Posted on 29th September 2009
Dame Vivien Duffield, chair of the Clore Duffield Foundation, has committed £25m, her largest ever single gift, to help fund a purpose-built centre for the Jewish Community Centre (JCC) for London, after planning permission was granted in September.
The gift, which is the largest-ever single gift to a Jewish communal body in the UK, will fund half of the £50m bespoke 30,000 sq ft home for the JCC’s programmes which promote Jewish arts, culture, social action and debate. The JCC is launching a fundraising campaign to raise the remaining £25m.
Dame Vivien said, “Creating a space where everyone can come together will be enriching and enlivening for the whole Jewish community and for the wider community beyond. It’s on that basis that we felt we could justify the unprecedented financial support we’re providing to the project.”
The chief rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, said, “This incredible donation by the Clore Duffield Foundation will provide a spectacular hub for community activities and, in doing so, will help preserve and promote Jewish culture for generations to come. The quality of Jewish culture has always been high and we will now have a world-class facility in London in which to celebrate it.”
London mayor Boris Johnson described the building as, “Another triumph for the Jewish Community Centre and its trustees”.
The JCC, which was founded five years ago by the Clore Duffield Foundation (CDF), aims to foster and develop an inclusive Jewish community for anyone and everyone who associates with being Jewish, to whatever extent.
