Our Story

Miss Malka Meisels, a young woman with Nemaline Myopathy and multiple physical disabilities, founded and leads Peninim. She has made it her life’s mission to support those like her and better integrate the disabled community in the larger community, bridging divides and reducing social isolation. Peninim has developed a unique approach to service delivery, in which provisions are delivered to a mixed audience of physically disabled and non-disabled women who are treated equally, as an effective way of breaking down social divides and integrating disabled women into the larger community.
Peninim supports disabled women from the Orthodox Jewish community (who are excluded from wider provisions due to specific cultural/religious requirements) by providing a growing range of social, leisure, and sporting activities aimed at improving the quality of their lives, addressing inequalities and access issues, reducing loneliness/isolation, and promoting social integration within the larger community.
Retreats
What we do?
Peninim supports more than 50 beneficiaries annually through weekly craft workshops, mixed sporting events (hydrotherapy and Para dance), social gatherings/lunches, annual retreats, peer support networks, awareness-raising, and other activities.
Where we are?
We are based in Hackney, Britain's largest Orthodox Jewish (Charedi) neighbourhood, and our beneficiaries are mostly from this area, with a few coming from further afield.
Award Winner
Peninim is a women’s and BAME-led charity, supporting some of the most marginalised women in our community. We have been awarded the London Faith & Belief Community Awards 2021 under the category of ‘Supporting Women’.