## **Cambridge Jewish Residents Association (CJRA CIO) Charity Number 1187648** **CJRA Trustees’ Annual Report 1 June 2022 - 31 May 2023** **Reference and administrative Information** **Charity Name: Cambridge Jewish Residents Association CIO** **Charity Registration Number 1187648** **Address of Organisation - there is no official building or office.** **All Trustees work from their home addresses** **Trustees: For the first 3 months we continued with the 2 original Trustees but one of these, Mr Barry Gold, Treasurer, stood down at the Annual General Meeting on 8 September 2022, when the number of Trustees increased to 10 as follows:** **1. Marilyn Fersht , Chairman** **2. Sylvia Morris, Treasurer** **3. Eva Simmons, Vice Chair** **4. Rachel Meller, Membership Secretary** **5. Robert Marks, Treasurer of Burial Society** **6. Ruth Barnett, Secretary of Burial Society** **7. Valerie Collis, Education Officer** **8. Tirza Bleehen, Welfare Officer** **9. Kathrin Peters, Minute Secretary** **10. David Waldman, Committee Member** ## **Structure, governance and management** The CJRA became a CIO on 29 January 2020 with a Constitution after many years of being an unincorporated charity. At the Annual General Meeting on 8 September 2022, it was agreed to increase the number of Trustees from the original two to ten, following a resolution that _**the board of charity trustees shall comprise: the Chairman and the Treasurer, during their tenure of office; and during their time on the committee all other Committee Members who choose so to be.**_ Two committee members opted out of becoming Trustees. All are volunteers. We have held six committee meetings and one AGM during the period of this report. All were held on Zoom. We also have many other volunteers who help run our different groups, in particular, a cross community welfare support group, which was very active during the pandemic. Our members are charged a small subscription of £30 per annum per person. Our income is derived from subscriptions, donations, bank interest and gift aid. We have approximately 150 full members and a few non-Jewish associate members, who receive our magazine. **Objectives and Activities** Our purpose is the advancement of the Jewish faith through the provision of religious services and burial, education to advance Jewish culture, history and knowledge and to provide welfare for those in need. We are always open to those outside the Jewish faith, who would like to advance their knowledge of our religion, history, customs and culture. Entry to most of our talks and events is free. We give financial support for the maintenance of the Synagogue building in Thompson’s Lane, Cambridge. The University of Cambridge Jewish Society runs the Synagogue with help from Jewish residents. Religious services took place in person with strict rules during the pandemic. We were able to keep in touch with our members and other interested persons through email and zoom. Our online evening talks saw a substantial increase of attendees and we have continued this way. We were able to hold our annual Chanukah Party jointly with Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue on 18 December in person. Entertainment was provided by our locally based Kol Echad Choir, who sang a programme of Jewish songs. This was an event open to all the Jewish groups in Cambridge and it was well attended. Our Evening Talks programme: There were eight talks, and these are continuing online. They are attracting people of all ages often with thirty devices and above. The monthly Monday afternoon meetings of the Cambridge Jewish Cultural Association started to meet again in person on 13 June 2022 to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Anniversary and have continued monthly since then and are well attended. We organised a group tour of the Cambridge Mosque in August. We have continued to send out in the post three magazines a year, which contain information of all that is happening across the whole Cambridge Jewish community, as well as interesting articles and reports. In addition, an email circular is sent out regularly to inform and remind our members and others of forthcoming activities and events. Our Burial Society arranged 7 burials and 2 stone settings.