Keep up to date with what's going on.
Click on the news and events headlines below for more information.
- 2010 News
- Trekkies Wanted! Jewish Care Scotland launches Heritage Fundraising Trek. Latvia and Lithuania in May 2011
- 2010 Fun Walk Sunday 13th June 2010
- News about Jewish Care Scotland's 150th anniversary...
- East Renfrewshire Council celebrates Jewish Care Scotland's 150th Anniversary, 25th September 2008
- Social Care Agency Coffee Evening Volunteer Week gathering celebrates 150 years of volunteering, 3rd June 2008
- Out Now! A Caring Community - 150 years of Jewish Care Scotland by Sharon Barron
- Glasgow City Council celebrates Jewish Care Scotland's 150th anniversary, 25th May 2008
- Jewish Care Scotland 150th anniversary year launch at the Tall Ship, 29th January 2008
2010 News
Trekkies Wanted! Jewish Care Scotland launches Heritage Fundraising Trek. Latvia and Lithuania in May 2011
Raise funds for Jewish Care Scotland and have the experience of a lifetime! That’s the aim of the Heritage Fundraising Trek to Latvia and Lithuania being planned for May 2011. Between thirty and forty people can take part in the Trek. To secure a place, an initial deposit of £250.00 must be made by the end of June 2010. Trekkies will then have until November/December 2010 to get into training and to raise funds for Jewish Care Scotland. Treasurer George Hecht said: “In total each participant will contribute a minimum of £1,500 (£900 for the Trek and a minimum of £600 for Jewish Care Scotland). We have set a target of raising £18,000 for Jewish Care Scotland.” Potential trekkies are invited to contact Jewish Care Scotland now for more information and to discuss participating in this exciting once in a lifetime adventure.
2010 Fun Walk Sunday 13th June 2010
This popular family event is on Sunday 13th June 2010. Walkers will follow a 5 mile circuit with the well known and popular Rouken Glen as a key feature of the Walk. Volunteer and Fun Walk organiser Gary Clark said: “The Fun Walk is such a fun and sociable event with a good bit of razzamatazz! We hope to welcome back lots of previous walkers and to welcome new ones too. I am delighted to say that thanks to sponsors this year all walkers will receive their own souvenir pen and be invited to enjoy a post walk bagel with smoked salmon and refreshments.” 2010 Fun Walk registration forms are available now from the office at Jewish Care Scotland (0141 620 1800) and on line. Use this link to download the application form : click here.
Why not set up your own fundraising page for our sponsored walk? Click on "Donate online" below and then "Make your page" and follow the simple instructions.
150th Anniversary News
East Renfrewshire Council celebrates Jewish Care Scotland's 150th Anniversary, 25th September 2008
East Renfrewshire Council’s Provost Alex Mackie hosted a civic dinner for 150 guests to honour Jewish Care Scotland‘s 150th anniversary year. The evening event was attended by volunteers, directors, staff, service users and guests including two young singers and a young cellist from Tirgu Mures in Hungary, who entertained with a recital of Jewish and classical songs and music.
During the evening Provost Mackie presented Jewish Care Scotland with a commemorative rose bowl. East Renfrewshire Council was presented with copies of A Caring Community…150 Years of Jewish Care Scotland for the Council’s libraries. Jewish Care Scotland presented a framed embroidery picture, entitled 21 Jewish Symbols. The embroidery was stitched over eighteen months by elderly members of the arts and crafts groups of Jewish Care Scotland’s Aviv and Thistle Clubs. Provost Mackie accepting the embroidery said: “It will have pride of place in the council offices.”
In welcoming the guests Provost Mackie said: “We at East Renfrewshire Council are extremely proud of our very special relationship with the Jewish community and particularly with our unique partnership with Jewish Care Scotland. All your endeavors at Jewish Care Scotland are vital and one of the hallmarks of the organization is the work done by the volunteers who are the true foot soldiers and heroes and heroines of the community. “
Responding Maureen Solomons, chair of Jewish Care Scotland, said:” We have enjoyed a unique partnership with East Renfrewshire Council and look forward to continuing this tradition for a great many years to come. “
Social Care Agency Coffee Evening celebrates 150 years of volunteering, 3rd June 2008
East Renfrewshire Health and Care Partnership Director Julie Murray, guest of honour at the Social Care Agency 150th anniversary year coffee evening said: “ Jewish Care Scotland and its volunteer Social Care Agency is a model for community welfare.”
80 of the now well over 100 volunteers gathered also heard Julie say:” East Renfrewshire Council is very proud of its unique partnership with Jewish Care Scotland and recognizes the huge amount of added value the charity and its volunteers contribute. “
Lesley Roles Chair of the Social Care Agency welcomed volunteers and guests. She looked back over 150 years of volunteering and celebrated the qualities of passion, the sense of obligation, vision and deep sense of caring demonstrated year after year by volunteer after volunteer.
Freda Jackson, former chair of the Welfare Board, had the audience spellbound with her impromptu personal memories of volunteering over 50 years. She contrasted the Welfare Board premises in Coplaw Street and the current comfortable Walton Community Care Centre. She told guests: “In days gone by, the then handful of volunteers was concerned with different issues. Poverty was accepted. Moving from the Gorbals to Shawlands was like moving to heaven. The mezuzah had to be on the door before families moved in- if there was no hammer I used my shoe!”
Guest speaker, volunteer baker and former director of Jewish Care Scotland David Strang, reduced the audience to tears of laughter with his witty after tea speech gently satirizing the Agency volunteer committees.
(Everyone at Jewish Care Scotland was saddened by the death of Freda Jackson a few weeks later in July 2008. An obituary recording her achievements and contribution to welfare was published in The Jewish Telegraph on Friday 18th July 2008 and in The Glasgow Herald on Tuesday August 5th 2008).
Out Now! A Caring Community ... 150 years of Jewish Care Scotland by Sharon Barron
A Caring Community...150 years of Jewish Care Scotland treats us to glimpses and pictures from the past and then guides us through to the present day. Profiles bring to life many of the characters involved in all aspects of the organisation of the day. Case details give insights into the many problems experienced while also providing a picture of past times. 
The role of women, the continuity of family support, fundraising and the changing nature of welfare needed by families, refugees, the elderly and ill are all featured. The book highlights the various caring organisations that evolved into the professional service we have today. Running through the book is a timeline of world events and one of Scottish Jewish welfare events.
The book is a packed full with the history of welfare and is also very much a history of the Jewish people in Glasgow, Scotland's largest Jewish community.
It is written in an accessible way and attractively presented, with full colour illustrations throughout.
Author, Sharon Barron, is a volunteer with Jewish Care Scotland. A librarian by profession, Sharon is also a published author. Over the course of a year she undertook the research and writing for the book on a voluntary basis so that A Caring Community...150 years of Jewish Care Scotland could be published this year to coincide with Jewish Care Scotland's 150th anniversary year celebrations.
Sharon drew on the historic resources and photographic collections of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre along with a number of personal reminiscences from former staff, volunteers, board members, friends and people whose family's were recipients of welfare support.
A Caring Community...150 years of Jewish Care Scotland is A4 size, 55 pages with a softback cover and is available from Jewish Care Scotland, The Walton Community Care Centre, May Terrace, Giffnock, Glasgow G46 6LD.Tel: 0141 620 1800 Fax: 0141 620 2409.
Price is £10.00 per copy plus post and packaging Copies can be ordered on our website www.jcarescot.org.uk by emailing admin@jcarescot.org.uk to purchase the book.
Glasgow City Council honours Jewish Care Scotland's 150th anniversary, 25th May 2008
Past and present staff, volunteers, Directors and club members, with councilors and representatives of Social Work services enjoyed a sparkling evening in Glasgow’s City Chambers as guests of Glasgow City Council’s Deputy Lord Provost, Baillie Allan Stewart to mark 150 years of caring by Jewish Care Scotland and its predecessor organizations.
Baillie Stewart said: “Since 1858 volunteers have given time and service to your community .Glasgow City Council retains a high regard for the work you undertake on behalf of some of the city’s elderly population. Jewish Care Scotland has made a fantastic contribution to the city and the country as a whole and is well worthy of the honour bestowed upon it.”
Maureen Solomons, chair of Jewish Care Scotland, responded: “We have a proud record of unbroken, continuous care in the community since 1858 when a handful of Jews, in the then tiny community, met with the intention of helping those less fortunate than themselves. Jewish immigrants, many escaping persecution, received a warm welcome typical of Glasgow and were able to establish themselves free from harassment and discrimination. We have always remained steadfast in our purpose in continuing to help those fleeing maltreatment. We are thrilled to celebrate our 150th anniversary in this magnificent setting and look forward to continue working in partnership with our fellow Glaswegians”
Maureen Solomons presented copies of A Caring community…150 years of Jewish Care Scotland a new book written by volunteer Sharon Barron who spoke about the early years of Jewish welfare in Glasgow.
Jewish Care Scotland's 150th anniversary year launch at the Tall Ship, 29th January 2008
They could never have known that the welfare society they started modestly all those years ago would still be functioning in 2008, albeit renamed and transformed beyond recognition. The Glasgow Hebrew Philanthropic Society was first recorded in 1858, trying to alleviate poverty and distress among the poor immigrant Jewish community who had settled in the west of Scotland and Glasgow, mainly to escape pogroms across Russia. Today, Jewish Care Scotland is still helping new Jewish immigrants to settle in Scotland 150 years later, as well as supporting Scottish Jewish families in need wherever they are in Scotland.
Chair of Jewish Care Scotland Maureen Solomons launching the year long celebrations said: “Jewish Care Scotland today prides itself in carrying on the traditions of the Glasgow Hebrew Philanthropic Society, supporting people in the community in a compassionate and professional way.
On 29th January 2008 at 10.30am on the Tall Ship, Glasgow, descendants of both the early Jewish philanthropists and refugees donned costumes of the period to commemorate symbolically the arrival in Glasgow of thousands of Jewish refugees between the 1850s and early 1900s where many of the arrivals sought work in the tailoring and ironmongery trades.
Deputy Lord Provost of Glasgow City Council Bailie Allan Stewart and Provost of East Renfrewshire Council Alex Mackie were also on the quayside, representing the welcome their authorities and communities have given over the 150 years.
Bailie Stewart said, “Our Jewish citizens have helped enrich Glasgow culturally and financially over the years. I am proud as Deputy Lord Provost to be at the Tall Ship to commemorate the arrival of your refugee antecedents 150 years ago. Jewish Care Scotland does so much important work looking after needy people with humility and compassion. This is an emotional day for the Jewish community and I am indeed honoured to be here.”
Provost Mackie said, “As home to Scotland’s largest Jewish community, we recall the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the body that became Jewish Care Scotland. East Renfrewshire enjoys a mutual, beneficial and very practical relationship with Jewish Care Scotland - and that is in the best traditions established when it was founded - and Jewish people arriving in our area looked for support and welcome. We are happy to continue to provide that welcome by supporting the excellent work that the charity continues to do, by basing social work staff within Jewish Care Scotland and by meeting the kosher catering needs of its clients.”
Three families of today’s Jewish asylum seekers were also present, as well some of the beneficiaries of the services provided by Jewish Care Scotland today.
The Tall Ship 150th Anniversary re-enactment, 29th January 2008
A veritable deluge of Scottish rain greeted our “refugees” arriving in Glasgow for the first time – however the civic welcome more than made up for that!
The following pictures of the event are by Alistair Sinclair and Hugh Dougherty.
A warm welcome to Glasgow...
The big adventure begins...
Four year old Baila thinks about her new home...
Where do we go now?
Is the weather always like this?