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A person hurt during Thursday's attack at a Jewish place of worship in Manchester was working with the CST, an organization credited for preventing an even worse tragedy.

Recognizable Presence of Helpers

The sight of volunteers in the charity's hi-vis vests has become a familiar sight at Hebrew places of worship, schools, and other locations in the past few years.

Over many years, the group has also influenced public policy by monitoring and fighting antisemitism, while additionally addressing hatred towards other communities.

Increasing Antisemitic Offenses

Over the past 24 months since the 7 October 2023 violence in Israel and the start of the war in Gaza, the organization's staffing has increased by about a third against the backdrop of a surge in anti-Jewish crimes.

Based on Home Office figures, there were 3,282 faith-based offenses aimed at individuals of Jewish faith in the year to March 2024, up from around 1,500 in the previous year.

Separate data from the CST, based on the count of antisemitic incidents reported to the group, recorded 1,521 such occurrences across the UK in the first half of the current year.

Chart displays mean count of bias-motivated offenses logged per 10,000 people, categorized by the assumed faith of the victim.

Longstanding Recording and Preparation

Although it attained non-profit organization in the mid-1990s, the CST and its predecessors have been recording and releasing antisemitic incident data in the UK since 1984.

Currently, its operations include over a hundred members of staff and two thousand committed helpers who undergo comprehensive instruction in everything from emergency medical care to performing security tasks.

While its volunteers have been injured in the previous incidents, the serious harm to one of its personnel in Manchester is believed to be the gravest yet.

Management Reaction and Security Arrangements

"We pray for his continuing recovery and salute the courage of all those who helped stop the terrorist from entering the shul," said the organization's top leader.

The CST presence at sites often includes a mixture of its own volunteers, including educated members, as well as private security guards.

As a recipient of funding from the Home Office, the trust allocates an 18 million pound public funds that covers professional security services.

These were deployed last year at locations including 200 nurseries, 260 synagogues, and 50 prominent community facilities.

The CST itself relies on contributions.

Broader Initiatives and Collaborations

Less visible is the trust's wider work in training, advising on security, and its established study into antisemitism from origins such as neo-Nazis and militant Islamist groups.

These efforts in this sphere have led to legal proceedings including the jailing in recent years of a man who was then one of the UK’s most active far-right antisemitic online broadcasters.

Counter-terrorism police were alerted to his activity by the CST.

The non-profit also works closely with allies such as a national anti-Muslim hate monitoring project – the UK-wide initiative that records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the UK, and which has described the CST’s work as "innovative."

Both are in a official collaboration with other anti-hate organizations as part of the Community Alliance to Combat Hate partnership.

Further Initiatives and Community Involvement

CST’s work, which different groups have utilized, also encompasses its manual for security procedures for places of worship.

In other areas, it operates tailored teen safety programs for adolescents in partnership with a sports and wellness charity, under the Streetwise GB initiative.

Other work involves partnerships with the law enforcement and with MPs, while it holds frequent meetings with ministers and feeds into public strategies on antisemitism.

While the CST serves the Hebrew population, an organization called Shomrim also monitors anti-Jewish sentiment and represents Haredi Jewish communities.