORT UK and that I have given something back to an incredible organisation who gave my Opa a new life in the UK all those years ago. I hope that all the money I raised, and all the books it will buy for schools, will encourage children to learn about the struggles of mental health issues, and that it will allow important conversations to be had.”

We’re incredibly thankful to Belle for choosing ORT UK and helping us to encourage young children to talk about their mental wellbeing. Her donation will provide a huge number of copies of Esther Marshall’s story and activity books ‘Sophie Says It’s Okay Not To Be Okay’ to children in the UK and across the ORT global network.

There’s still time to contribute to Belle’s fundraiser! You can visit her page here