This time, on my trip, I returned the mourning chairs and prayer books to the synagogue. Then I enjoyed a cup of coffee and conversation with my dear friend Joy. After that I went to my brother’s workplace and was greeted warmly by his delightful colleagues. We then sat in a restaurant and ate a bowl of soup accompanied by some surprisingly delicious granary bread. I don’t known if brother and I have ever gone out to lunch like this before. It felt good and quite grown up (which given that we are in out sixties but don’t really believe this is not that strange!).

I was principally in London to attend the funeral of a friend that mum made at the Care Home. She was a lovely woman who was always beautifully made up and beautifully dressed with a warm and welcoming smile. Her daughters and I (like our mothers) became friendly – a friendship which will continue. This much loved woman arrived in England on the kinder transport in 1939 from Czechoslovakia. The kinder transport was a relief effort between 1938 and 1940 that brought 10000 unaccompanied minors (mainly Jewish children) to Great Britain from Germany and German occupied countries. This lady, who has died at the age of 97, never saw her parents again. Her most treasured possession was the handkerchief which her father gave her after be wiped her tears away as they said farewell at the train station. In spite of this tragedy she worked, married happily, brought up two daughters who adored her and was blessed with six grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. She was the matriarch of the family and also a wonderful cook snd hostess. This was a woman who put bitterness behind her and radiated love – witness a packed funeral and many tears. Her daughters said how horrified their darling mother would be to see what is happening in Ukraine today.

I drove home listening to reports of mothers and children trying to escape indiscriminate Russian bombing and reports of children and parents living in basements without food, water or lights. How has it come to this? I had to switch off the radio. I couldn’t bear to hear of the suffering. We, at The Gables, would willingly take in refugees but our country, this time, has only issued 50 visas whilst Poland and surrounding lands are opening their arms, their homes and their hearts to over one and a half million people who escaped with only what they could carry. So many people are writing to their MPs here saying that they want to help. Let us take them in and continue a tradition that highlights the best of humanity. We need to act.