Lord Grade, Sir Nick Hytner and Dame Maureen Lipman help JW3 raise £20,000

Dame Maureen Lipman and Bafta-award winning actor Jason Watkins were among 100 guests at an event that raised more than £20,000 for the JW3 Jewish cultural centre in north-west London. 

The actors were among a crowd of figures working in the entertainment industry that attended the business breakfast event on Thursday morning, where a high-profile panel spoke about a range of challenges facing the arts, including the rise of artificial intelligence, cancel culture and the direction of advertising revenue towards online spaces.

Speaking to JN after the event, television executive Lord Michael Grade – the former controller of BBC1, CEO of Channel 4 and former Executive Chairman of ITV – said people should always be proud of their identity.

“I would never have hidden my Jewish identity,” said Lord Grade. “You have to be who you are. The lessons of history show us that you cannot hide or pretend.”

Simonson said: “So much has changed for the entire Jewish community in four months or so, but what has not changed is how JW3 said we would respond to the new world we find ourselves in.

At the event, TV journalist Samantha Simmonds led a conversation between four entertainment industry leaders including: Lord Grade, English theatre director Sir Nick Hytner, literary agent Neil Blair and producer Nica Burns.

Speaking at the fundraiser, JW3 chief executive Raymond Simonson noted that the breakfast, which was initially due to take place in November, had been delayed after the atrocities of the October 7 Hamas terror attack against Israel.

Addressing guests, Simonson said: “So much has changed for the entire Jewish community in the four months or so since then, but what has not changed is how JW3 said we would respond to the new world we find ourselves in.”

He added: “Our reply to the violence and terrorism in Israel, and the outpouring of hatred and antisemitism, even at cultural venues in London, is to make music more intensely and more beautifully; to redouble our efforts to build this community.”

The head of JW3, which offered support and Hebrew education services to Israelis living in the UK after October 7, went on to encourage guests to sign a padlock to be displayed on a bridge by the centre’s entrance, with a message for the hostages still being held by the Hamas. He described it as a “living and growing art installation, showing love and support for the hostages currently held captive in Gaza; that humanitarian issue so close to our hearts.”

The breakfast event at JW3 in north London raised more than £10,000 for the Jewish cultural centre.