The splendid Bevis Marks synagogue in London, Britain’s oldest synagogue and a Grade-I listed building, has received a grant of £221,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
According to the S&P Sephardi Community, the grant will cover 64 percent of the initial planning costs of a total £4.6 million project “to improve facilities and access” at the synagogue, which has been in continuous use since 1701.
If successful in securing the full grant in Spring 2019, the project, costing some £4.6 m with a 64% contribution from HLF, will vastly improve facilities and access at Bevis Marks. It will ensure that Bevis Marks can be maintained as a living place of worship and community, a cultural centre and an historic attraction. It will also enable Bevis Marks to reach out to a wider community with a rich and engaging educational programme.
“We’re delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this support. Bevis Marks has been both a religious center and heritage site for over 300 years, with this grant we hope to be able to both preserve and increase its presence and functionality for another century and more,” S&P Executive Director, Alison Rosen said in a comment on the community’s web site.
Senior Rabbi Joseph Dweck added that : “With the HLF grant we will be able to showcase the many personalities, artefacts and stories that form the fabric of Sephardi Jewry in the United Kingdom and that laid the foundations of Jewish life here.”
Click to read the announcement on the S&P Sephardic Community web site
Click to read an article in the Jewish Chronicle