Opening Jewish Blind & Disabled’s lastest development in Bushey Heath, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said “there cannot be anything more precious than the dedication of such a facility”.

The £6.7 million Dyna and Fala Weinstock Wing, adjacent to JBD’s existing Cecil Rosen Court building, is the charity’s eighth development across London, Hertfordshire and Essex.

It incorporates 15 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments and communal areas such as a rooftop terrace. The first tenants moved in before the formal opening and the flats will gradually be filled over the coming months.

Noting that the opening coincided with Yom Hashoah, Rabbi Mirvis observed that the best response to the Holocaust was that Jews lived on, both physically and with Jewish values. The quality of chesed, or loving kindness, was demonstrated in JBD’s work, he said.

The new wing would provide tenants with dignity and independence. “The best of both worlds in a truly Jewish environment.”

Welcoming guests, JBD chair John Joseph said the event was a fitting way to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The wing was “top of the tree quality” but the likelihood was that further developments would be required to meet future demand.

“The community is going to need more of these buildings and the cost of land and buildings is not going down.”

Although JBD was in a sound financial position in day-to-day terms, the cost of a new 40-apartment building would be in excess of £20 million, he explained.

Other speakers included Israel Weinstock of key project donor the Dyna and Fala Weinstock Trust. The trust is named in memory of the Polish-born sisters.

Their family ran a raincoat business and the sisters invested in the stock market. The money they made was put into the trust.

The opening of the wing was “a nice way to go out” for JBD chief executive Hazel Kaye on her final day in the job —she will be taking up a senior role at Norwood. Her successor, Jewish Care PR head Lisa Wimborne, was among the guests.