Last week, more than 150 guests at Jewish Care’s annual Local Angels Lunch raised over £31,500 to provide essential services to support the north-east London and Essex Jewish community. The event featured an interview with and performance by Emma Kingston, who is currently playing Elphaba in London’s West End Production of Wicked.
In her welcoming speech, Ellisa Estrin, Jewish Care’s Director of Fundraising & Marketing, announced the opening of The Sugar & Ronson Campus in Redbridge in late summer 2026, and took guests through a fly-through video, bringing the vision of the new campus to life. She said, “This campus will truly be the beating heart of our community – a place to connect, celebrate and care for one another. It will embody everything Jewish Care stands for – providing the highest-quality care that respects and celebrates Jewish life, from Shabbat to festivals, with warmth and understanding that is second to none.”
She also expressed heartfelt thanks to the Sugar family, and to the Ronson family through The Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation, telling the audience that “their incredible cornerstone gifts have made this dream possible”.
Bringing all of Jewish Care’s local services together under one roof, the new, modern vibrant campus will accommodate The Sugar Family Care Home and The Ronson Community Centre, replacing the current Vi & John Rubens House care home in Gants Hill and Redbridge Jewish Community Centre; as well as being home to The Dennis Centre for people living with dementia; Jewish Care’s Social Work and Community Support Team; a Meals on Wheels hub; Jewish Care Explore’s technology support for older people; the MIKE youth leadership programme; and Jami’s community hub, which provides mental health services. The site will also feature the only licenced kosher meaty restaurant and dairy café in the area, as well as an on-site hairdresser to pamper residents and members of the community.
Gayle Klein, Jewish Care’s Vice-Chair and Chair of the Local Angels Committee, made a heartfelt appeal to the audience, saying “This new campus is very close to my heart, being in the area that I grew up in, and on the very site where I spent much of my childhood and teenage years at what was then called Sinclair House. From going to club at age four, to volunteering in local services and becoming the Vice Chair of Jewish Care, it is a somewhat similar story to many of you here today – we grew up with club at the heart of our lives and remain very proud of our Essex Jewish roots.”
Explaining that The Local Angels Committee and its supporters had raised close to £600,000 for Jewish Care’s Essex and north-east London services since the committee was established in 2008, Gayle called on guests’ help to keep Jewish Care’s life-changing services running on the new Sugar & Ronson Campus. She said, “More people than ever are turning to Jewish Care for support in Essex and north-east London, as well as across the Jewish community, where the need for care continues to grow. Yet, although the need is increasing, government funding is shrinking. Many of these services receive no government funding at all, relying entirely on the generosity of our community.”
Following Gayle’s speech at the lunch held at the Delta Hotels By Marriott in Waltham Abbey, the audience heard from singer and actress Emma Kingston in conversation with Nick Cassenbaum – theatre maker and writer of three pantomines for JW3, as well as Revenge: After the Lavoya, which is about to enjoy a six-week run at the Soho Theatre.
Emma shared with the audience how she knew from a young age that she wanted to be an actress, singer or performer, and that it was her two grandmothers who instilled in her a passion for theatre and, together with her singing teacher, helped shape her journey. She described how when she decided she wanted to go to drama school and become an actress, her parents were concerned and thought she should have a back-up plan. However, she said they couldn’t have been more excited when she told them face to face on Kol Nidre that she’d got the part of Elphaba in Wicked. “Their reaction was gold,” she said. And in her very first show, playing the Wicked Witch of the West, Emma revealed that there were at least 60 people in the audience who she knew that night.
Having also starred in the Les Misérables 30th anniversary cast, Fiddler on the Roof at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Evita, and the film Been So Long, Emma was asked by a member of the audience if anyone can be taught to sing. Her response: “It depends on what you’re aiming for. Not everyone can be on stage in the West End theatre, but everyone can be taught to sing karaoke.” She certainly proved her star quality when she left guests in complete awe after giving a stunning performance of “On My Own” from Les Misérables.