Jewish students in Liverpool, England, will soon welcome a Chabad-Lubavitch center dedicated specifically to their needs and concerns with the arrival of Rabbi Shmuli and Tzivia Brown to the northwestern city of 450,000.

Home to an estimated Jewish student population of about 250, according to Rabbi Eli Brackman, chairman of Chabad on Campus UK and director of the Oxford Chabad Society, Liverpool has four major schools: Liverpool University, John Moores University, Liverpool Hope University, and Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts. Some estimate that as many as 500 Jewish students could be living in Liverpool at any one time.

For the Browns, who will join a pre-existing Chabad-Lubavitch center, four synagogues and the city’s Merseyside Jewish community, the move is about making sure Jewish students have a wealth of opportunities to explore their heritage.

“We’re basically a home away from home for students, no matter what their background,” says Shmuli Brown, who recently returned to England after nine years in Ukraine with his wife and four children.

“It’s the first time in history somebody is moving out there [where] the initial job is totally and solely for the students,” he continues. “I’m sure the students will gain and I’m sure we’ll gain a lot from them too.”

Joshua Plotnek is co-chair of the Liverpool Jewish Students Society, known locally as J-SOC, and is equally optimistic.

“We’re excited to have a new emissary working alongside us,” he says. “I hope they can help enhance Jewish student life, because we’ve got a great thing going on with the Jewish students, and we hope they can add to the community.”

J-SOC organizes a variety of programs and social events on a regular basis, often working in tandem with the Liverpool Hillel House. Located near the center of the city, Hillel offers housing for up to 21 students and is also the site of J-SOC’s newly-refurbished center, affectionately called “The Chopped Liver.”

Rabbi Avremi Kievman, who has led Chabad-Lubavitch of Liverpool for the past 17 years, expects that the Browns’ arrival will draw more Jewish students to the city. He points to statistics showing that while Liverpool’s main Jewish community is decreasing in numbers, the city’s universities are growing.

The new center follows on the heels of five Chabad Houses opened on campuses in the United Kingdom in the past two years, growth made possible by the philanthropic support of David Slager. According to Brackman, there are currently 11 permanent Chabad centers exclusively serving Jewish students in the country.

The Browns’ plans call for offering an open, inviting space where students can enjoy a Shabbat meal, explore Jewish texts, or just hang out.

Says the rabbi: “We want a place where students will feel very relaxed.”