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A person hurt during the recent attack at a Jewish place of worship in Manchester was working with the Community Security Trust, an organization praised for preventing an even worse tragedy.

Familiar Presence of Helpers

The appearance of helpers in the organization's hi-vis vests has become a common sight at Jewish synagogues, schools, and other sites in recent years.

Over many years, the organization has also shaped government strategies by tracking and combating anti-Jewish sentiment, while also addressing hostility against other groups.

Increasing Anti-Jewish Offenses

In the two years since the October 7th, 2023 violence in Israel and the start of the war in Gaza, the organization's personnel has increased by about a third against the backdrop of a surge in anti-Jewish crimes.

Based on Home Office figures, there were over three thousand religious hate crimes aimed at Jewish people in the 12 months ending March 2024, up from 1,543 in the prior 12 months.

Separate data from the organization itself, based on the number of anti-Jewish events reported to the charity, recorded 1,521 antisemitic incidents across the UK in the first half of the current year.

Chart displays average number of bias-motivated offenses recorded per ten thousand people, grouped by the assumed faith of the affected individual.

Established Recording and Training

Although it attained charity status in the mid-1990s, the Community Security Trust and its predecessors have been documenting and releasing anti-Jewish event figures in the UK since the 1980s.

Today, its activities involve more than 100 members of staff and 2,000 committed volunteers who undergo intensive instruction in everything from first aid to performing security duties.

While its volunteers have been injured in the past, the severe injuries to one of its personnel in Manchester is believed to be the most serious yet.

Management Response and Security Arrangements

"We pray for his ongoing healing and commend the courage of all those who assisted in halting the attacker from getting into the synagogue," stated the CST’s chief executive.

The organization's deployment at sites often comprises a combination of its internal helpers, including trained congregants, as well as contracted protection officers.

Being a beneficiary of financial support from the government, the trust distributes an £18m public funds that covers commercial security guards.

These resources were utilized last year at locations including 200 nurseries, two hundred sixty synagogues, and 50 prominent communal buildings.

The organization independently relies on donations.

Wider Initiatives and Collaborations

Less visible is the CST’s wider work in training, advising on security, and its long-standing research into anti-Jewish sentiment from sources including far-right extremists and radical Islamists.

These efforts in this sphere have led to legal proceedings such as the jailing in 2021 of a individual who was then one of the UK’s most active extremist antisemitic online broadcasters.

National security forces were alerted to his activity by the CST.

The charity also collaborates extensively with allies including Tell Mama – the national project that records and measures Islamophobic events in the UK, and which has referred to the CST’s work as "innovative."

These organizations are in a official collaboration with other anti-prejudice organizations as part of the Community Alliance to Combat Hate partnership.

Further Programs and Community Engagement

CST’s work, which different groups have drawn on, also includes its guide for protective measures for places of worship.

Additionally, it runs customized youth street awareness programs for adolescents in conjunction with Maccabi GB, under the Streetwise GB initiative.

Other work involves partnerships with the police and with MPs, while it holds frequent meetings with government representatives and feeds into government policy on antisemitism.

While the CST works across the Jewish community, an group called Shomrim also tracks antisemitism and represents Haredi Jewish groups.