ByJosh Jackman, Josh Jackman
Manchester youth are suffering the effects of a long-term lack of leadership provision, the local Jewish representative council chair has warned.
Jonny Wineberg said that since the closure of the Jewish Youth Project in 2009 after an unsuccessful bid for Lottery funding, "you can see the gaps".
In the late 1990s there were five community youth workers. Today there are none.
And although UJIA and the Jewish Leadership Council had established Reshet last year to back youth work nationally, Mr Wineberg argued that without a community worker in Manchester, "the north is being ignored - again.
"You can pretend you can do these things from London but we've seen time and time again over the years that it does not work.
"Reshet should have filled the gap but it didn't. Secular kids who are more at risk just aren't into Israel at all. They're not interested in UJIA."
Mr Wineberg, a qualified youth and community worker, said that before the JYP shut down and the South Manchester Jewish Youth Trust dissolved in 2013, there were improvements in young people's health and on a whole range of issues including bullying, drugs and alcohol.
"Those services are not there now. So where do young people go for support? Youth movements do an excellent job in what they do. But what they can achieve is always going to be limited."
Though some services were provided by JLGB and movements such as FZY, Bnei Akiva and Ezra, "there's no overarching plan, which is really what's needed.
"It's about supporting children like those at King David High, where you have a huge number of secular kids. Who can those children engage with outside of school?"
Finance was an obvious stumbling block and It would be difficult for the rep council to fund the work in the immediate future. "The hope is that someone comes forward and puts their money where their mouth is."
At FZY's London headquarters, mazkir Ed Tyler said the movement endeavoured to give secular Manchester youngsters "a taste of Judaism" at weekly activities for years nine to 11 led by those in years 12 and 13.
But he accepted that common teenage concerns "haven't been given as much thought" by youth movements.
"It's important for us to branch out into these areas. To do that we need to provide training for our leaders. It is part of the responsibility of youth movements."