| English Heritage's campaign for maintenance of religious buildings |
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| Written by Valerie Bello | |
| Sunday, 25 July 2010 | |
Singers Hill Synagogue, Birmingham
Under their scheme, ‘Caring for Places of Worship’, English Heritage has appointed Anglo-Jewry’s leading conservation charity, Jewish Heritage UK, to help historic synagogues meet the challenges they might face, allocating £91,000 of funding, with additional support from the Rothschild Foundation Europe. Last year, Jewish Heritage UK was commissioned by English Heritage to undertake the first sample condition survey of all the listed synagogues in the country and to find out how congregations are coping with looking after their precious heritage. The resulting report “Synagogues at Risk” is now available at www.english-heritage.org.uk/powar. Overall in the UK, across all faiths and denominations some 10% of historic places of worship are at risk and in response to concerns regarding maintenance, applying for grants, making changes and welcoming visitors, English Heritage has now produced a practical guidebook and a DVD as well as the above website. English Heritage is also attempting to persuade the Government to maintain the level of their grants for religious buildings, whilst The Heritage Alliance has drawn up a policy document in order to present a Bill to Parliament underlining the contribution of the Heritage Sector to the economy, tourism, education and culture – but, unfortunately, due to financial constraints, little progress has been made. The first table I spotted as I walked through the doors of St. John’s was that of Jewish Heritage UK, manned by Dr. Sharman Kadish, its Director, where I immediately deposited (with permission!) our own Heritage Days leaflets. A magnet for the representatives of other Jewish organisations, such as David Jacobs, Chairman of the Jewish Historical Society, Leon Silver of the East London Central Synagogue, Jack Gilbert of Sandys Row, the table was also source of infomation for many others, too, including the MP for Blackpool, who was very concerned about the state of a disused Jewish cemetery in his constituency, whilst Dr. Kadish was more worried about the dwindling congregation at the Blackpool Synagogue! Mingling over a delicious breakfast (with special provision for those who were ‘glatt kosher’), one sensed the tremendous pride amongst those caring for their places of worship, many in sad need of extensive repair, coupled with a determination to preserve the buildings for wider communal use, even if the congregation itself had shrunk. After a welcome by Baroness Andrews, Dr. Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage and Steve Wood, Managing Director of Ecclesiatical Insurance (sponsors of the event), we were shown the new DVD, featuring faith buildings which had been lovingly restored through the dedication of just a few members. I was thrilled to see that both Sandys Row and Singers Hill Synagogue, Birmingham, were included, the latter having won the West Midlands Region Award.
Afterwards, as I was walking towards the underground, I was joined by a charming young woman who turned out to be an architectural historian, working for conservation consultants. We exchanged pleasantries as to why each of us had attended the English Heritage event and she was honest enough to admit she knew nothing about Judaism or synagogues. Seizing the opportunity, I described the European Days of Jewish Culture and Heritage, in which she showed remarkable interest, genuinely wanting to know more. I subsequently sent her some Heritage Days leaflets, to which she immediately responded by email, declaring that she intended to “rally the troops” to organise an outing. Thus we spread the word!
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