The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £141,391 to the Foundation for Jewish Heritage (FJH) to develop an ambitious new, nationwide FJH project for historic synagogue, Preserving Jewish Heritage, Promoting the Hidden Jewish Story.
The grant, the Lottery said, provides initial funding to “develop a UK-wide project offering support to historic synagogues facing declining memberships and limited resources.”
The Foundation said the grant will support “an initial year-long development phase that will advance plans for implementing the project.”
If that is successful, it could unlock as much as £1.2 million in further Lottery funding and a five-year project to be “rolled out across the UK providing guidance and practical support to historic synagogues in areas such as building management and maintenance, governance, capacity building, sustainability, archiving, education and outreach.”
Project partners include the Heritage Network and the umbrella Board of Deputies of British Jews.
“The core aim of the project is to significantly strengthen the synagogue sector improving the preservation and long term viability of historic synagogues,” the Foundation said.
“We’re delighted to support this important project by the Foundation for Jewish Heritage, which will help support and safeguard some of the UK’s most significant heritage,” Stuart McLeod, Director, England – London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said.
Thanks to National Lottery players, historic synagogues across the country will receive specialist guidance, resources and investment to help secure their future. These buildings hold deep cultural, architectural and community significance and this project will ensure these stories continue to be shared, understood and celebrated for generations to come.”
The FJH is already is working on projects at three historic UK synagogues – the Middle Street synagogue in Brighton, the synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, and Sandys Row synagogue in London.
It said key aspects of the new, nationwide project include:
- appointing two Support Officers; one covering buildings, repairs and maintenance and the other education and outreach
- creating a project website with information and resources
- creating a Historic Synagogues Network: a forum for all volunteers working on synagogue heritage preservation to meet for training and the sharing of information on best practices, challenges, issues etc
- establishing a Historic Synagogues Heritage Route
- assisting synagogues with recording and preserving artefacts
- establishing a Development Grants Scheme providing small financial awards to synagogues to undertake early stage development work
Read the announcement on the Foundation web site
Read about the project on the Heritage Network web site