Baptist Twinning in Israel
Charity set up by two English Baptist associations to twin UK churches with the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel, whose 2024 account records gifts for churches in towns such as Eilaboun and Turaan and £10,346.98 received for a Gaza appeal
| Baptist Twinning in Israel
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Other |
| Founded | 2003-10-30 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1100407 |
| Headquarters | Rushden NN10 |
| Area served | Throughout England, Israel |
| Key people | Mark Stephen Hirst (chair) |
| Website | http://www.baptisttwinningisrael.org.uk/welcome.htm |
Baptist Twinning in Israel is a charitable trust registered on 30 October 2003, with a register address in Rushden NN10 and areas of operation "Throughout England" and Israel.[1][2] Its website says it was "set up by the Central and South East UK Baptist Associations, twinned with the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel (ABCI)", and exists to encourage and support Baptist churches and pastors in Israel.[3] The register lists five trustees: the Revd Mark Stephen Hirst (chair, from 19 July 2021), the Revd William Peter Eyre, the Revd Andrew Alan John Goldsmith (from 20 October 2014), Christopher Garraway (from 14 April 2019) and the Revd Lisa Katherine Kerry (from 6 June 2022).[1] Its one-page receipts and payments account for 2024, prepared by Chris Garraway in January 2025, records specified donations of £33,754.02 (2023: £14,855.00) and other donations of £603.25, a total of £34,357.27; payments were £39,039.78, and cash fell from £6,972.44 to £2,289.93.[4]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "TO ADVANCE THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, ISRAEL AND ELSEWHERE."[1]
The register describes its activities as: "Enabling twinned links between churches in the UK and Baptist churches in Israel.Enabling financial support to churches and organisations connected to the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel."[1]
Register classifications: Religious Activities.[1]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout England, Israel.[1]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Peter Eyre | not recorded | — | |
| Andrew Alan John Goldsmith | 2014-10-20 | Ampthill Baptist Church (1198662) | |
| Christopher Garraway | 2019-04-14 | — | |
| Mark Stephen Hirst | 2021-07-19 | Yes | Willesborough Baptist Pre-School (1175202) |
| Lisa Katherine Kerry | 2022-06-06 | Central Baptist Association (1090606); The Cornerstone Trust (291316) |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2010-07-12 | Peter Eyre; D C Marchant; Geoffrey Kenneth Colmer; David Ronco | [5] |
| 2012-01-29 | Peter Eyre; D C Marchant; Geoffrey Kenneth Colmer; David Ronco | [6] |
| 2018-01-03 | Peter Eyre; Geoffrey Kenneth Colmer; David Ronco; Andrew Goldsmith; Andrew West | [7] |
| 2021-01-09 | Andrew Goldsmith (from 20 October 2014) – also trustee of Ampthill Baptist Church; William Peter Eyre; David Charles Ronco (chair); Geoffrey Kenneth Colmer – also trustee of Central Baptist Association, Milton Keynes Mission Partnership; Christopher Garraway (from 14 April 2019) | [8] |
Archived register pages of 2010–2021 list among earlier trustees the Revd Geoffrey Kenneth Colmer, the Revd David Charles Ronco (chair in 2021) and D C Marchant.[2] Andrew Goldsmith is also a register trustee of Ampthill Baptist Church (1198662); Lisa Kerry of the Central Baptist Association (1090606) and The Cornerstone Trust (291316); and Mark Hirst of Willesborough Baptist Pre-School (1175202).[1] The account names several private individuals as recipients; they are not named here.
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-12-31 | £16,326 | £19,350 |
| 2021-12-31 | £20,287 | £20,748 |
| 2022-12-31 | £18,123 | £17,261 |
| 2023-12-31 | £19,569 | £15,233 |
| 2024-12-31 | £34,357 | £39,040 |
Source: register annual-return history.[1]
Archived accounts
Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2005[9]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2006[10]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2007[11]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2008[12]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2009[13]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2010[14]
Funding in Israel
- 2024 specified donations received included "Turaan BC" £1,900.00, "Eilaboun BC" £1,350.00, "Shefaamr" £1,181.54, gifts for named individuals in Eilaboun, Shefaamr and Haifa, "ABCI" £7,000.00 ("Sums from Willesbourgh Baptist sent via ABCI"), "NEC" £9,645.50 and "RCO Gaza Appeal" £10,346.98; 2022 included "Cana BC" £1,706.25.[4]
- 2024 payments: gifts forwarded to ABCI £17,373.63 (including sums held over from 2023), to NEC £7,817.50 and to ROC £10,296.98, and "Twinning Activities" of £3,173.67 ("Israel trip, flights and accomodation"); £1,706.75 was held at the year end "awaiting transfer to Israel".[4]
Israeli partners
The Association of Baptist Churches in Israel (ABCI), named on the charity's website as its twinning partner, and Baptist churches the account identifies by town ("Turaan BC", "Eilaboun BC", "Cana BC").[3][4]
Activity beyond the Green Line and support for the IDF
Findings are graded by confidence. "Partner" findings concern the Israeli recipient organisation, not proven use of UK funds.
| Finding | Confidence |
|---|---|
| The account names the places of recipient churches and individuals as Eilaboun, Shefaamr, Haifa, Turaan and (2022) Cana; it does not place them in relation to the 1949 armistice line.[4] | High (towns named in the accounts; amounts given) |
| The account records £10,346.98 received for an "RCO Gaza Appeal" and £10,296.98 forwarded to "ROC"; it does not say who received the money or where it was used.[4] | Low (appeal name only; recipient and place of use not stated) |
Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[4]
Controversies and regulatory action
- No Charity Commission inquiry, Official Warning or Gazette insolvency notice naming this charity was found, and its register entry shows no regulatory alert;[15] it is not among the charities named in the Commission's cheque-cashing class-inquiry announcements (May, September and December 2025) or in the September 2026 statement of results.[16][17][18][19] The charities in the Commission's settlements class inquiry (opened August 2026) have not been named, so it is not known whether this charity is among them.[20]
- Abbreviations not explained. The account uses "ABCI", "NEC", "CBA", "RCO" and "ROC" without expanding them; only ABCI is explained, on the charity's website.[4][3]
Other registers and records
Scotland and Northern Ireland
No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (register export dated 14 October 2026, searched by name).[21] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[22]
The Gazette
Searches of The Gazette notice feeds (all notices, insolvency and company) for the charity's name found no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice.[23]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[24]
Sanctions screening
The charity's name, its current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees and officers named in the accounts read for this profile and (for charitable companies) its Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match was found.[25]
Land and property
The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[26]
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Baptist Twinning in Israel" returned 0 contributions in total.[27]
Web archive
The UK Government Web Archive holds 2 archived Charity Commission register pages used in this profile (cited in the sections above). The 2021 archived full print showed the status "Charity reporting is up to date" and "Other regulators: No information available".[8]
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities public extract (tables charity, charity_trustee, charity_annual_return_history, charity_area_of_operation, charity_classification, charity_other_names), extract dated 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Charity Commission, Baptist Twinning in Israel (1100407): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Baptist Twinning in Israel, About Us baptisttwinningisrael.org.uk, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Charity Commission, Baptist Twinning in Israel (1100407): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ Register entry 1100407, contact and trustees (capture of 20100712) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1100407, contact and trustees (capture of 20120129) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1100407, contact and trustees (capture of 20180103) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Register entry 1100407, full print (capture of 20210109) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Baptist Twinning in Israel accounts, year ended 2005-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110711).
- ↑ Baptist Twinning in Israel accounts, year ended 2006-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110711).
- ↑ Baptist Twinning in Israel accounts, year ended 2007-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110711).
- ↑ Baptist Twinning in Israel accounts, year ended 2008-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110711).
- ↑ Baptist Twinning in Israel accounts, year ended 2009-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110711).
- ↑ Baptist Twinning in Israel accounts, year ended 2010-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20120127).
- ↑ Charity Commission, Register of Charities, charity overview page (register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/ followed by the organisation number) for each of the 25 batch-25 charities, all retrieved on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" notice; none showed one.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator concludes investigation into 4 charities as class inquiry continues GOV.UK, 9 September 2026, with Statement of the results of a class inquiry (same date).
- ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 2026 (a fact-finding statutory class inquiry initially involving 8 charities which "are not being publicly named at this time").
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-25 charity names found no matching Scottish registration.
- ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 16 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-25 charity names returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Baptist Twinning in Israel' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1100407 360Giving, queried 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-25 screening covered 459 name strings: the 25 charity names and their other names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees, officers, examiners and other people and organisations named in the accounts and websites read for this batch, every person and organisation linked in the profiles, and the Companies House officers of the charitable companies and of the related companies Renco Properties, Conlatuse and Landmead; the only hits were generic words (the word "QA" in the names of corporate formation agents) and surname-only matches, which were rejected; no person matched. Screened 16 October 2026.
- ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK – the service returned HTTP 403 (bot protection) to automated access in October 2026; no titles were looked up or purchased. Candidate title numbers below come from the free CCOD / OCOD datasets (October 2026 release), not from paid title registers.
- ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "Baptist Twinning in Israel" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).