By Anonymous
Manchester's largest welfare facility, Heathlands Village, is to have full kashrut certification for the first time after the installation of modern kitchen apparatus worth £300,000. Kashrut at Heathlands has traditionally been overseen by its chaplain.
On Monday, massive cranes hoisted environmental control units into position at the Prestwich site. These will ensure the high-tech kitchens allow food preparation at optimum temperatures. This week, Manchester Beth Din food supervisors examined the new meat kitchen, which is near completion.
Federation of Jewish Services' director of community services Mark Cunningham said 1,000 meals a day would be produced at the new kitchens. They would also enable Heathlands to hire out its venues for catered business conferences or children's parties.
"We are working to make the most of our resources," he said.
Manchester Beth Din's Dayan Yehuda Osher Steiner said the new kitchen equipment required kashrut knowledge normally associated with supervising large factories.
"There is a lot of complex machinery which has to be understood."