During the month of March, I will be publishing a daily proposal to transform the British Jewish community. Email your own idea (up to 350 words) to miriamshaviv@thejc.com
Today's idea comes from Karen Phillips: Merge some of our charities and community services
I want to share with you what is happening here in Manchester.
We are the fastest growing Jewish community in Britain. We are diverse, we are vibrant and we are certainly at a crossroads regarding the future of communal services, with the growth in the number of elderly and a need for increasingly personalised care.
There is undeniable competition for resources and despite courting others to see whether a merger could be an option, we at The Fed never really achieved the shared perspective to which we aspired. Arguments against merger focused upon potential loss of client choice and diminished donor support post-mergers. To be fair, both were fair comment. But neither were arguments that in our view were deal-breakers.
Thus, after much soul searching, we created the Federation of Jewish Services (FJS). This was from the merger of two of Manchester’s oldest charities, The Fed and Heathlands, with their combined history of over 300 years of care.
The vision is for a one-stop shop in a centralised location. We will provide intergenerational services on one site, from Social Work assessment to children’s respite and play areas, from Carers support and Mental Health groups through to residential and nursing care.
We are doing this in the recognition that a united vision is essential. We are about to willingly give up one of our premises and will be moving staff across to the larger site. Losing our part of our home isn’t without its challenges but it is the right thing to do.
The idea is to put aside the individual organisational dream to promote a communal one. It is about thinking strategically rather than territorially - although this is always a challenge, in Manchester and elsewhere.
Other advantages are financial, particularly in the context of the recession, which makes it clearer than ever that we need to build a financially sustainable future. The sale of our site and the money we will save in running costs will deliver considerable financial advantages, and the larger organisation will also create a better negotiating platform with the major donors.
In addition, we are better placed to deliver an efficient service, with a growing number of elderly and a changing social care agenda which calls for increasingly personalised care.
In response to the doom laden premonitions - ”the road to insolvency is littered by well meaning dreamers” - we are here, with a clear, sustainable vision and undaunted by the fears. Merger may not be right for everyone, but it is certainly right for us, and I hope others will consider it too.
Karen Phillips is Chief Executive of the Federation of Jewish Services
Check out our previous ideas: 14 - Hold joint events for JSocs and Islamic societies every term 13 - Create a virtual community 12 - Turn Anglo-Jewry into a learning community 11 - Turn Shabbat into the Greenest day of the week 10 - Focus on people, not institutions 9 - Create an online platform for Jewish students, 8 - Appoint anti-antisemitism champions, 7 - Share our synagogues and community centres with other religions, 6 - Establish a Succah in Trafalgar Square, 5 - Create a 'community service' programme for young Jews, 4 - Recruit older people to volunteer for the community,3 - Establish a fund for the Jewish arts, 2 - Pay membership fees to your community, not your shul, 1 - Make 2010/11 the year of synagogue renewal
