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Latest report
Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue
Community Development Review
I am glad to report that we have now completed
the second phase of the HGSS Community Development
Review. This has included the communal survey,
as well as additional meetings with key stakeholder
groups and our professional and lay leadership
teams.
The survey has enabled us to explore in more
detail some of the key themes that emerged from
the initial community meetings and to ensure
the review takes account of the views of a cross
section of the community. The responses to the
questionnaire have been varied, rich and insightful.
Many different issues have been raised concerning
the future direction of the shul but among those
who sent comments, there has been almost universal
support for the survey itself and the opportunity
it provided to articulate thoughts and aspirations
for the future of our community. The statistical
patterns are currently being analysed and will
feed into the final part of the review process.
I am happy to report that out of the 1000 questionnaires
sent out, we received just under 400 responses.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank
all those people that took the time to respond.
I would also like to thank Steve Miller for
all his help and assistance in designing and
overseeing the survey.
In addition, Claire Lemer and Robert Shaw have
each met with additional constituents within
the community to help develop our understanding
further. Claire has met and interviewed our
professional and lay leadership teams, whilst
Robert has listened to representatives from
the cheder, and the various religious services
attended by our members including our Sephardi
and Hashkama minyanims.
In this second phase, we have encountered an
overwhelming sense of enthusiasm and commitment
to our synagogue and community from our professional
staff. Importantly there is a strong belief
that we need to develop the interaction with
our lay leadership and encourage more diverse
involvement from within the membership. Given
the diversity of membership, our different services
are deemed to play an important role in accommodating
the needs of many within our community. Our
challenge remains to ensure we maintain and
enhance communal cohesion and coordination.
We have now entered the final phase of the
review process which will include formulating
our strategy and setting out an implementation
plan. The Steering Committee are currently reviewing
all the information and data that has been collected
over the past twelve months and hope to report
our final recommendations within the next few
months. We will present a review of the questionnaire
results at this years AGM, with an additional
meeting scheduled for June to present our final
recommendations.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions for
the team to consider as part of our final deliberation
please email
us or contact us via the synagogue office.
Neil Levinson April 2009
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