In a first for the Jewish Community, SCoJeC was privileged to hold its regular quarterly Council meeting in the prestigious setting of the Fleming Room of the Scottish Parliament, thanks to the kind sponsorship of Paul O'Kane MSP for West of Scotland.

The business meeting heard about the growing collaboration between SCoJeC and the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, and unanimously endorsed the principle of bringing the organisations more closely together while retaining the separate functions and very important brand recognition of both in their respective domains, with the active support of both the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council.  There was also good news on the staffing front, with recent appointments meaning that we have the education and community development portfolios covered for the first time since before the pandemic.  The first priority for the new education team is to refresh and expand our internet-based teaching resources as part of a project funded by a grant from Sky through the Corra Foundation to counter antisemitism by normalising and de-"othering" Judaism and the Jewish Community.

The meeting also heard from Director Ephraim Borowski and Public Engagement Manager Kirsty Robson about the exceptionally wide range of meetings they have recently held with leading representatives of government, parliament, other faith and cultural communities - no fewer than 180 such meetings in the past three months!  In particular, members welcomed the work we have been doing with Jewish student societies and Jewish Student Chaplaincy to support Jewish students at Scottish universities and colleges, including a proposal to establish an academic advisory group and our ground-breaking Student Summit.

Following the formal meeting, members moved to the main entrance lobby, where the Presiding Officer welcomed members of the community to the lighting of the Parliament's iconic Rifkind Chanukiah by Rabbi David Rose of Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation.  The evening ended with light refreshments in the Burns Room, where we were entertained by the Calderwood Lodge Primary School choir who had travelled from Glasgow for the occasion.

SCoJeC Chair Nicola Livingston commented:

"it was a pleasure to return to meeting in-person with our Council, especially in such illustrious surroundings, to celebrate our achievements over the last quarter and look constructively to the next. 

It was great to discuss the volume and wide range of work our small number of part-time and volunteer staff are able to do on very limited budgets, and plan how we will build on this in the coming year. I am delighted that we were unanimously agreed about the next steps in constructive discussions with other communal bodies in Scotland and London to put our finances on a more stable footing, and enable us to continue and grow our essential work to represent, connect, and support Jewish people in Scotland."