Yesterday lunchtime, Blake was honoured to again be one of the only men in the room, as Jewish Care hosted their prestigious Women of Distinction luncheon at the beautiful Institute of Directors in central London.

This was another fabulous event, where invited guests heard from exceptional keynote speakers – historian and author Lisa Hilton, who spoke about her career and the inspirational women she had researched, and also award-winning mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin, who spoke candidly of his own personal struggles with mental health and the exciting projects he is involved in to help others facing similar battles.

The event also honoured two exceptional women with ‘Women of Distinction’ Awards.

The first was Anne Webber, co-founder of The Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE) is an international, expert and non-profit representative body which negotiates restitution policies and procedures with governments and museums worldwide, acting on behalf of families – often with older generations displaced or murdered in the Holocaust – to recover their looted cultural property. She is a Governor of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, President of the Jewish Book Council and Jewish Book Week, Vice President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

The second award winner was Dame Esther Rantzen, a household-name on British television whose many lifetime achievements include founding the child protection charity ChildLine, which she set up in 1986, and The Silver Line, designed to combat loneliness, which she set up in 2012. Dame Esther, a wonderfully engaging speaker, is an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford, and regularly writes for a host of British editorial publications.

Guests were treated to fine hospitality and wonderful food by Food Story, who also donated a gift of a beautiful scented candle for every invitee. Well done to co-Chairs Phillipa Mintz and Danielle Lipton for organising such a wonderful event, along with all our friends in the professional team at Jewish Care.

Here are a few images from the day…