Manchester united in support of Limmud

International Development Minister Ivan Lewis and Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein added some high-powered local interest to the return of Manchester Limmud on Sunday.

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Battle to revive Manchester advice service

Salford’s Citizens Advice Bureau has suspended a service providing “sensitive and informed” guidance to Jews after losing lottery funding.

The head of the bureau is in discussions with Salford City Council in an effort to revive the Jewish Outreach Project, which offered advice surgeries at Jewish venues, such as The Fed and Agudah Community Services.

Advisers were recruited from the Orthodox community to raise awareness of social services among Charedim who were not accessing their benefit entitlements.

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NHS urged to fund all Tay Sachs tests

In the week screening for the fatal genetic disorder, Tay Sachs, ended in the regions, a report by Jewish medical practitioners urges the NHS to fund all Tay Sachs testing within the Jewish community.

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Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School’s new plans

Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School has resubmitted a controversial planning application to relocate, having sparked a protest campaign by local residents last year.

The new application argues that the school’s 44-year-old premises are in need of a major overhaul, but the site is unsuitable for development under government building recommendations.

Instead, a £3.6 million state-of-the-art school is proposed on green belt land close to Whitefield’s Jewish community.

Based on a council consultation, over 130 residents oppose the new plans with just six in favour.

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Stateside job swap

Clients of a special needs charity will be going to work in America as part of an innovative exchange programme.

Two Jewish Asda staff from north Manchester will fly to Boston in October to work for retail giant Wal-Mart for three weeks. In return, a Jewish Wal-Mart employee will take a temporary job at Asda. The British participants, who will be named next month, will also be hosted by the Boston Jewish community.

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Counter-terror plans under way

A counter-terrorism strategy aimed at encouraging Manchester’s Jewish community to report suspected terror activity is being developed. It may include opening terrorism reporting facilities locally in Jewish offices and a kosher bakery.

More than 30 people, including counter-terrorism police officers and community members, met at a closed meeting hosted by the Community Security Trust. It was organised by the Greater Manchester Police Authority, the watchdog which oversees policing in the region, as part of an ongoing consultation project to engage the public’s help.

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Manchester Tay Sachs screening set to close

The last screening for Tay Sachs outside of London is due to take place in Manchester next week.

Screening drives for the fatal genetic disorder have traditionally been run inside Jewish schools, paid for by the Tay Sachs Screening Programme. However, the charity, run by north Manchester-based doctor of genetics Sybil Simon, is due to close when she retires.

“For the past 20 years I have run it and fundraised for it. There is no one to take this over. No one wants to do voluntary work anymore.”

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Get a (longer) life in Salford

A scheme is being piloted in Manchester to ensure that observant Jewish patients have the right to stay alive if they become critically ill.

The so-called Halachic Living Will allows patients’ religious beliefs to be taken into account in any medical decisions.

Under the scheme, patients can sign a legal contract to appoint a rabbi or representative who would then make life-saving medical decisions — in line with halachah (Jewish law) — on their behalf if they become mentally incapacitated.

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Big turnout at screen tests

Over 600 Manchester Jews responded to an appeal to attend a bone marrow screening drive on Sunday in support of local leukaemia suffer Leora Kuhillow, whose story was reported in Community last week.

Such was the level of interest that organisers had to turn people away from the Hilton Suite venue in Prestwich. Separate men’s and women’s testing areas were provided in deference to religious sensibilities.

Organiser Lisa Cohen-Binder says that those who could not be screened could be tested at their GP or at a follow-up drive in south Manchester next month.

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Manchester delighted with austerity appeal

Manchester welfare charity The Fed is experiencing an encouraging early response to its Pesach appeal, which in line with the times, has a distinctly non-glossy and low-budget appearance.

The charity has stopped outsourcing artwork to professional design companies, one of many cost-cutting measures. The streamlining is partly the result of The Fed recently gaining a government-sponsored Investor in People Award, which involves a year-long assessment process.

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Fed to axe two jobs

Manchester welfare charity The Fed is cutting expenditure by £133,000 across its social care services, a reduction of nine per cent, in a move to ride out the recession.

Chief executive Karen Phillips blames poor investment returns and lower donations, but stresses that the disruption to services will be minimal.

“We’ve gone through a rigorous review of expenses and a restructure of projects culminating in two redundancies,” she said.

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Manchester schools star in league tables

Manchester’s three largest Jewish primaries are among the country’s top performing schools, according to the latest league tables based largely on year-six SATs exams.

At North Cheshire Jewish Primary, ranked 14th out of 14,000 schools, headteacher Jackie Savage said the close-knit Manchester community was key to local schools’ achievements as it brought a high level of educational co-operation.

There has been enormous improvement in the performance of junior pupils at Manchester King David Junior pupils, ranked 34th.

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Manchester fightback

Manchester kosher store bosses say that Pesach trade has been strong despite supermarket competition and decreased demand for luxury items.

“I’ve just not stocked the expensive cakes and biscuits because I didn’t think people are prepared to spend the money on them,” said Richard Hyman of Titanics.

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