Our Story So Far

Discover how the idea for developing a Welsh Jewish Culture Centre came about, how we started and the earliest priorities we had to get this off the ground.

Taking over an empty building

The Jewish community of Merthyr Tydfil formally came to an end in 1983 when the synagogue was sold. Since that time, the building was used for various purposes but has been lying empty since 2006, its condition deteriorating.

In 2019, the building was bought by the Foundation for Jewish Heritage and we embarked on the idea of creating a Welsh Jewish Cultural Centre, to tell the story of over 250 years of the Welsh Jewish community, and to create a new cultural venue for Merthyr Tydfil.

Our early steps on the project

One of our earliest steps - before we purchased the building - was to commission a feasibility study to look at our proposal for the Cultural Centre. This work - carried out by Marcus Roberts and very generously funded by the Muriel and Gershon Coren Charitable Foundation - established that it was a viable idea.

Once the Foundation had purchased the building, we carried out urgent repairs to stabilise the building. Half of the funding for this work came from Cadw, the Welsh Government’s heritage agency. It was match-funded by the Los Angeles-based GRoW @ Annenberg, the Philip King Charitable Trust and The Pilgrim Trust.

We also developed a business plan, with our colleagues at Empower, to form the basis of our submission to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Learn more about our
place in the community

Find out more about the importance of the historic synagogue of Merthyr Tydfil, what it means to the community and our plans to transform it into the Welsh Jewish Cultural Centre.