Statement of accounts booklet of Penylan House, Home for Aged Jews, Cardiff, 1947-48

Description

The booklet is titled 'Reports and Accounts 1947 - 1948' and the cover features the full name of the Home: 'Home for Aged Jews - South Wales, Monmouthshire and West of England' and the quotation "Cast us not away in our old age". Inside the booklet is a brief history of the Home, stating that it was founded in 1945 in a meeting called by Henry Silver at the Cardiff Institute.

Pages three and four list the Board of Management, Welfare Committee, House Committee and the Trustees. The Chairman at the time was Henry Silver, the Vice-Chairman was Max Shepherd, the Treasurer was L. H. Heiko and The Secretary was Miss R. Hamburg.

The annual report describes the new Penarth location as 'palatial' and expresses the desire to accept some bed-patients in the near future. Thanks is given for donations of gifts and money. There is a black and white photo of the opening ceremony of Holme Towers which features Henry Silver, Mrs Brodie, Mrs Walters, the Chief Rabbi Israel Brodie, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress. The report notes that the Chief Rabbi gave a speech (focusing on the quote displayed on the front cover of the booklet) and that there were many attendees from communities across South Wales and Bristol. A dinner was held at the Drill Hall in Cardiff after the opening ceremony. The report is concluded by praying that "the Almighty will grant us strength to continue in our efforts for those less fortunate than ourselves and that the Home will grow from strength to strength."

Following this, the income and expenditure accounts for the ladies' committee account, general account, assets, liabilities, raffle, programme, transport and general account for both 1947 and 1948 is included. There is also a list of subscriptions, donations and those who have paid for the naming of beds, Yahrzeit tablets and offerings. The booklet include three photographs of residents in the dining room, rest room and during sabbath morning service. There is also a list of gifts in kind for 1947 and 1948 and what months they were donated in. Examples of these gifts are fruit, flowers, wine and garden plants.

Pencare (formerly known as 'The Trustees of Penylan House') is a charity, which offers care for elderly people of the Jewish faith and is currently based in Cardiff, although the catchment area for the home covers South Wales and the West of England. Pencare has been working with Linc Cymru to redevelop their care home, Penylan House, to ensure high quality care to Cardiff's elderly Jewish community and extending the care to elderly people not of the Jewish faith.

Mr Henry Silver and other members of the Cardiff Jewish community had originally founded a Home for the Aged in 1946 in Canton. In December 1948, the Home moved to Holme Towers in Penarth to provide more space for its large number of applications. Despite the beautiful surroundings, the Home in Penarth was quite isolated, so the difficult decision was later taken to move the Home to Penylan Road in Cardiff, meaning many residents were now closer to their friends and relatives. Residents moved to Penylan House in February 1959.

Sources:
http://opencharities.org/charities/243968;
http://www.housingcare.org/downloads/facilities/generated-brochures/134508-penylan-house-nursing-home-cardiff-wales.pdf;
Cajex, Magazine of the Association of Jewish Ex-service Men and Women (Cardiff), Vol. IX, No. 1, Ninth Year - March 1959, pp. 60- 65.

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.