Newcastle upon Tyne Kosher Meals Service

Alexandra Vent, a member of the Unlocking North East Jewish Heritage team, researched the history of the Newcastle upon Tyne Kosher Meals Service using the records held by Tyne & Wear Archives.  

The Newcastle upon Tyne Kosher Meals Service was established on 10 March 1952 and on 10 February 1969 it was officially registered as a charity.

The Kosher Meals Service was founded on the observance of Kashrut, the Jewish law dealing with what can and cannot be eaten. Kashrut comes from the Hebrew word meaning fit/proper/correct. 

Staffing consisted of a cook, a kitchen maid and a waitress. Pupils and students were given membership cards and payment was collected from them daily, during term-time only. 

The committee meetings took place at Jesmond Synagogue on Eskdale Terrace and discussed matters such as: staffing, funding, requests for grants from other synagogues, alterations to the building, discussions on the variety of meals and cost of ingredients, health and safety issues, resignations, birthdays and raffles to raise money. 

Sample menus were published in the Jewish Recorder to encourage attendance and the committee members were constantly thinking of ways in which to make the service financially viable. On occasion parents were approached for donations but ultimately the committee decided that it should fall to religious institutions to subsidise. 

As well as providing kosher meals, the service trained children and students to be “kosher-minded”, provided Kippahs/ Yamelkahs (skullcaps) to encourage children to cover their heads whilst eating and advised other councils on how to set up a similar service. There were rooms available for study, recreation and play to encourage use of the service. 

The most commonly occurring theme in the minute book is the need to keep costs down amidst rising food prices and varying attendance. At one point it was decided that "the use of tinned soup was extravagant” and there were complaints of “monotony and inferiority” from the patrons! 

Financial statement of the Kosher Meals Service, 1959, showing there were 12,616 meals served that year (TWA: CHX59/2)

The service was removed from the Register of Charities in February 2000 after it ceased to operate. 

Important dates mentioned within the minute book of the Kosher Meals Service: 

• September 1952 – children and students were requesting that the service start up again. It had been without a cook for several weeks so they had been going to the Jewish Social Club instead. 
• In October 1952 the service re-started. Meals were being served to 64 children and 6 businessmen and it was noted that there were “now no Jewish children partaking of school meals”. 
• By the end of 1953 the service was starting to become self-supporting. 
•  In 1955 attendance was up to 60 per day but the cost of food increased meaning they were in deficit again. Prices increased, number of meat meals decreased. 
•  In 1960 there was a drop in number of attendees and a need for kosher meals in hospitals was mentioned. This was to be announced in the Jewish Recorder. 
• In 1962 there was an increase in the cost of meat and potatoes. A fridge was installed to minimise waste and by 1963 bulk buying seen as more economical. 
•  In 1967 there were arguments over funding and discussion began of the service being registered as a charity. 
•  In 1968 a solicitor was approached to draw up the relevant paperwork and the charity was created by 1969. 
•  Records held by Tyne & Wear Archives (CHX59) include Committee meetings minutes, 28 August 1952 - 5 March 1970 and Financial statements, 1952 - 1969.