Penylan House dinner invitation, Cardiff, 1965

Description

A dinner invitation to celebrate the 21st birthday and the opening of the new wing of Penylan House, a Jewish Home for the Aged. The dinner took place on 9 May 1965 at the Cardiff City Hall.

The cover features the full address of the home, an image of the Star of David, the years the home has been open (1944-1965) and a photograph of the exterior of Penylan House. Details of the celebratory dinner are included: it was to be held at the City Hall, Cardiff on Sunday, 9 May, 1965 at 8:00pm. The City Hall was built in 1904 and has been a popular venue for events, exhibitions and conferences due to its grand interior and exterior. The guest speaker was to be Sir Barnett Janner, B. R. S. A., LL.D. (Hon.), M. P. Janner was born in Lithuania then moved to Barry, South Wales when he was 6 months old. He was a Labour Member of Parliament for Leicester from 1945-1970 and was known in parliament for being the spokesman of Zionist views, becoming the secretary for a pro-Zionist parliamentary group he formed. Between 1955 and 1964, Janner was the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Inside the booklet is the menu and the toast list, detailing the names H. Silver, S. Walters, S. Z. Cohen, Lord Janner, J. Bernstein, J. Walsh and Harry Poloway, Esq., the Toast Master. Poloway was a Warrant Officer in the Second World War and became well known in the Newport and South Wales area as a toast master, attending many events locally, especially those involving the Royal Family.

On the back of the booklet is the name of the Hon. Life President, Henry Silver, Esq., and a list of trustees, executives, the house committee, the welfare committee and the building committee.

An article written shortly after the 21st birthday celebration stated that the new wing had cost £30,000 to build and was named the 'Betty Silver Wing', in memory of the wife of Mr Jack Silver, who was a governor of the home. Further distinguished guests are named, such as Alderman Ronald Richards and Mr Franklyn Williams, Chairman of the Welsh Board of Health. The dinner at the City Hall which the booklet details is described in the article as "the highlight of the day" and was attended by over 300 guests. Sir Barnett Janner in his speech said that the day had "proved beyond all doubt the generosity of the Cardiff, South Wales and West of England Jewish communities".

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.

Sources:
https://www.cardiffcityhall.com/history/;
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/lord-barnett-janner;
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/14154389.Salute_to_Harry_Poloway__Newport___s_red_coated_ambassador/;
Cajex, Magazine of the Association of Jewish Ex-service Men and Women (Cardiff), Vol. XV, No. 2, Fifteenth Year - June, 1965, pp. 18-22;
http://opencharities.org/charities/243968 http://www.housingcare.org/downloads/facilities/generated-brochures/134508-penylan-house-nursing-home-cardiff-wales.pdf.

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.