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One of the individuals injured during Thursday's attack at a Jewish place of worship in Manchester was serving with the CST, an organization praised for averting an more severe tragedy.

Recognizable Presence of Helpers

The sight of volunteers in the organization's high-visibility vests has become a familiar sight at Jewish synagogues, schools, and other sites in recent years.

Over many years, the group has also influenced government strategies by monitoring and combating antisemitism, while additionally countering hostility against other groups.

Increasing Anti-Jewish Offenses

In the two years since the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel and the beginning of the war in Gaza, the charity's personnel has grown by approximately 33% amid a surge in anti-Jewish crimes.

According to Home Office figures, there were 3,282 religious hate crimes aimed at Jewish people in the year to March 2024, up from around 1,500 in the prior 12 months.

Additional statistics from the organization itself, derived from the number of anti-Jewish events reported to the charity, recorded 1,521 such occurrences across the UK in the first half of this year.

Chart displays mean count of bias-motivated offenses recorded per ten thousand people, categorized by the perceived religion of the affected individual.

Longstanding Documentation and Training

Although it attained charity status in the mid-1990s, the Community Security Trust and its forerunners have been documenting and releasing anti-Jewish event figures in the UK since 1984.

Currently, its activities include over a hundred members of staff and 2,000 committed volunteers who undergo intensive instruction in subjects ranging from first aid to performing security tasks.

Although its members have been injured in the previous incidents, the serious harm to a staff member in Manchester is believed to be the most serious yet.

Management Reaction and Security Measures

"We pray for his ongoing healing and commend the bravery of all those who assisted in halting the terrorist from entering the shul," stated the organization's top leader.

The CST presence at sites often includes a combination of its own volunteers, such as educated members, as well as contracted protection officers.

As a recipient of funding from the Home Office, the CST allocates an £18m government grant that pays for professional security services.

These resources were utilized last year at sites including 200 nurseries, two hundred sixty synagogues, and 50 high-profile community facilities.

The CST itself depends on contributions.

Wider Activities and Partnerships

Less visible is the trust's broader efforts in education, providing security guidance, and its established research into anti-Jewish sentiment from sources including far-right extremists and militant Islamist groups.

These efforts in this area have led to legal proceedings including the jailing in 2021 of a individual who was at the time one of the UK’s most active extremist antisemitic online broadcasters.

Counter-terrorism police were notified about his activity by the organization.

The non-profit also collaborates extensively with partners including a national anti-Muslim hate monitoring project – the UK-wide initiative that records and tracks Islamophobic events in the UK, and which has referred to the CST’s work as "innovative."

Both are in a official collaboration with other anti-prejudice groups as part of the Community Alliance to Combat Hate alliance.

Additional Initiatives and Community Engagement

The trust's operations, which different groups have utilized, also encompasses its manual for security procedures for places of worship.

In other areas, it operates customized youth street awareness courses for teenagers in partnership with Maccabi GB, under the Streetwise GB programme.

Other work includes collaborations with the law enforcement and with MPs, while it meets regularly with ministers and feeds into public strategies on anti-Jewish issues.

While the CST works across the Hebrew population, an organization called a community watch organization also monitors antisemitism and works on behalf of ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups.