Manchester Camp Marks 50th Year

Manchester, England, is well known for its cloudy weather and famous soccer team. It is also becoming famous for its’ Gan Yisroel Day Camp. What’s putting this particular Gan Izzy, on the map, is its spectacular growth, over the last 16 years.

Lubavitch Day Camp, as it is referred to in Manchester is directed by Rabbi Levi and Rifka Wineberg.

Levi – originally from Kansas City – and Rifka, a native Mancunian, reflect on the Camp’s success. “When we arrived as Shluchim to Manchester, one of the first projects we undertook was Gan Yisroel, at the time there were about forty children in camp. Fortunately for us, the camp had always had a good reputation. The only thing we had to do was build on that and go forward. The past 16 years has seen phenomenal growth of almost 200%.

This year there were 5 Divisions in the Camp, spread over 3 campuses – Head Start ages 3-5 Head Counselors were Channa Benn and Shoshana Sarfati, Boys Division ages 6-11 Head Counselors were Mendy Harlig, Zash Itkin and Efrayim Myerovitch, Girls Division ages 6-11 Head Counselors were Shternie Abenson and Aidel Kinn, Boys Teen Camp Head Counselors were Abbale Raichik and Yossi Richler and Girls Teen Camp Head Counselors were Mushka Cohen, Hindy Golomb and Rochel Osdoba. Together with their teams of amazing staff they ensured that Camp was a huge success.

The Camp was started in 1963 by Rabbi Leibel Turk, who had just moved to Manchester and on the Rebbe’s instruction started Lubavitch Day Camp. It has always been very popular with children from all sections of the Community and this year was no different, with children attending from over 10 different schools as well as children of Shluchim, coming in from the nearby Cities.

To mark the 50th Year a Day of Celebration was held during Camp, with carnival rides and booths. The parents of the campers and sponsors, were invited to watch Camp in action and they all commented on how much fun the children were having and how much they had all been enjoying Camp.