Manchester’s Jewish Museum cafe may have only been open for a year, but the quality of its food has already been recognised with an award.
Taking home the gong for 2022’s Cafe or Restaurant of the Year category at the Museums and Heritage Awards, the local eatery pipped both the English Heritage Stonehenge cafe and the Whitchurch silk mill riverside cafe to the top spot.
Its contemporary vegetarian kosher-style menu uses local produce, and authentic Jewish and vegetarian ingredients, and is created on three core principles: bringing people together, evolving recipes, and meals to nourish and sustain you.
Those heading down will find a vegetarian and vegan menu inspired by two different Jewish diasporas: the northern European Ashkenazi style and the rich, Mediterranean Sephardi way of cooking.
Think smoked carrot lox bagels, vegetarian cholent served with challah bread, and the ‘Not Quite Traditional ‘Chicken’ Soup’ – a hearty vegetarian broth with oyster mushrooms and Matzo balls available on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Smoked carrot lox bagels from the cafe made with vegan cream cheese, carrot lox and beef tomato. / Image: Manchester Jewish Museum
Elsewhere, you’ll find lentil soup with spinach and a drizzle of zesty lemon oil served with pita and Israeli street food-inspired falafel plates or pita served with homemade hummus, tahini sauce, zhug, chopped salad, seasonal salad leaves, and pickled chilli pepper.
Drinks-wise, in the hopper you’ll find Abe & Co. Coffee, created at a Jewish-owned micro-roastery based in Whitefield, and Brew Tea, a Manchester-based Tea Company.
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As for pop, Manchester-based makers Steep Soda provide handmade fizzy drinks, whilst all bagels and challah bread come from the North Manchester Jewish-owned State Fayre Bakery.
he ‘Not Quite Traditional ‘Chicken’ Soup’ – a hearty vegetarian broth with oyster mushrooms and Matzo balls available on Fridays and Saturdays as part of the Museum’s special Sabbath experience. / Image: Manchester Jewish Museum
Speaking on the award win, Alex Cropper, the Curator from Manchester Jewish Museum, said: “It felt so exciting to be at the Museum and Heritage Awards on Wednesday night and to gather to celebrate our sector for the first time since the pandemic – there was a real buzz in the room. And to win an award was the icing on the cake!
“It was an honour to accept the Café of the Year award on stage on behalf of our incredible café team and great to see our name up there amongst such incredible museums in the Permanent Gallery of the Year category.”
Manchester secures £5.2m funding to build ‘supported accommodation’ for rough sleepers
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has secured a whopping £5.2 million in funding to build new ‘supported accommodation’ designed to house rough sleepers.
After an application submitted to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) has been approved this week, Manchester City Council says it’s eager to help the former homeless “rebuild their lives”.
This means that, by working in partnership with housing and support providers Humankind, Jigsaw, and Great Places, the Council will oversee the creation of 42 units of supported housing across three different schemes.
The schemes are for single people with a history of rough sleeping and longer-term support needs.
Manchester has secured £5.2m in funding to build ‘supported accommodation’ for rough sleepers / Credit: Flickr | Giving Compass
According to the Council, these people will stay in this accommodation and receive personalised support until they are ready to “take the next step to independent living”.
This new £5.2 million funding allocation from the Government covers both the cost of creating the accommodation – which must be completed by March 2025 at the latest – and revenue funding to help run it for its first three years of opening.
“We are working with a range of partners to tackle the homelessness challenge on all fronts, from prevention in the first place to helping people into permanent, settled homes,” explained Cllr Joanna Midgley, who is the Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council.
The Council says the funding will help the former homeless “rebuild their lives” / Credit: Ethel Red (via Flickr)
“Securing this £5.2m funding for the city will help us create much-needed extra accommodation for those being helped off the streets who need significant long-term support before they are ready to live independently.
“It’s only part of a wider response but it will be a welcome addition to the accommodation and support available.”
The news of the successful application comes after the Council published its plan to get rough sleepers off the streets of Manchester and into temporary accommodation this winter back in early November.
Efforts in the city will be “stepped-up even further” in the coming months to encourage people sleeping rough to “come inside and access the wider support available”.
Featured Image – Flickr
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Amber heat-health warning issued as temperatures drop across the North West
Danny Jones
An amber health warning has been issued for the North West and other regions as temperatures continue to drop across the country.
Having already provided an update on the “possibility of snow” and the imminent cold snap earlier this week, the Met Office and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have now added a heat-health warning to their forecast for the new few days as things get increasingly colder across Great Britain.
With temperatures expected to reach as low as -5C by Friday, 29 November, the Met Office and UKHSA pushed out an amber heat-health alert on Wednesday, with the elderly, clinically vulnerable and the health sector in general said to be those most at risk.
Although the freezing weather obviously has the potential to affect everyone — with the likes of the North East and Northern Ireland having already been given a yellow weather warning as well — amber heat-health warnings are deemed to require an ‘enhanced response‘ as they are likely to significantly impact “across the whole health service” and possibly other sectors too.
The current heat-health alerts that have been issued for the UK. (Credit: gov.uk)
Under the relatively new CHA (cold-health alert) system, anything beyond a yellow level alert means that it is expected that there will be increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable populations and an increase in risk to health to individuals over the age of 65, those with pre-existing health conditions, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and other vulnerable groups like rough sleepers.
As well as the Met Office offering their verdict, the UKHSA’s Head of Extreme Events and Health Protection, Dr Agostinho Sousa, said: “With a risk of widespread overnight frosts and some snow across the country this week, it’s important to check in on the wellbeing of those most vulnerable to the cold.
“Cold weather can have a serious impact on health, particularly older people, and those with pre-existing health conditions, as it increases the risks of heart attacks, strokes and chest infections.
“If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over the age of 65, it is important to try and heat the rooms where you spend most of your time in[doors], such as your living room or bedroom.”
For those considered to be at risk during this cold snap and amber-heat health warning, the official government-sanctioned advice is that if you can’t heat all the rooms in your home, it is important to heat the rooms you spend the (i.e. living room in the day and bedroom before going to sleep) to at least 18 degrees if possible.
They also recommend wearing a few thin layers instead of one thick layer, as the former is better at trapping heat than just one big jumper etc.
Other advice on how to stay safe during these colder periods includes stocking up on food and medicine, keeping windows closed and reducing draughts at home, as well as getting vaccinated against flu and COVID-19.
If you or someone you know is in need of help, you can get in touch with the NHS on 111 and if it is an emergency please call 999 immediately.
Georgina Pellant -
16th May 2022 
