against all odds – how 2025 became a defining year for The Together Plan

As 2025 draws to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on a year that has truly embodied the mission of The Together Plan: to honour Jewish history, to support living communities, and to ensure that hidden histories are preserved, understood, and passed on. This has been a year in which remembrance has not stood still; it has reached outward, supported those in need, inspired learning, and laid the foundations for the future.

We began 2025 with a celebration of our volunteers and one in particular, Carl Kaplan, who is the Senior Case Worker in our Archive Search Service department. Carl was honoured at the Jewish Volunteering Network Annual awards and he travelled from Boston in the USA to the UK to receive his much deserved recognition. The Together Plan prides itself on its amazing team of international volunteers who truly power the charity forward. We truly could not do what we do without them. Sadly we lost one of our team, Sam Wirth, who passed away unexpectedly on the 30th June. Sam was an absolutely wonderful and much loved volunteer in the Archive Services team, but he also played a key role in our Brest Jewish cemetery memorial campaign for which we will be forever grateful. In January 2026, we look forward to raising a glass to Gillian Gruder, our Archive Services Manager, who will be honoured at the annual Jewish Volunteer Network Awards as our volunteer of the year! More to follow in January.

In July we relocated our Aid Together sorting centre to a new space in Croxley Park in Hertfordshire. From there we loaded and sent 12 tons of humanitarian aid by road to Belarus for distribution to communities across the country providing vital support to vulnerable individuals and communities. This practical assistance remains a core part of our work, standing alongside heritage and education as an expression of solidarity and care.

The aid project is also powered by an extraordinary team of volunteers who make it all possible. Our eBay shop gathered pace under the management of our brilliant volunteer Geoff Munitz who is now looking for an assistant to help him with the project. Our beautiful new space at Croxley Park is a lovely place to volunteer – complete with stunning landscaped public spaces, fresh air, ponds adorned with lily pads and fountains, outdoor seating, a fabulous cafe, on-site bee-hives and honey production and so much more. Drop us a line if you are interested in joining us.

In July, after more than a decade of dedication, perseverance, and international cooperation, we celebrated the official opening of the Brest-Litovsk Jewish Cemetery Memorial. This achievement restored dignity to a sacred site and created a permanent place of remembrance for a once-vibrant Jewish community destroyed during the Holocaust. The significance of this project is being recognised far beyond Belarus, with Jewish Life Television in the United States producing a documentary about the Brest Memorial. Scheduled to air in February 2026, the film will share the story of the campaign, the community it commemorates, and the extraordinary journey to bring the memorial into being, ensuring that the story of Brest and the people it honours will reach audiences around the world.

Alongside Brest, 2025 saw meaningful progress toward the creation of the Belarusian Museum of the Holocaust and Resistance in Novogrudok, following the signing of a landmark agreement. Plans also continued in Nesvizh, where future memorials will honour both the historic Jewish community and its destroyed cemetery. Together, these initiatives ensure that Jewish history in Belarus is preserved, protected, and publicly acknowledged. The Nesvizh project is a major fundraising focus for 2026 with a series of three fascinating talks. The first talk took place on November 30th ‘Jewish Nesvizh – Honouring a Lost Community and Inspiring a Living Legacy’ and if you missed it – you can  get a link to the recording. The next talk, ‘Little Stories of Jewish Nesvizh’  will be on January 11th.

Our commitment to Belarus is not only about memory; it is also about responding to present-day needs. While remembrance is central to our work, The Together Plan is equally committed to sustaining living Jewish communities. This year, the newly registered Jewish community in Novogrudok celebrated its first Rosh Hashanah, a moment rich with symbolism, continuity, and hope. In Minsk, the Jewish Heritage Centre marked its second anniversary, continuing to serve as a vital hub for learning, connection, and cultural engagement. These moments remind us that Jewish life in Belarus is not only a story of loss, but also one of resilience and renewal.

One of the most significant achievements of 2025 has been the successful second year of the in-school pilot of our Making History Together education programme. This extraordinary programme takes young people aged thirteen on a guided journey of discovery to understand what happened in the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1944, a history too often hidden from mainstream Holocaust education. Through historical investigation, survivor testimony, and ethical reflection, students explore occupation, persecution, resistance, and moral choice. Making History Together is not only a foundation for understanding the Holocaust in Eastern Europe; it is also a journey of character development. Students are challenged to think critically, build empathy, and reflect on responsibility, courage, and humanity in times of extreme pressure. In November we launched our long awaited online supplement to the Making History Together programme in three languages: English, Russian and Belarusian to ensure more people can access some of the materials and films.

Looking ahead to 2026, we will run a third in-school pilot of the programme while taking Making History Together into a new phase of development. This next stage will explore adapting the materials for non-Jewish audiences and upscaling the programme, enabling many more schools and community spaces to access this vital learning and ensuring that this hidden history reaches wider and more diverse audiences.

Throughout the year The Together Plan has assisted people from all over the world in tracing their family histories through Belarusian archives. For many, this has meant uncovering ancestral records that reconnect them with lost towns, families, and stories. This deeply personal work lies at the heart of our mission: restoring identity, memory, and connection where history has been fractured and increasingly we will continue to help more people connect to their ancestral records as we move into 2026.

Everything we do is integral to our long-term goal of building a Jewish Heritage Route in Belarus. As a member of the Association of European Jewish Heritage, The Together Plan is proud to be part of a network working to build the European Route of Jewish Heritage, one of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe and in November Debra Brunner (CEO) along with Tracey Kieve (Operations and Development) attended the AEPJ annual incubator conference in Bologna to support the work we are doing to build a Jewish Heritage Route in Belarus. Through this work, Jewish sites, stories, and landscapes are being connected across borders, demonstrating the contributions Jewish people made to the continent of Europe in the fields of art, architecture, politics, music, literature, food, poetry, language, religion, science, and philosophy, ensuring recognition, protection, and access for future generations.

This year we were delighted to welcome to The Together Plan team Lewis James Phillips, a landscape and documentary photographer currently working on projects in Poland and planning to work with us in Belarus. His photography brings a powerful, contemplative lens to sites of memory and absence, and we are excited to have him as part of our team. In 2026, we will introduce Lewis and share his work, which will play an important role in how we tell stories of place, loss, and remembrance.

In 2025, our supporters helped us raise awareness and vital funds in creative and joyful ways: a fabulous supper quiz, a jazz and comedy evening, pickling workshops, a charity football match, a power-walking marathon, and many talks. These events demonstrated the strength of our community and the many ways people choose to support our work. In 2026, we will be going to new heights with a very exciting challenge – watch this space for more.

As we move into 2026, we are planning a full programme of in-person and online events, creating more opportunities to learn, connect, and engage with our work in Eastern Europe. We will also launch the Together Plan Community Coffee Club, designed to bring supporters closer to the projects, people, and places at the heart of our mission. We are preparing to translate seven books by historian Vladimir Melnitsky, a member of our team, detailing the 494 ghettos in Belarus. We also have plans to create a memorial wall in Minsk to commemorate all 494 ghettos. We will begin work to restore the Jewish cemeteries in Novogrudok, Volozhin and Krivichi and we will be creating our sixth audio tour – this time about Brest.

None of this would be possible without the generosity, commitment, and belief of our supporters. At a time when antisemitism is rising and historical distortion is increasingly common, The Together Plan continues to stand firm – preserving Jewish heritage, supporting vulnerable communities, and ensuring that truth is carried forward with care and integrity. As we look toward 2026, we do so with renewed purpose and confidence, and we look forward to taking you on the journey with us.

Together, we remember. Together, we educate. Together, we build a future rooted in truth.

To support the work of The Together Plan you can do so  by clicking here or if you are in the USA you can support us through our sister non-profit Jewish Tapestry Project by clicking here.