We are delighted to announce that SCoJeC has been awarded £10,000 by the Big Lottery Investing in Ideas programme for our new project, SCoJeC Connect, which will link Jewish communities and individuals throughout Scotland by means of a new web-based discussion site and ‘e-learning’ space.

During our Being Jewish in Scotland project we met many Jewish people in remote parts of Scotland who told us how much they would like to meet other Jewish people both locally and further afield. People from Dumfriesshire to Shetland were interested in taking part in Jewish learning and discussion groups, and asked about learning opportunities for their children as well as themselves. And even people in the larger Jewish communities told us that they don’t always know what’s going on and want to share ideas and information.

There’s nothing to beat personal contact, and we continue to support groups to run local events and to run our own activities around the country, such as our recent Klezmer dance tour, which attracted more than 150 people from Findhorn to Maybole and from Dunoon to Dundee. We envisage that the new discussion site will help Jewish community groups and individuals to arrange and publicise even more activities and gatherings. But we also see it as a tool to help Jewish people in Scotland to connect with one another all year round, providing opportunities to learn from each other and from experts, to share experiences, and to counter the isolation that people can sometimes feel far from their nearest Jewish community.

There will be a Hebrew language section for Israelis in Scotland, people will be able to start discussions about Jewish books, films, art, dance, food, and anything else of interest, and there’ll be a dedicated ‘e-learning’ space for interactive seminars and classes.

But this initiative isn’t going to happen on its own. We will use the grant to engage an IT consultant to help to set up the new discussion site, and, following up on our Inter-Links project will be appointing an online outreach worker who will work with local groups and individuals to encourage the use of the site, and to run training sessions around the country for those who are a bit nervous of anything 'online'. We will also be seeking volunteers to promote the discussion site, and act as moderators.

If you’re interested in getting involved in this project, please contact:

Fiona Frank

fiona@scojec.org         0141 638 6411           07779 206 522

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