A NEW tree has been planted in Prestwich in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJF).

The AJR has been planting native oaks around the country, representing the contributions Jewish refugees who escaped the Nazis have made to British life.

The ceremony took place at The Fed, known for its close links to the AJR, in the presence of Ike Alterman, one of the community's treasured Holocaust survivors.

Raphi Bloom, The Fed’s marketing director, said: “We are very honoured that Heathlands Village was chosen as one of the 80 sites for this very moving project, and that we will have a living memorial in the form of this oak tree to them for decades to come.”

Speakers thanked John Martins for sponsoring the Heathlands Village, in memory of his late father who fled Germany in 1934.