Leeds ready to party for 150th

Leeds Jewry is launching a £50,000 project to celebrate 150 years of Jewish heritage and contributions to the city.

To mark LJ150, high profile exhibitions are planned over the next two years to showcase works by home-grown artists. Vintage wedding dresses and past fashions from retail giants Marks & Spencer and Burton, both started by Jews in Leeds, will also be on display.

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Oldham police take on Nazi impersonators

Police in Oldham asked swastika-wearing Nazi impersonators at a village pub to remove the symbols for fear they would spark disorder at an event attended by 10,000 people.

Officers attended the Granby Arms pub in Saddleworth on Saturday, and found a number of men dressed as Nazis.

They were participating in "Yanks Are Back", an American-themed wartime heritage event for military vehicle enthusiasts, being run in the area last weekend. No arrests were made and the event passed off without incident.

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Poor show for Palestine exhibition protest

Two people have made a solitary stand against the controversial Loss of Innocence Palestinian exhibition at Manchester Cathedral as it continued into its final week.

Last week the cathedral removed anti-Israel literature handed out by the exhibition's organisers after leading Manchester Jewish figures criticised the cathedral for participating in
a political campaign.

On Tuesday, Stand With Us campaigner Joy Wolfe (above) marked the birthday of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by offering passers-by cake outside the iconic cathedral to raise awareness of his plight.

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Luxury car crashes into pub

A Jewish woman who lost control of her car and smashed into pub is recovering at home after escaping with minor injuries.

The 69-year-old, who lives in Salford and wishes to remain anonymous, veered off a busy dual carriageway at speed after colliding with a Smart car on Bury New Road in Whitefield last Friday morning.

The bonnet of the luxury SUV slammed through a brick wall and the window of the Beehive Inn pub, causing fears that part of the building would collapse.

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Hair apparent - not for long

VA senior leader at Whitefield Jewish Youth Centre is to lop off the shoulder-length hair he has long been cultivating to raise money for cancer victims.

Eighteen-year-old Dan Kay - who was suspended three times during his Manchester King David High days over the length of his hair - says his parents finally convinced him to have it cut.

"Everyone hates my hair," he said. "My parents asked: If we can raise £1,000 and donate it to charity, would I cut it off?"

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Manchester united on Rosh Hashanah appeal

Manchester's Jewish Federation and Heathlands Care Village have launched their first combined Rosh Hashanah appeal as a merged charity.

Appeal literature for the Federation of Jewish Services will focus on a grandfather and grandson who receive care at the Heathlands premises as a reflection of the combined welfare services being offered at the north Manchester site.

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Council sorry for offending caring couple

Bury Council has apologised to a strictly Orthodox couple told by a social worker to lessen their religious commitment in order to care for a son with cerebral palsy.

Eve Field from Prestwich complained to Bury Children's Disability Team after the social worker referred to her husband's religious activities, such as praying and studying, as "his choice".

"She wrote in her report that we should put our religion on the back burner until our children are old enough to need less physical care. It was unbelievable," Mrs Field said.

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Trampoline saves teens trapped by fire

Three teenagers who leapt from a third-floor window to escape a house fire suffered only minor injuries after breaking their 7m fall with a trampoline.

Fifteen firemen raced to a house in Broughton Park, Salford, in the early hours of last Friday morning, after a neighbour reported that three people were trapped inside. A fire was thought to be raging on the ground level of a terraced town house on the Broughton Green development on Northumberland Street.

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Outrage over church Israeli 'war crimes' show

Manchester's Jewish communal leaders have raised serious concerns with the Church of England's senior churchman in the city this week after its principal cathedral hosted an exhibition which its organisers claim is evidence of Israeli war crimes.

Manchester Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Manchester, is hosting the Loss of Innocence exhibition, 50 drawings by Palestinian children which include gruesome depictions of Israel's 2009 Gaza operation.

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Manchester Fed completes Heathlands move

The considerable logistical task of moving the Federation of Jewish Services, Manchester's largest charity, to its new premises in the Heathlands Care Village will be completed by Monday.

FJS adult, children and families, social work and referrals teams will move to the ground floor of the Heathlands main building. This completes the process, after the finance, HR and IT departments moved to join Chai Cancer Care on the first floor.

Chief executive Karen Phillips says the move heralds the beginning of a flagship Jewish care organisation for Manchester.

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Free Charedi swim sessions are axed

Free swimming sessions for Salford's Charedi community are set to be scrapped as a result of government spending cuts.

Just a month ago, Charedi groups were celebrating a successful campaign for same sex sessions through Broughton's council-run Fit City centre. It was part of a nationally funded scheme offering free swimming for under-17s and over-60s.

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Liverpool synagogue hit by floods

Flood waters seriously damaged parts of Liverpool's Childwall Synagogue this week after torrential downpours left large parts of the city under water and many main roads closed.

The shul's Harris Polak and Aida Shifrin halls were filled with two inches of water as Tuesday's rains led to the collapse of a ceiling over one of the rooms.

Overflow from drains, which struggled to cope, brought more water into the Childwall building, which sits 20ft below street level.

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