There is a joke in Manchester that when Mancunians are asked to name the UK’s second city, they answer “London”. In sporting terms, or with its cheaper cost of living, placing Manchester on top has some merit. But from a UK Jewish philanthropic perspective, it is very much a distant second to our capital.
A glance at any of the Sunday Times Rich Lists over the last ten years will show that Jews account for up to 15 per cent of the total entries, an incredible achievement for a community that comprises around half a per cent of the UK population.
Most of this wealth is concentrated in London and the charitable ethos of those high net-worth individuals — or, for that matter, of our community’s larger charitable foundations — is well known and hugely impressive.
We are also blessed as a community to have many fantastic charities serving our needs. The vast majority of these are also located in the capital, some offering satellite services to the Manchester Jewish community and others north of Watford Gap.
These charities benefit hugely from the support of the major donors and foundations, as well as the larger number of Jews living in London and its suburbs. We at The Fed do not have that luxury. As the largest Jewish social care charity serving the UK’s second largest Jewish community, we support one in seven Jewish homes and more than 6,500 people every year across Greater Manchester — a staggering and scary statistic. And the demand for help is growing.
Because of the current economic situation, we are getting a lot of requests for food support and an increase in people seeking help with mental health issues. We are also helping people claim their benefit entitlements and to negotiate payment plans with lenders and public utilities.
To provide the life-transforming and often life-saving support we offer to the most vulnerable, The Fed must raise between £1.5 million and £2 million every year.
Ninety per cent of that comes from our incredibly generous Manchester Jewish community, which numbers only around 35,000 and is thus tiny compared to London. The situation is simply not sustainable, particularly as local donors are also impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.
I believe we now need to have a serious “levelling up” conversation and agenda.
At the moment, when regional charities such as The Fed approach London-based donors and foundations, they are mostly told that their support is prioritised either for national Jewish charities, those operating within the M25 motorway or organisations linked to Israeli causes. The Jewish Homes Emergency Appeal during Covid was an exception.
But now that life has returned to normal, charities in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester are still largely ignored.
Manchester’s revamped Jewish Representative Council (JRC) has developed unprecedented co-operation between mainstream and Charedi charities, as well as with local authorities.
This has been of immense benefit, enabling those in need to be helped more quickly and efficiently.
Manchester Metro Mayor Andy Burnham has called The Fed “a jewel in Greater Manchester’s crown”. We are hugely proud of that and we believe the Jewish community is too.
But we need wider help. When it comes to Jewish philanthropy in the UK, we are simply not big enough to continue to have a North/South divide.
We need to start considering ourselves as one community and levelling up support. My urgent plea is for this to start happening now, perhaps led and facilitated by an organisation such as the Jewish Leadership Council.
If we do not, then the simple fact is that thousands in our Jewish community will suffer. And we cannot allow that to happen.
Raphi Bloom is The Fed’s director of fundraising, marketing and communications
