AN ANNUAL day of good deeds was celebrated by hundreds of volunteers who took part in various activities across the county.

Mitzvah Day on Sunday was celebrated by the Jewish community in Bushey, which this year the volunteers also received a visit from Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.

Mitzvah is Hebrew for commandment but is often used to mean the Yiddish word mitzveh for good deed.

Mitzvah Day brings peoplecommunities together through hands-on social action and aims to builds a stronger communities and create valuable relationships between faith groups.

Sarah Zackheim, Mitzvah Day co-ordinator at Bushey Synagogue, said: “It was great to see hundreds of people of all ages, often braving the freezing weather, giving up their time – from sorting donations in the Peace Hospice Care warehouse to gardening for the New Hope Trust Homeless Shelter.

"And of course Seeing so many of Bushey’s youngest members also playing their part in the Mitzvah Zone was something very special.”

Parents and children from Hartsbourne School, Bushey, also helped with gardening and painting playground equipment.

One volunteer, Ashton Goldie, 12, said: “Helping at Hartsbourne felt very rewarding because the gardening and painting we all did will make it nicer for my little brother and all his friends.”

A second gardening project was led by Lawrence Cohen at the New Hope Trust Homeless Shelter.

Volunteers also went to Peace Hospice Care to sort through donations, and food collections were held outside Flax’s Foods and Kelman’s delicatessen, where customers were asked to buy one additional item to donate.

A musical tea was also held at the Jewish Blind and Disabled House in Cecil Rosen Court, Bushey, where Paul Adams and Bension Morris performed well-known songs.

On Sunday morning there was a ‘Mitzvah Zone’ where children could get involved in various arts and crafts and make treat bags for disadvantaged children as well as a chance to make Chanukah cards for Emek, a charity which supports Israeli soldiers with no family in Israel.

Bushey Ganim Nursery collected toys for Camp Simcha, which helps children suffering from cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, as well as cards for Beit Halochem, a charity which provides rehabilitation centres for wounded Israeli soldiers.

A donation drive for Barnardo’s was also very successful, with members from congregations from St Peter’s Church and Bushey Synagogue coming together to receive and sort the donations.