Community
Cool offer from United shuls as UK experiences record temperatures
Members are invited for refreshments in air conditioned spaces; care homes take extra precautions for residents and staff
July 18, 2022 15:14
Members are invited for refreshments in air conditioned spaces; care homes take extra precautions for residents and staff
July 18, 2022 15:14United Synagogue communities are inviting members to “come in from the warm” as the UK swelters in the year’s hottest day.
The Finchley, Pinner, South Hampstead and St John’s Wood US shuls have thrown open their doors, offering congregants in poorly ventilated properties the alternative of enjoying refreshments in an air conditioned space.
Meanwhile, shul care co-ordinators throughout the organisation are making phone checks on the welfare of vulnerable members. Families receiving weekly food parcels should be unaffected as these are normally delivered on Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to drop.
The US says that all its synagogues which hold weekday services are continuing to do so and that its cemeteries remain open.
However, it was shortening shifts for burial ground staff and, where feasible, arranging funerals for the relatively cooler parts of the day.
It was also endeavouring to complete “as much as possible of the service in the prayer hall”.
Liberal Judaism reported that the Edgwarebury Cemetery closed at lunchtime and was likely to do so again tomorrow.
Jewish Care CEO Daniel Carmel-Brown said that having taken advice from the Health Protection Agency, “in our care homes, we have organised for fans to be placed in all residents’ rooms. We continue to offer cold beverages throughout the hot days and our hospitality colleagues have ordered adequate stocks of bottled water, ice-cream and lollies for all residents and staff to enjoy.”
Care home staff are being allowed to wear non-uniform clothing “to ensure they are as cool as they can be and are given regular breaks”.
All the charity’s community centres and dementia day centre services are remaining open.
“Our staff are calling members to check on their welfare. Where they have decided to stay at home, we are ready to deliver meals to anyone who needs them through our meals on wheels service,” Mr Carmel-Brown added.
Manchester’s main welfare charity, The Fed, is also laying on extra supplies of cold drinks for residents and employees and “ensuring curtains are closed in bedrooms and windows open. And if we or our volunteers are speaking to any of our community clients, we are double checking that they are OK as well.”
On Monday afternoon, Masorti’s New North London Synagogue in Finchley cancelled its after-school club for Ukrainian children because of the heat.
It has, however, offered the use of its largest synagogue space to the Akiva Primary, allowing pupils respite from the heat because of its air cooling system.