TWO charities developing a Jewish heritage centre in Scotland’s oldest synagogue have asked a local authority outside Glasgow to help them with funding.

The leader of Inverclyde Council, councillor Stephen McCabe has received a request from the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre for a yearly grant of £2000 to £5000 to help deliver this project in Garnethill Synagogue which first opened in 1879.

It has not been confirmed if Glasgow City Council were approached. Running costs are expected to be £55,000 annually for the next five-years.

The idea is being shaped through a partnership between two charitable trusts – the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre (SJAC) and the Garnethill Synagogue Preservation Trust (GSPT).

The GSPT, which was set up in 2012 as a registered charity, looks after the fabric of the building at Garnethill and acts as landlord for the for the centre and synagogue which are the major uses of the building.

Work on the centre started last May and is expected to be completed by the end of the year or the beginning of 2020.

The grade A-listed building is the only synagogue in the city centre.

The hub will include a Scottish Holocaust- era study centre and is being created following a four-year development period.

The facility will be equipped with digital learning material and a library providing access for the first time to unique collections revealing the experiences of refugees, fleeing Nazi Europe.

Project workers believe the national centre will enhance the resources available to teachers and lecturers across the country, including Inverclyde, and have requested financial support to help fund the ongoing revenue costs for the new centre.

Schools and colleges around the city are also expected to benefit.

The new centre will build on the achievements of SJAC, which for over thirty years has been gathering and caring for Scotland’s Jewish archive collections.

It has been creating a range of research and public services helping schools and students, academics, family history researchers and tourists from all parts of Scotland and beyond.

The project has already been awarded funding of £296,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Association of Jewish Refugees and The Wolfson Family Charitable Trust.

The proposals will be discussed at Inverclyde’s full council meeting on Thursday, February 21.