Professor David Latchman CBE

Professor David Latchman CBE speaks about the work of The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation

Professor David Latchman CBE speaks to Careline about the work of The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation, projects with Jewish Care, and continuing the legacy of his aunt and uncle, Maurice and Vivienne Wohl

Professor David Latchman CBE is Vice Chancellor of Birkbeck College, University of London, and Professor of Genetics at Birkbeck and UCL. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2010 for his services to higher education. He was appointed to the Chair of Human Genetics at UCL and became Dean of the Institute of Child Health (ICH) in 1999. Professor Latchman has published extensively in the field of genetics and molecular biology. Professor Latchman is Chairman of the Trustees of The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation and a Trustee of The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Philanthropic Foundation. The Foundations are part of the Wohl Legacy and have donated extensively to education, medical research and welfare initiatives in the UK and Israel.

Professor Latchman, thank you for joining us at Jewish Care’s Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus in Golders Green. Can you tell me a little bit more about how the campus we’re sitting in came to be?

Maurice and Vivienne were great philanthropists, supporting projects in the UK, in Israel and around the world. When my uncle and aunt passed away, we were looking for legacy projects to commemorate their memory and the Jewish Care campus was a project that came along and seemed to encompass a number of things that were important to them, such as retirement living accommodation, a community centre, a care home and so on. The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus is the Jewish Care project I care most about. The campus itself is not just a day centre or a care home, it is a hub that provides a wide range of care services in the heart of North West London. People are able to move through the different facilities as their needs change and develop. Golders Green is also where my uncle lived for some time before moving to the West End and to Switzerland, so it’s also lovely to see that it’s something that is really used by the local community for a whole range of purposes.

The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus is indeed a cornerstone of the Jewish community, as are a number of other buildings and spaces that have been dedicated in the Wohl name. When it comes to legacies, can you explain a bit more about why you believe in the importance of naming and dedicating buildings or spaces?

Names on a building that are part of a community are also about living memorials. We call it the ‘Wohl Legacy’. Often, people think “Why do you want a building named when you give?” and that people should just want to give, shouldn’t they? My uncle and aunt didn’t have children, so our role is to maintain their memory, their legacy and have their name on things, so that people remember them. And my uncle was quite keen on naming projects because he thought it also inspires other people to give.

So for The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation, naming buildings is a great tribute to their generosity and absolutely serves a purpose to inspire others to believe they can do the same.

Fundraising is so important for charities and to continue good work, you must be approached regularly for so many projects?

Jewish Care is lucky to have the world’s ultimate fundraiser in Lord Levy. My uncle was very, very careful to understand the detail on potential projects. We would often just have a project come up and he would delve into it. One day, he told me that he was at a dinner and saw Michael Levy, who spoke to him about giving to JFS and in the time it took to walk from the table to the door he had agreed. It

“THE MAURICE AND VIVIENNE WOHL CAMPUS IS THE JEWISH CARE PROJECT I CARE MOST ABOUT.”

is important to know what you are going in to and we are regularly approached, and sometimes, you have someone incredible, like Michael, who knows exactly what to say and how to get what’s needed for the community.

The Wohl legacy for Jewish Care is in more than just our physical infrastructure. Can you tell us more about why The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation chose to partner with Jewish Care to become an employer of choice by enabling us to align to the London Living Wage?

We wanted to support this for a couple of reasons. On the one hand, we support Jewish Care, and the CEO, Daniel Carmel-Brown explained that becoming an employer of choice and aligning with the London Living Wage is a priority, and we were glad to support that, but it was also about the people who received that increase.

The employees that should be getting the London Living Wage are doing difficult jobs. In particular, we saw during Covid times they were taking a personal risk by coming to places where Covid might be, being around people who are highly susceptible, and so on. So, I think it’s only fair that they should receive that wage.

There are clearly many passions and causes that are close to your heart and are important to your aunt and uncle’s legacies. Are there any projects either in the UK or internationally that you feel particularly passionate about?

It’s difficult, there are a lot of projects that we’re involved with, but if I could pick out two in Israel, one would be the National Library, and the other would be the Wohl Rose Park opposite the Knesset.

The National Library, because as a collector I’m very into that sort of thing and to me it’s something that is effectively the centre of scholarship of the Jews in the world. My uncle and aunt’s favourite project was the Wohl Rose Park. They were very into supporting the beautification of Israel, and so they funded the Wohl Rose Park in Jerusalem and we’ve been involved in long negotiations which have now come to fruition about redoing the park and refreshing it, in partnership with the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority.

The projects that Maurice and Vivienne created around the world and through their Foundations are an enduring legacy of their giving and we are very proud to be able to share that with the community.

We are very grateful to Professor Latchman and The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation for their generous contributions to Jewish Care and we thank him for an insightful and thoughtful interview with Careline.