FUTURE COMMUNITY PLANNING
The Glasgow Jewish Representative Council hosted a meeting of 18 communal leaders on Monday 15th February to discuss planning for the Community’s Future. A number of others were invited but were unfortunately unable to attend.
The President of the Representative Council, Philip Mendelsohn, reminded those present that in the mid 1990s the Caplan Report (by Simon Caplan) had been prepared to set out the a vision for the community. He had recently reread the report and was pleased to note that many of its 28 recommendations had been acted on.
Those present at the meeting shared a view that there was merit in collating and sharing information to help organisations to better plan how to meet the needs of community going forward. A number of key actions were agreed:
· To undertake a fact finding mission to other communities to see how they have responded to changing needs;
· To commission a demographic study to establish a profile of the current population and to forecast how this is expected to change in the future;
· Conduct a survey of the community’s material and financial assets;
· Make a detailed assessment of the Caplan Report to establish what we can learn from it, noting how its recommendations, projections and conclusions have stood the test of time; and
· Gather the views of community members as to the facilities they wish to see and how they would like them to be provided in the future.
The Representative Council hopes to organise the fact finding mission in the next two months or so. In parallel with that working parties will be set up to commence on the other four tasks. It is intended to ensure that there is wide representation on the working parties and any sub-groups they may choose to form.
If anyone wishes to provide their views or offer their input to the study they are invited to contact the Council on 0141 577 8200 or office@glasgowjewishrepcouncil.org.
CAPLAN REPORT
For reference purposes, a summary of the 1995 Caplan Report is available here.