It all started with a leaking roof…and from this rather wet beginning sprang the impressive new Marjorie & Arnold Ziff Community Centre, the latest project of The Leeds Jewish Welfare Board (LJWB). 

The Welfare Board is a major Jewish charity in Leeds that funds a wide range of social care projects, including the Manny Cussins Family Project, the Rainbow project for people with learning disabilities, a project for adults with mental health problems and numerous social work and daytime activities for older people.

The Marjorie & Arnold Ziff Community Centre aims to provide a place for all members of the Leeds Jewish community, whatever their age, social status, ability or religious backgrounds, in which they can come together to socialise, relax or enjoy any of the activities that are on offer.

For many years, services had run from the former Queenshill Community Centre, but the Centre had needed some major repairs (including the leaking roof).  These repairs were going to prove costly and yet would still not enable LJWB and its partners to provide the range of high quality services they wanted to be able to offer.

In 2002, the Leeds Jewish Housing Association had the opportunity to secure funding from the Housing Corporation, to build its own sheltered housing scheme on an existing site owned by the LJWB. This led to discussions regarding redevelopment of the whole site and the potential for a purpose built centre was realised.  Fundraising began in earnest, combined with donations and funding from charitable trusts.  The building of the Centre took 2 years to complete and opened in June 2005. The attached sheltered housing scheme, which opened in April 2005, was designed in parallel but built first, as there were tenants waiting to move in. 

he facilities at the Centre include a kosher restaurant & café, a crèche and a mini gym, plus various meeting rooms, a multi-sensory room and an art room.  There are also a wide range of activities and classes available that encompass health and fitness (yoga, pilates, line dancing), leisure (bingo, quizzes, cards), arts (painting, modelling, collage, music), performance and Jewish education, speakers and events.

The activities and facilities reach across the different age groups, from the very young playing in the new crèche or attending the toddler group, through the families who utilise the summer scheme, parenting classes and new mothers' group, to the elderly who make up the core user group in the day time.  The on-site facilities are especially important for the older people from the neighbouring sheltered housing schemes, as they can come over and enjoy a hot meal and some companionship, without needing be driven.

The Centre is open for all to use, however regular visitors can enjoy additional benefits by becoming members.  The funds generated from the membership fees provide a valuable source of income towards the substantial running costs of the building.

Looking towards the future, the long-term goal for the Centre is to provide a high quality, welcoming environment for the whole community that offers a wide range of excellent events and activities that are well used by all. Seeing how impressed everyone is by the design and quality of the building, particularly its feeling of vibrancy, lightness and airiness, I am sure that this future aim will be realised.

The Marjorie & Arnold Ziff Jewish Community Centre is at 311 Stonegate Road, Leeds LS17 www.mazcc.org.