"The fact they have reached out shows they know about the JCC and what we do. It's great."
‘We are getting younger leaders to promote a modern view’
Mr Shapiro designed the organisation to "bring new energy" and "young blood" to the leadership of the country's largest Charedi community.
The majority of British Jews may never have heard of the JCC, but Mr Shapiro boasts that it is akin to a "Board of Deputies for Stamford Hill".
"Historically, the Board and the Charedi community have never got along, mainly because of the idea that they represent different religious values to us, and the idea that we don't want to associate with them. A lot has changed, but the Charedi community hasn't had a central voice like the rest of the Jewish community, and we were not being represented in central government."
Established two years ago, the JCC already has strong relationships with David Cameron, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Metropolitan Police commissioners.
Mr Shapiro said: "We have been very lucky to have major community leaders for the past 30 years, with great contacts, working really hard to help Stamford Hill to function in every aspect.
"But people were doing different jobs and taking them on off their own back. Sometimes people were doing the same job and it would get confusing. Not to mention the obvious fact that leaders are getting older.
"The JCC is a way of organising who does what, keeping the experience of our older activists, but getting younger leaders involved and promoting a more modern view of the community.
"As leaders get older it's harder for them to adapt to the times, be that dealing with Ofsted and their concerns about our education, or just logistically. We do a lot of work communicating with people on social media, for example."
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson confimred the strong links, he said: "The Jewish Community Council has provided a useful forum through which to liaise with members of our city’s Orthodox community and to hear about issues that are of concern to them.
"At a meeting earlier this year this included how to tackle antisemitism and the new Hate Crime Strategy, which has been published by the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime."
Tucked away in a non-descript residential street in the heart of the community, Mr Shapiro sits surrounded by files dedicated to ongoing JCC projects.
The doorbell rings regularly with visitors, including Shomrim security volunteers and residents, cementing the idea the group is fast becoming a community hub.
Over a coffee and rugelach he tells me: "We've had them all sit here: Boris, police chiefs - we had the Israeli ambassador for the first time recently."
With 10 board members overseeing departments dedicated to security, education, housing, health and immigration, Mr Shapiro admits "our phones do not stop, day or night. It could be anti-terror specialists arranging a briefing or our health body working to lobby government about problems with the coroner and burial rights.
"At the moment we are working with hospitals in London, so we can be allowed to take in kosher food and vending machines for Jewish patients."
The JCC also handles immigration issues, some having given rise to unexpected problems.
"You'd be so surprised by the calls we get from people coming over from Israel who get stuck in immigration because they have brought a lulav and etrog with them.
"We noticed it was becoming a big problem, so we got in touch with the department to explain what these things are and why they are likely to be brought in at certain times of the year."
Following meetings with the JCC, a Heathrow official was able to send staff information about what to expect.
With its 33,000 Charedi residents and a community growing at a rate of 5 per cent per year, there is a lot of pressure to ensure the smooth running of day-to-day activities.
A pre-Shabbat power cut was the prime opportunity for Mr Shapiro and his colleagues to spring into action.
"The electricity in four of our main streets went out. The fridges and freezers went off. All the Shabbos food was dissolving," he explained. "It was total chaos, people were panicking, but the JCC public safety board got in touch with the planning team of Hackney Council straight away.
"We organised with the council for four generators for the streets, just in time for Shabbos. Everybody had lighting, and the hot plates were back on."
The JCC's work is not only a case of coming to the community's rescue. Often members have to act as a "reasonable voice" and work as middle men between the Charedim and the local authorities.
"Take one of our Jewish schools in Amhurst Park," Mr Shapiro said.
"The council are doing major road works outside it. The school buses come to drop off and there is chaos. The workmen can't do their job.
"The council came to us, crying that the community was blocking the work from being done.
"We held a meeting with the heads of the school, brought the council in, and explained the bus drivers need to let them finish the work. Now it runs more smoothly."
The future appears bright for the JCC as its influence extends through the strictly Orthodox community, and contacts are strengthened with the wider Anglo-Jewish institutions.
"There is still a lot we need to do to build a picture of what the community needs and how we can organise it in a centralised way," said Mr Shapiro.
"We talk regularly with the Board of Deputies and hopefully we can work on shared goals together in the future.
"The key to our success is the unity between the young and the old of Stamford Hill and across the Jewish community. We want the JCC to be carrying out what we need today, and not what we needed 20 years ago."
A Board spokesperson said: “We have been in touch with the Jewish Community Council and many other organisations in Stamford Hill as part of our policy to establish positive links with the strictly Orthodox community.
"This work is already producing positive results and will continue in the future.”
