Board holds productive meetings in Stamford Hill

Board chief executive Gillian Merron and public and parliamentary affairs officer Sophie Dunoff visited Stamford Hill on January 20 to meet representatives and organisations from the strictly Orthodox community.

Their first meeting of the day was with Rabbi Hershel Gluck OBE, a well-known activist and communal leader in Stamford Hill. It was a productive meeting in which issues concerning both the Jewish community in the UK and in Europe were discussed. Ms Merron also shared the Board’s General Election Manifesto with Rabbi Gluck, which was well received.

Rabbi Gluck, founder of the Muslim-Jewish forum, then led the Board delegation to the North London Muslim Community Centre where Ms Merron and Ms Dunoff discussed inter-faith issues, community cohesion and shared best practice between the Jewish and Muslim communities with director Mohammed Amejee, and one of the trustees, Mohammed Zina.

There was also a meeting between Ms Merron, Ms Dunoff and Yocheved Eiger (pictured with Gillian Merron) from Bikur Cholim. Bikur Cholim’s mission is to relieve the effects of sickness, poor physical and mental health and old age for people of the Orthodox Jewish community in north London by assisting with the provision of support, facilities and services. They also provide a specialist mental health service including assessments, counselling and therapies, bereavement support, family therapy and advocacy for young people and adults. It was a pleasure for the Board to visit their newly refurbished premises and see first-hand the fantastic services made available to the community. You can visit their website here.

Following this, Ms Merron, Ms Dunoff and Chaya Shpitz, met with the CEO of Interlink, whose mission is to strengthen the Orthodox community infrastructure, improve access to services and achieve better outcomes for disadvantaged people. Interlink succeeds in helping community organisations gain new skills and access to resources, and works in partnership with public bodies to tackle inequalities. The Board, together with Interlink , explored areas of mutual concern and ways in which the organisations may work together in the future.

Gillian Merron said: “I was delighted to make my second visit to Stamford Hill. On this occasion I was able to see first-hand the organisation and precision in which organisations like Bikur Cholim and Interlink run. I think there are many areas in which we can find ways to work together and share best practice. I look forward to my next visit which I hope won’t be in the too distant future.”

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