The Marjorie & Arnold Ziff Community Centre first opened its doors to the whole Community on 19 June 2005. 3,000 people of all ages attended its first open day and it has grown ever since to become a Centre for the whole Leeds Jewish Community and its neighbours.
The Centre was built by the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board, in partnership with the Leeds Jewish Housing Association. It replaced the offices of these two organisations, and the previous much smaller Community Centre which provided a venue for a range of activities both for local residents and for service users of LJWB.
One trigger to build a new Centre was that the roof of the Queenshill Community Centre had developed major leaks, and the costs of repair were sky high. At the same time, Leeds Jewish Housing Association received national funding from the Housing Corporation to develop a major sheltered housing scheme.
The two organisations decided to start a major redevelopment of the site, including the previous office accommodation, the Queenshill Community Centre and the six maisonette blocks between them.
As a result, The Marjorie & Arnold Ziff Community Centre was built next to 40 new flats for people needing support, Thea and Heinz Skyte House. The flats join the Centre through a ‘one’ way door. An existing development, Queenshill Lawn, is also joined up via a link corridor, giving residents of both developments internal access to meals and social activities in a safe environment. Further flats are now under development next to the Centre.
However, the Centre is not geared just for older people or for those who have traditionally used the services of the two organisations. The vision was to build for the future of the whole community. We provide a high quality environment with a wide-ranging programme of activities and events for all ages and tastes. We are proud to provide the only Kosher restaurant in Leeds for the first time in many years. We have also created meeting spaces for community events in addition to those previously provided by synagogues and Brodetsky Primary School. The aim has been to provide a meeting place for the entire Jewish community, whatever their age, income or religious affiliations.
The Centre also provides an opportunity for a variety of community organisations to enjoy the benefits of being housed together in one location. The Centre now provides a home for Makor Jewish Culture and Resource Centre, the shaliach, WIZO.uk and the Leeds Jewish Representative Council as well as LJHA and LJWB.
