Eshel UK Friends of Colel Chabad
English fundraising body of Colel Chabad, also called Eshel UK, registered as Colel Chabad (charity 327485)
- This page covers the UK fundraising body. For the registered charity under which it is governed, see Colel Chabad (charity 327485). For the Jerusalem-based organisation it funds, see Colel Chabad.
| Eshel UK Friends of Colel Chabad
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Fundraising name of a registered charity (trust) |
| Founded | 20 May 1987 (trust deed); 30 June 1987 (registered charity) |
| Registration ID | 327485 (Charity Commission), registered as Colel Chabad |
| Status | Registered; reporting up to date (register, 13 November 2026) |
| Headquarters | 5 Spring Villa Road, Edgware, HA8 7EB (register address); 68 Lingwood Road, London, E5 9BN (principal address in the 2025 accounts) |
| Area served | England and Wales (fundraising); Israel and the West Bank (grants) |
| Services | Fundraising for Colel Chabad |
| Registration | England and Wales |
| Key people | Menachem Salek (chair); Daniel Meyer Wolffe (managing trustee); Rabbi Yitzchok Sufrin (trustee); Mark Adlestone (life president); Russell Conn (fundraiser) |
Eshel UK Friends of Colel Chabad (also Eshel UK) is the English fundraising body of Colel Chabad. It is registered with the Charity Commission as Colel Chabad (charity 327485).[1][2][3] The register records no other names for the charity.[1] The trustees, finances and filings of the registered charity are set out at Colel Chabad (charity 327485).
The register entry says it exists "to raise funds for the world wide Colel Chabad organisation food program distribution in Israel for the poor and disadvantaged", and almost all of its spending is grants to Colel Chabad's Jerusalem arm, which its accounts call "Eshel Jerusalem".[1][4] For the year to 31 December 2025 the charity reported income of £1,089,228 and expenditure of £1,028,239. The year before, its income was £4,723,736.[5]
Colel Chabad runs the Larissa Blavatnik Network of Daycare Centers. Its website lists 18 centres, two of them in Beitar Illit, a settlement in the occupied West Bank.[6]
History
The charity is governed by a trust deed dated 20 May 1987 and was registered on 30 June 1987.[1] Its objects are "the advancement of Jewish faith and relief of poverty amongst poor families and orphans of the Jewish faith", in particular by providing "basic living necessities for such families in Israel and the United Kingdom".[1]
Activities
The register describes the charity as mainly grant-making, for the prevention or relief of poverty and overseas aid, and says that it helps "people of a particular ethnic or racial origin" by making grants to organisations.[1]
The 2025 trustees' report says that the charity's main purpose "continues to be to raise funds for the Colel Chabad food distribution program in Israel", that it has also raised funds "for other Chabad activities and campus activities", and that "generally grants are to be made to the Colel Chabad organisation in Israel", with occasional grants to "other Chabad institutions in line with donors wishes".[7] It thanks Mark Adlestone and the Beaverbrook Charitable Trust, Keith Black and the Benson and Lionel Black Charity trust, and Alex Knaster for donations in 2025, and Rabbis Sholom Duchman, Zalman Duchman, Efraim Duchman, Shmuel Lewis and Levi Duchman "and many of their colleagues in the New York office".[7] It names Mark Adlestone OBE DL and Daniel Levy as its lay leaders.[8]
The 2021 accounts recorded funding from The Steinberg Family Trust towards a new MS centre in Jerusalem (£50,000 a year), the third of a four-year pledge from Mark Adlestone and The Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust, the second donation of a three-year pledge of $20,000 a year from Keith Black and the Benson Black Charitable Trust, and support from Joey Esfandi, the Fruchter family and Eduard Azar.[9]
Grants to Eshel Jerusalem
| Year | Donated to Eshel Jerusalem | Total donations to institutions |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | £1,816,480 | £1,926,591 |
| 2024 | £4,462,000 | £4,663,037 |
| 2025 | £939,548 | £977,164 |
People
The Charity Commission register lists three trustees, who are set out on the Colel Chabad (charity 327485) page: Menachem Salek (chair), Daniel Meyer Wolffe (described in the 2025 accounts as managing trustee) and Rabbi Yitzchok Sufrin.[1][8] The 2025 report says that the charity has one full-time fundraiser, Russell Conn, and no other employees.[8] Conn describes himself as UK campaign director of Eshel UK Friends of Colel Chabad since January 2007.[3] Mark Adlestone is described by The Fed as "Life President of Eshel UK Friends of Colel Chabad".[2]
See also
- Colel Chabad (charity 327485)
- Colel Chabad
- Colel Chabad (US)
- Colel Chabad Australia Ltd.
- Colel Chabad Lubavitch Foundation of Israel
- Chabad in occupied Palestine
- Chabad Lubavitch charities in the UK
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Charity Commission for England and Wales, COLEL CHABAD – 327485 Register of Charities, accessed 13 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Fed, Mark Adlestone Jewish Manchester, accessed 13 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Russell Conn, Russell Conn LinkedIn, accessed 13 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Colel Chabad, Trustees' annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 (approved 25 August 2026), as filed with the Charity Commission, obtained from the register's register entry, accessed 13 November 2026, p. 14.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities public data extract: annual return history (extract dated 11 November 2026), accessed 13 November 2026.
- ↑ Colel Chabad, Daycare Centers colelchabad.org, accessed 13 November 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Colel Chabad, trustees' annual report and financial statements 2025, p. 2.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Colel Chabad, trustees' annual report and financial statements 2025, p. 3.
- ↑ Colel Chabad, Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021 (charity no. 327485).