The Story of the Fed
A Caring Community
One of the fundamental characteristics of the Jewish Community is that of being a caring community - one which places great importance on looking after those who are in need of support - the elderly, the isolated, the vulnerable, people in crisis, people who are disabled, people who are ill - in fact anyone who needs help.
Our Manchester Jewish Community is no different, and a brief look below at the history of its welfare organisations over the last 150 years clearly illustrates this, and explains how we have developed to become Manchester's leading social care provider for the Jewish Community.
Early Days
In the mid-1800's the oppression of the Czarist regime and the pogroms made it impossible for Jews who had lived for centuries in Eastern Europe to continue to maintain their traditional way of life in this part of the world. These mostly observant Jews fled in their thousands, heading for Western European cities and taking with them only what they could carry. Many arrived at Victoria train station in Manchester, fresh from the “Haim” and speaking only Yiddish. They moved into the Red Bank area, just a stone's throw from the station, where housing was cheap and families of ten or more crammed into tiny houses.
Within the City's established Jewish Community were a number of affluent and in contrast to these new-comers, assimilated families including several of Sephardi origins. They recognised these immigrants as both kindred Jews in need of their care and support, and as a potential work force for their businesses.
Wealthy Jewish communal leaders provided jobs for the new immigrants, expanded schools and formed a number of welfare organisations including the Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor of Manchester which was founded in 1867.
Modern Times
In 1953 the Board opened the Sarah Laski Children's Home and purchased a property in Bignor Street which it converted into flats for elderly women. Then in the 1960's the Board modernised its name to Manchester Jewish Social Services (M.J.S.S.) reflecting a shift in its role and employed its first unqualified social worker. In 1976 it moved from its premises in Frankenburg House, Cheetham Hill to The Fed's current site at Holland Road, Crumpsall and in 1981 M.J.S.S. opened the Nissan Soumekh Day Centre for elderly people in Didsbury.
1990 saw the coming into force of the the National Health Service and Community Care Act and M.J.S.S. took on professional social work staff for the first time. Further development took place in 1996 when the Philip J. Davies Centre opened adjacent to M.J.S.S.'s offices to provide support for people with mental health needs.
And the changes continued with the merger in 1997 of M.J.S.S. with the Manchester Jews' Benevolent Society becoming as it is known today “Manchester Jewish Federation”, or more informally “The Fed”. Responding to the needs of the Community living on the South side of the city expansion continued with the opening of our South Manchester office in 2000. This was followed by a further merger in 2005 with Time For You.
The Present Day
So here we are today as the foremost provider of social welfare care to the Jewish Community of Greater Manchester, helping over 3000 people a year with over 70 paid members of staff and over 400 volunteers.
Different hands may hold the reins of our organisation and different challenges may be faced by Society generally and our Manchester Jewish Community in particular in the 21st Century, but the sense of communal responsibility and the caring attitude of our past leaders continues just as safely and strongly in these new hands.
From our beginings as The Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor of Manchester in 1867, we have developed from being a pure 'tsedokah' organisation to one known today for its high standards of professionalism and delivery of first-class broad-ranging services. We have no choice but to operate within a strict framework of both national legislation and policy and criteria laid down by local authorities and funders, but we do so with the same kindness and compassion as those community leaders of the 1800's, who, in response to the needs of their fellow Jews, established our forerunner the Board of Guardians.