Foundation Jewish Heritage: Learning and Engagement Consultant

Overview

The Foundation for Jewish Heritage is seeking to engage an experienced Learning and Engagement Consultant to support their project Preserving Jewish Heritage, Promoting the Hidden Jewish Story in the year-long Development Phase of its project and for the first six months (of a five-year programme) of the Delivery Phase of the project. The Consultant will support and advise the Synagogues in this first pilot on activities/outreach and education, ultimately creating a framework for future use as a core part of this programme.

The role will report to the Project Development Officer. The Project Development Officer is currently being recruited and will be responsible for the set up and day to day running of the project.

The Foundation’s work to date has demonstrated a significant gap in provision for historic synagogues. There is a clear need for a more defined and comprehensive support function for the UK synagogues sector: one that offers a professional, accessible and user-friendly service; guides and empowers synagogue communities; helps ensure synagogue buildings are well maintained, resilient and future-proofed, including in response to the climate emergency;

and supports synagogues to engage more effectively with wider society. This project aims to address that gap.

The Foundation for Jewish Heritage (FJH) is a UK-based charity, dedicated to working in the UK and internationally on preserving Jewish built heritage in danger. FJH is a non-religious, non-denominational organisation involving volunteers and supporters both Jewish and non-Jewish who share an interest in preserving Jewish heritage.

• Research – creating an inventory of Jewish heritage sites, and identifying those at risk
• Advocacy – making the case for Jewish cultural heritage and promoting interest in specific sites
• Expertise – providing professional advice and guidance to create sustainable solutions for vulnerable sites working with local partners, while nurturing expertise in Jewish heritage preservation
• Resources – securing funding for Jewish heritage sites at risk to ensure these are preserved, given a contemporary purpose, and saved for the future.

We are well supported by a high-profile Board of Trustees, including Dame Helen Hyde, Sir Simon Schama, Lord Daniel Finkelstein and Simon Sebag Montefiore.

We are a small charity with an ambitious mission and a need to expand to meet our growing agenda of work.

Having been established in 2015, during which time we have achieved notable successes in supporting a number of synagogue restoration projects while also becoming much better informed about the scale of the challenge, we are now poised to enter a new phase with a major expansion supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund – Preserving Jewish Heritage, Promoting the Hidden Jewish Story.

This major six-year project will see the Foundation secure the long-term future of a greater number of UK historic synagogues at risk by providing expert advice and guidance to enable congregations to maintain, promote and develop their heritage in the face of limited resources, declining memberships, environmental challenges, and rising antisemitism. Working with partners, we will act as a hub of support for the synagogue sector – building capacity, knowledge and skills to protect and future-proof synagogues, whilst making them more accessible as cultural and educational venues.

Saving at-risk Jewish heritage, including securing new community uses for redundant buildings, will contribute to wider cultural regeneration of communities across the UK, benefit ting everyone.

This project will expand our ability to provide expert advice on conservation, archiving and recording,…