Jewish Care

On the day the World Health Organisation predicted that within 20 years more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem, Lord Levy opened Jewish Care’s Martin B Cohen Centre for Wellbeing.

The two-storey centre will house a multi-disciplinary team offering a wide range of mental health and wellbeing services to the community. Plans have already been agreed for other service providers such as the Jewish Bereavement Counselling service and Barnet Primary Care Trust to use the centre in supporting Jewish people with mental health needs.

In front of a capacity crowd of donors, staff and volunteers, Lord Levy helped to unveil the plaque marking the opening of the new £2.2m centre in Edgware saying, “Mental health problems affect many people and the Jewish community is not immune. Jewish Care hopes that this wonderful centre will provide the support and modern approach that is needed in the community, and remove the stigma attached to those who have mental health issues.”

The new centre is named in honour of Cyril Dennis’ late brother and was the inspiration of Marcia Feldman, a driving force behind the project. Mr Dennis was joined by his late brother’s wife, Suzanne Cohen, as well as other members of his family. He took the opportunity to reflect on how vital the centre was and said: “One in four people will experience a diagnosable mental health problem each year, so this centre will greatly improve the quality of people’s lives.”

He went on to pay tribute to all those who had donated funds in order to make this dream a reality and spoke of the need for more young Jewish people to become involved with Jewish charities: “Our hope is that a new generation of youngsters will be open to positive new experiences and become proud supporters of many Jewish charities.”

Rabbi Plancey, a great friend of the Feldman family and one of Jewish Care’s chaplains, was joined by the Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman, Councillor Freer, Marcia Feldman, Cyril Dennis, Suzanne Cohen and Lord Levy as he fixed a mezuzah to the front door of the centre. Moving inside, Marcia Feldman, chair of Jewish Care’s mental health consultative committee and tireless fundraiser for the centre said: “My dream is that people with mental health problems will be able to find an oasis of dignity at this centre, and their hope for a better life is restored. The centre will help people build their self confidence in a safe and secure environment, where they are not stigmatised in any way.”

Guests were treated to a tour of the new building which includes a café, IT suite, counselling rooms, a kitchen for people to learn how to cook, and training rooms. The centre already offers a range of therapeutic programmes for 200 people every week and reaches out to another 400 people in the community.