Combined Funds Limited

Registered charity in England and Wales

Combined Funds Limited
Type	Charitable company
Founded	Memorandum and articles 14 October 1981; registered as a charity 27 April 2020
Registration ID	1189209
Location	Throughout England (grant maker)
Key people	Original trustees reported as members of the Stolzberg family

Combined Funds Limited (charity number 1189209; company number 01591120) is an English charitable company. It is governed by memorandum and articles dated 14 October 1981 and was registered with the Charity Commission on 27 April 2020. It operates by making grants to organisations and individuals. Reporting on the current register entry is up to date. A statutory inquiry opened on 27 March 2018 and closed with an Official Warning in 2020.

Objects

1) The advancement of religion in accordance with the Orthodox Jewish Faith
2) The relief of poverty
and 3) for such other purposes as are recognised by English law as charitable and in furtherance of the aforementioned objects.

Published activity: provision of basic necessities for the poor; relief of suffering and support in regard to illness and disabilities; support to Jewish education and places of worship; support for the physical, mental, spiritual and moral development of youth and children in accordance with the Orthodox Jewish faith. Main way of carrying out purposes: grant making. Area: throughout England. No trading subsidiaries on the current register snapshot. No trustee remuneration.

People

When the 2018 inquiry opened there were three connected original trustees (A, B and C). Trustees D and E were appointed in January and August 2018; Trustee B resigned in February 2019. Press reporting named founders/trustees including Ephraim Stolzberg, Helen Stolzberg, Ben Stolzberg and Mordechai Stolzberg, with Mordechai reported as having stepped down.

Trustees

Name	Role	Date of appointment	Other charities
Ephraim Stolzberg	Chair	14 October 1981	None on record
Sarah Braun	Trustee	19 March 2026	None on record
Asher Zelig Lew	Trustee	1 August 2018	Interdam Limited; Chaim Yosef Trust
Joseph Stern	Trustee	24 January 2018	Possuk Limited; Achim Limited; Crownhost Limited; Sellata Limited; Keren Association Limited
Esther Hirsch	Trustee	28 September 1981	Friends in Need

Directors

Name	Role	Position	Date of birth	Appointed on	Resigned on	Nationality	Country of residence	Occupation
Ester Hirsch	Active	Secretary Appointed before 31 May 1992				British		Not disclosed
Sarah Braun	Active	Director	August 1957	15 April 2026		British	England	Not disclosed
Asher Zelig Lew	Active	Director	October 1949	1 August 2018		British	England	Not disclosed
Joseph Stern	Active	Director	November 1955	24 January 2018		British	England	Not disclosed
Ephraim Stolzberg	Active	Director	December 1929 Appointed before 31 May 1992			British	England	Not disclosed
Mordechai Stolzberg	Resigned	Director	February 1955 Appointed before 31 May 1992		18 February 2019	British	England	Not disclosed

Source: Companies House officers register.

Persons with significant control

Name	Status	Notified on	Ceased on	Date of birth	Nationality	Country of residence	Nature of control
Ephraim Stolzberg	Active	30 April 2016		December 1929	British	England	Has significant influence or control over the trustees of a trust

Source: Companies House PSC register.

Finances

Year to 30 June	Income	Expenditure
2021	£150.00k	£1.63m
2022	£90.24k	£1.67m
2023	£6.29k	£972.99k
2024	£20.36k	£439.31k
2025	£55,117	£418,310

When the inquiry opened, year-ending 2016 income was reported as over £700,000 with net assets over £6.5 million. Spending has far exceeded income in the years after registration as grants continued from accumulated funds. No government contracts or grants on the published history table.

Inquiry (2018–2020)

The Commission opened a statutory inquiry on 27 March 2018 and restricted the charity’s bank accounts (section 76 order, May 2018; discharged 30 July 2019). Concerns included conflicts of interest and connected-party transactions: three related original trustees, and a trustee as sole director of trading subsidiaries.

The published inquiry (17 November 2020) found misconduct and/or mismanagement. Findings included:

• loans of over £1 million (2012–2017) to four subsidiaries of which Trustee A was sole director (later reported as repaid);
• a grant of about £250,000 for private medical care of a person connected to the original trustees;
• no formal grant-assessment system or decision record;
• failure to register the charity at the proper time and to prepare SORP-compliant accounts.

The Commission said it did not find misappropriation of funds or loss to the charity. An Official Warning was issued on 3 July 2020 to the two remaining original trustees. Independent trustees and written policies were put in place during the inquiry.

This 2018–20 inquiry is separate from the later class inquiry into 105 charities and cashed cheques.

See also

• Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator
• Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques
• Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques
• British Jewish or Zionist charities investigated by the Charity Commission, 2005-2023
• British Jewish charities investigated by the Charity Commission