Emergency access
When an ambulance or Hatzolah responder arrives, seconds matter. We encourage clear access and calm space around emergencies, so help can reach people fast.
Kadma
קדמה · דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה
“Consideration comes first” — a community respect initiative
A grassroots initiative improving everyday safety, wellbeing and public life in Stamford Hill — one of London’s most close-knit communities — across the boroughs of Hackney and Haringey.
Our mission
Everyday respect, shared by a whole community.
Kadma exists to strengthen the small acts of consideration that hold a neighbourhood together — from making way for an ambulance to keeping a street clean and looking out for one another.
We work within the Stamford Hill community to encourage behaviour that is safe, thoughtful and respectful in shared public life. These are not new rules to be imposed; they are values the community already holds. Our role is simply to bring them forward — gently, positively, and in a voice that feels our own.
The name Kadma means “forward,” drawn from the teaching דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה — that consideration for others comes first.
Our approach
Not a rule. A reminder.
We don’t lecture, and we don’t police. Every campaign we run is framed as a shared reminder of something we already value together — respect, safety, and care for one another. The tone is warm, the message is positive, and the voice belongs to the community, not to an authority above it.
This is deliberate. People respond to encouragement, not instruction — and lasting change in a close-knit community grows from within it.
What we do
Small habits, shared across the neighbourhood.
Each of our campaigns focuses on one everyday part of public life — framed positively, produced in plain language, and rooted in the values we hold together.
Road & cycling safety
We promote safe cycling — helmets on, care near pedestrians, and awareness on busy streets — so getting around is safer for riders and neighbours alike.
Clean, cared-for streets
A tidy street is a mark of respect for everyone who shares it. We encourage the small habits that keep our neighbourhood clean and welcoming.
Consideration for others
Courtesy on the bus, patience in a queue, room on the pavement — the ordinary kindnesses that make shared spaces work for everyone.
Health & wellbeing
Caring for the body is part of caring for one another. We encourage active, healthy habits as a natural part of everyday life.
Neighbourly life
Above all, a community that looks out for its own — where consideration is simply part of how we live side by side.
Language & tradition
Spoken in the community’s own words.
Reaching a close-knit community means speaking its language — and drawing on the sources it trusts.
Every campaign is produced in Yiddish, Hebrew and English, and draws on sources from the Torah and halacha. The message arrives not as an outside instruction, but as a trusted reminder of values the community already holds — which is why our work reaches people that conventional public-information campaigns cannot.
עברית · Hebrew source
וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאֹד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם
“Take great care of your lives” (Devarim 4:15) — the Torah’s own call to guard our safety and health.
יידיש · Yiddish
אַכטונג איינער פֿאַרן צווייטן
“Consideration for one another” — carried in the everyday language of the community.
English
Consideration comes first.
Clear, plain-language messaging for a wider audience, schools and our partners.
Based in
Stamford Hill, London
Area of benefit
Hackney & Haringey
Led by
The community, for the community
Guided by
Derech eretz — respect first
Who we are
A grassroots initiative in Stamford Hill.
Kadma — the Community Respect Initiative is a grassroots effort based in Stamford Hill, working across the London Boroughs of Hackney and Haringey. We are led by members of the community, for the community.
We produce plain-language materials, pocket cards and gentle local campaigns — all designed to feel like a natural part of communal life rather than a message from outside it. We are establishing Kadma as a properly constituted community organisation, with transparent governance and clear community benefit at its core.
Support Kadma
Fund work that reaches where others can’t.
We’re seeking foundations and partners to help us run more campaigns, in more languages, across both boroughs — a close-knit community reached in its own words, with real change in everyday safety and public life.
Fund a campaign
Back a single theme end to end — design, translation, print and distribution in Yiddish, Hebrew and English.
Partner with us
Foundations, schools, shuls and civic bodies help us extend our reach and evidence our impact.
Support our growth
Core support helps us build governance, evaluation and a sustainable second year of work.
Support our work
Or write to us at info@kadma.org.uk