Shuls move Medical aid after blaze campaign

A FIRE which broke out in Manchester’s Jewish Cultural Centre minutes before Shabbat forced synagogues to find alternative premises last Friday evening.

Strip-lighting ignited at around 4pm at the Machon Levi Yitzchok Chabad synagogue at the four-storey centre in Prestwich.

Two firemen with breathing apparatus swiftly extinguished the blaze, which started near the synagogue’s ark. No one was injured but there was some smoke damage.

Other congregations with synagogues inside the centre returned for services on Shabbat morning after the building was declared safe by fire officers. The building also houses the offices of the Manchester Beth Din, which were undamaged.

FOLLOWING THE death of a Liverpool King David High pupil from a heart attack, a petition for a Parliamentary debate on siting defibrillators in all UK public buildings has gathered over 71,000 signatures.

Oliver King was 12 when he suffered a heart attack at King David High’s swimming pool in March 2011. His father Mark has been campaigning to place resuscitation equipment across the UK through the Oliver King Foundation.

If the petition gains 100,000 supporters by February 10, Parliament must debate the proposal.

On Sunday, Stenecourt Synagogue in Salford became the first in Greater Manchester to get a defibrillator after four members, including assistant rabbi Benji Simmonds, trained to use equipment provided by the foundation.