The Day the Golden Girls Came

St.  Anne’s Shul was delighted to host the Golden Girls from Whitefield Chabad, accompanied by Rebbetzen Sara Jaffe, to brunch and a tour of the shul, prior to their day out in Lytham.

Lovely photos. I great day out in St. Annes. Thanks Sorah for organising the food. Thanks to the ladies committee of St. Annes shul for making us so welcome and providing and serving us tea and coffee xx

Beautiful pictures.Thank you to Sora and committee for lovely lunch.St Anne’s shul for there warm hospitality.
A great day out with glorious weather.

Ruth Lewis. Thank Sora,and the committee for a wonderful day to St Anns,and Lytham. Beautiful lunch, great Welcome to the Beautiful Shul and great welcome we got when we arrived very lucky with the weather as well in all a fabulous day. Thank you. Xxx

CHABAD LADIES LUNCH – 21^st July

Ladies, it’s our pleasure to welcome you to our shul and I hope you’ve had a pleasant day so far.

My name is Glen and I’m the chair of the Ladies Social Circle, some of whom are here today to meet you.

We thought you’d like to know a little about us and the shul.

We’re an old community – in more senses than one !  (I prefer to call us mature) We’re made up of local St. Annes and Blackpool natives but additionally a large majority is formed by the influx of many immigrants …  from Manchester, who’ve discovered what a wonderful place it is to retire to.

Not all of us are super religious, but we are very close knit and mostly we all know one another. The shul holds services on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Shabbos as well as whenever anyone has a yortzheit.  But it’s constantly in use with communal and social activities.

The Jewish community here started out as a Sephardi congregation established by a number of Jewish textile merchants from South Manchester and Minyanim were held in rooms above a butchers shop here in Orchard Road.

In 1909 there were about 50 Jewish families in the area. Just before the ‘39  war and into the war a number of Manchester Families moved into St.Anne’s and changed the community to Ashkenazi.

Since 1946, the Jewish population in St Anne’s has varied between 350 and 520 in 1965, and the latest data suggests there are currently around 300.

From early 1930’s until 1940, the congregation was housed in Union Bank Buildings on Park Road, and in the early fifties bought the Methodist church – initially occupying a building that had previously been occupied by the St. Mary’s Mission Church and then by the St Anne’s Women’s Conservation and Unionist Association.  Services were held there till this new building was built in it’s present location on Orchard Road and was consecrated in 1961. We’re very proud of our beautiful shul and when you’ve finished lunch we’ll take you on a little tour.

Blackpool was considered the main Jewish Orthodox community in the area, however, in 2012 it was decided to close its Synagogue on Leamington Road due to a declining Blackpool population, and merge with St. Anne’s.  The St. Anne’s Synagogue is now the only Orthodox congregation in the area, although there is also a Reform Synagogue in Blackpool.

Our current Rabbi is Rabbi Danny Bergson, who together with Rebbetzen Anna and their 5 children, took up the post in August 2018.

The Shul is a 2-minute walk from St Anne’s Pier and the beach.  Our beach (not to boast too much) is amongst the best in UK

The nearest large towns are Blackpool (20 mins drive) and Preston (30 mins drive) and Poulton, Fleetwood and Cleveleys are all within easy driving distance.

Pretty villages and garden centres leave you spoilt for choice if planning a day out – and there’s an excellent coach trips service if you want to leave the driving to others.
Another bonus – the Lake District is only just about an hour’s drive away !

Both Lytham and St Anne’s are full of the delights of a coastal tourist town – and Clifton Street with its boutiques and roadside cafes is a delightful treat summer or winter – not to mention all the popular friends meeting places!  It’s our very own Dizengoff !  And most places are dog friendly !

Our Ladies Circle is busy all year round with events to bring the community together, and to meet with the many visitors from Manchester, Southport and Preston who attend our functions, which are open to all.   We have wonderful Milk and Meat kitchen facilities and we’re quite a dab hand at catering now with much experience behind us.  We are hosting the League of Jewish Womens’ Annual Afternoon Tea next month, (to which all are invited) and upcoming in the near future we have a Quiz, a talk and film show from an ex Tiller girl, a Meet and Greet with our local MP, and our Rabbi’s BBQ in his garden.   After the Chanukah party, in January we will be hosting a Holocaust Memorial Day with local schools and upwards of 250 dignitaries, speakers and visitors.

So as you can hear communal and social life here is very busy.   I guess that’s why so many people contemplating retiring or downsizing choose to join us. And if that’s any of you – you are most welcome and you’ll love it !

I hope you’re enjoying your day so far and can I take this opportunity to thank you for choosing to visit us.