To celebrate the Board of Deputies' 250th anniversary, the Movement for Reform Judaism and West London Synagogue co-hosted an interfaith Shabbat.

Led by West London rabbis Debbie Young-Somers, Danny Burkeman and Helen Freeman, it attracted a diverse congregation of 400, including past and present Board leaders and represenatives from a number of embassies.

Reform chief executive Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand said an interfaith service was an apposite way of marking the anniversary, given that "the Board's strong leadership within the Jewish community is absolutely essential to our relationship with other faiths".

Board president Vivian Wineman was pleased to have the landmark recognised in "one of our community's most magnificent and most historic buildings".

The anniversary celebrations had "underscored two crucial facts about the Board. The first is our commitment to represent every Jew in the country, regardless of the way they express their religion and culture.

"The second is our desire to build good relations between Jews and people of all faiths and cultures."