Gerald Ronson to jointly lead fundraising effort for Westminster Shoah memorial

The founding chairman of the Community Security Trust will jointly lead fundraising efforts for the proposed £100m Westminster Holocaust memorial and learning centre.

Gerald Ronson is stepping down from his role at the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) with immediate effect, after it was announced by the government this week that he will take on the project alongside Conservative peer Lord Feldman.

The philanthropist and businessman will help to gather funds for memorial to the Holocaust and learning centre, which will be installed opposite parliament in Victoria Tower Gardens.

Commenting on his new role, which was announced by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government this week, Gerald Ronson said: “I expect that this very important project will take a considerable amount of my time and, coupled with my role as Chairman of the Community Security Trust, the work of my Foundation, and my business interests, I believe that it is time for me to step down” from the JLC’s Board and Council of Membership.

JLC chairman Jonathan Goldstein, thanked Ronson “for the tremendous contribution he has made”, since the communal body’s founding in 2003.

“Gerald is one of the greatest leaders in our community and has been an unparalleled mentor for me and so many others.”

Ronson said the JLC “will continue to have my support and guidance whenever it is needed.”

This comes after supporters of the planned £100 million project cleared a major hurdle, after the Imperial War Museum dropped its objections to the proposals in December. Earlier in the year, eight Jewish peers wrote a scathing open letter, saying the design “evokes neither the Holocaust nor Jewish history.”

Backers of the Shoah memorial, which was the centrepiece recommendation of David Cameron’s Holocaust Commission, insist it will stand as a reminder to politicians that their decisions have long-term consequences.