Jewish charities fear their funding and recruitment could be hit when Britain leaves the European Union.

The leaders of the community's largest charities expressed concern that Brexit may affect their employment of EU nationals and their ability to raise funds through donations.

Simon Morris, chief executive of Jewish Care, said it was an "uncertain time" for the organisation, where 15 per cent of the workforce are non-British EU nationals.

He said: "Recruiting quality staff into social care isn't easy, and we have major concerns about the impact of Brexit on us and the wider health and social care sectors' ability to fill vacancies."

He added his concern that "the uncertainty in the economy may have a direct impact on people's propensity and ability to support us".

We have major concerns about the impact

Norwood chief executive Elaine Kerr said it was too early to predict the impact of leaving the EU on their work.

But she warned: "Any further reduction in public spending and/or a reduction in our donors' ability to give will negatively affect our business, and thereby our ability to sustain our services at current levels."

Mark Cunningham, chief operating officer of the Federation of Jewish Services in Manchester, said it was a question of "having to wait and see".

He said: "Regarding donations, it is too early to tell whether it will affect our voluntary income. Anything that makes financial difficulties for anyone could well prove a challenge."

He added: "About 10 of our staff are not British citizens. Recruitment is a big challenge, so we will just have to wait and see."

A spokesperson for World Jewish Relief said there were concerns that the declining value of the pound would damage the charity's ability to help people around the world.

He said: "We have seen a significant devaluation of sterling since last week. We commit money to partners in sterling; currency depreciation means that for every pound we commit to our partners, it will now be worth less in the local currency."

But UJIA chief executive Michael Wegier said the charity was "confident of our ability…to adapt to a changing financial climate".