JW3 experiencing a post-merger numbers boom

Not only had numbers held up for most of LJCC's programmes transferred to JW3, participation had increased through "bringing in many people who had previously not attended courses at Ivy House [LJCC's former premises] and who were already JW3 regulars".

We are at the forefront of a real renaissance

Head of adult education and learning Judy Trotter - one of the LJCC staff who moved to JW3 - said the merger had gone "more smoothly than I expected".

There had been worries that many of LJCC's regulars among its largely over-55 clientele might resist the switch from Ivy House's cosier Golders Green home to JW3's premises along the busy Finchley Road.

"We dealt with all the fears," Mrs Trotter said. "We arranged minibuses for the first two weeks to bring people here." Her oldest student is 102.

Financial necessity drove the merger, which was completed little more than six months after plans were first announced. Had the two organisations remained separate, they would have to raise more than £4 million in charitable donations this year, Mr Simonson said.

Now the annual fundraising target for the combined enterprise will be "between £1.5 and £2 million - hopefully a little less than £2 million", representing around a third of its operating costs.

JW3 has had to budget for additional security following the terrorist attacks in Paris and Copenhagen this year. It does not come cheap given its large, glass-fronted building situated on one of the capital's main thoroughfares.

But its very openness is part of its mission, attracting visitors from not just across the Jewish community but also from the wider public.

"I believe it is an investment in the future of our community," Mr Simonson said. "It is about greater communal cohesiveness, a greater sense of Jewish pride and a closer and more positive relationship between the Jewish world and non-Jewish community."

He cited the coverage given to its inaugural Jewish Comedy Festival on BBC TV's One Show last autumn as an example that Jewish life can gain attention beyond Israel and antisemitism.

"We are right at the forefront of a real renaissance in the Jewish community," Mr Simonson said. The comedy festival will return in an autumn programme that also includes the Israel Film Festival and an evening with Nigella Lawson.

The centre, he believed, was "reaching people who haven't been engaged much in Jewish life. I see people I last saw on my gap year 25 years ago who never got involved in the Jewish community post-university."

As well as those who attended shul only on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Mr Simonson highlighted "the phenomenon of another kind of three-times-a-year Jew, who goes to Jewish Book Week, the Jewish Film Festival, maybe Limmud or Klezmer in the Park. They would come to more if more was available."

Now JW3 can provide them with a full range of Jewish cultural and educational programming throughout the year. On one evening, for example, the world's top Talmudist, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, was teaching text, while in other rooms classes on knitting and the Israeli defence art, krav maga, were taking place.

JW3 has also managed to draw in Charedi families: "They don't come in immense numbers and they don't buy tickets for the cinema but they do come along for the beach or the ice-rink and to eat at Zest."

According to Mr Simonson, the centre's fastest-growing user group are 20 to 30-year-olds. "In the first year, we didn't specifically brand events for them as such. But we found that young Jewish people go to events that are called 'young Jewish'. So when we advertised a beach party for young professionals this summer, we sold out. That's a great sign."

JW3 will enter its third year with the hope of reaching even more young visitors. "We're working hard to increase the number of secondary school students. That is a target audience I want to grow."