Missing £1m halts building

BRONDESBURY PARK Synagogue will decide in July whether to go ahead with a £5 million rebuild after an anticipated £1 million external donation failed to materialise.

The £1 million contribution would have enabled shul leaders to present finalised plans and a building schedule to members.

At a meeting attended by around 70 congregants of the north-west London community, it was decided to make a final appeal for donations towards the missing funding for a three-storey rebuild.

In a message to members, the shul pledged: “Whatever the outcome, whether rebuild or refurb, we will be embarking on a building project in this coming year that will transform the building at the centre of our community.

“The degree of transformation is dependent on what extent all our members commit to support our final efforts to close out funding for the new building.”

Without the £1 million, the shul will be forced to consider a more modest but “significant upgrade” of the existing building, incorporating an extension.

Under the spiritual leadership of Rabbi Baruch Levin, Brondesbury has become a victim of its own success. The shul now has more than 350 families among its membership and attracts around 200 adults for Shabbat morning services — and as many as 500 of all ages for a bar- or batmitzvah.

The United Synagogue has contributed £1 million towards the rebuild with the other funding coming equally from the congregation and the Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust.