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

Familiar Presence of Volunteers

The sight of helpers in the organization's hi-vis vests has become a common sight at Jewish synagogues, schools, and other locations in the past few years.

Over many years, the organization has also shaped government strategies by monitoring and fighting antisemitism, while additionally addressing hostility towards other communities.

Increasing Antisemitic Incidents

Over the past 24 months since the 7 October 2023 violence in Israel and the start of the conflict in Gaza, the organization's personnel has increased by about a third amid a rise in antisemitic offenses.

Based on Home Office figures, there were over three thousand faith-based offenses aimed at individuals of Jewish faith in the year to March 2024, up from 1,543 in the prior 12 months.

Additional statistics from the CST, based on the number of antisemitic incidents notified to the group, recorded over 1,500 antisemitic incidents across the UK in the initial six months of this year.

Graph shows mean count of hate crimes recorded per ten thousand people, grouped by the perceived religion of the victim.

Established Recording and Preparation

While it became non-profit organization in the mid-1990s, the Community Security Trust and its predecessors have been documenting and publishing antisemitic incident data in the UK since the 1980s.

Currently, its activities include more than 100 members of staff and 2,000 committed helpers who undergo intensive training in subjects ranging from emergency medical care to carrying out security tasks.

Although its members have been injured in the past, the severe injuries to one of its personnel in Manchester is believed to be the gravest to date.

Leadership Reaction and Protection Measures

"We pray for his ongoing healing and salute the courage of all those who assisted in halting the terrorist from getting into the synagogue," said the CST’s chief executive.

The CST presence at sites often comprises a mixture of its own volunteers, including trained congregants, as well as private security guards.

Being a beneficiary of financial support from the Home Office, the trust allocates an £18m public funds that covers commercial security guards.

These were deployed last year at sites encompassing two hundred nurseries, 260 synagogues, and fifty prominent community facilities.

The organization independently depends on donations.

Broader Activities and Collaborations

Less visible is the trust's wider work in training, providing security guidance, and its established research into anti-Jewish sentiment from sources including neo-Nazis and militant Islamist groups.

These efforts in this sphere have led to legal proceedings including the imprisonment in 2021 of a man who was at the time one of the UK’s most prolific extremist antisemitic video streamers.

National security forces were alerted to his actions by the CST.

The charity also collaborates extensively with allies including a national anti-Muslim hate monitoring project – the national project that records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the UK, and which has described the CST’s work as "groundbreaking."

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

Further Programs and Community Engagement

CST’s work, which different groups have drawn on, also encompasses its manual for protective measures for religious sites.

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

Other work includes collaborations with the law enforcement and with elected officials, while it meets regularly with ministers and contributes to government policy on antisemitism.

Although the trust works across the Hebrew population, an organization called a community watch organization also monitors antisemitism and represents Haredi Jewish groups.