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Date:  10 July 2007

Pensioner's 93rd birthday raises £600 for Sinclair House

Charitable pensioner Norman Magnus raised £600 for Jewish Care’s Sinclair House Community Centre in Woodford Bridge Road, Redbridge. Instead of receiving presents, the day centre member asked friends and family for donations towards the centre, on the occasion of his 93rd birthday on the 28th June.

Mr Magnus, who lives in Chingford, has been coming to Sinclair House for the past ten years. This has been especially important for him since his wife Minnie died nearly two years ago; before that the couple were both members. At the centre he enjoys the banter with his friends and “good yiddisher food” and likes to play short mat bowling.

He said: “There’s a wonderful atmosphere [at Sinclair House] and they are kind to everyone. That’s why I wanted to help. I was introduced to charitable giving at a very young age as my parents were patrons of the first Jewish home for the aged in Clapham Common.”

Mr Magnus is the president of the Friendship Club at Hyams Park and Chingford Synagogue and before he retired, he worked in the treasurer’s department of the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

Sinclair House fundraising and marketing executive, Duggi Zarum-Glick, praised Mr Magnus for his generosity at a tea party held at the centre to mark his birthday. She said: “He’s a lovely man – an example to us all – and we are very touched by his kind gesture.”