Friends of ESRA in Israel

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North London CIO that gave £40,250 in 2025/26 to ESRA, an Israeli charity whose student housing and mentoring projects it lists in Netanya, Akko, South Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Rehovot

Friends of ESRA in Israel

Logo Netanya beach ESRA locality.jpg
Netanya beach; the charity's website lists Netanya, with four projects, among the cities of ESRA's "Students Build a Community" project
Type CIO
Founded 2019-08-08 (registered)
Registration ID Registered charity 1184809
Headquarters London NW7
Area served Israel
Website https://www.friendsofesra.org.uk/


Friends of ESRA in Israel is a charitable incorporated organisation registered on 8 August 2019; its registered office is in London NW7.[1][2] Its purpose is "To provide such financial or material assistance to support the charitable work of ESRA Israel ... with particular preference for support of projects which relieve the charitable needs of children and young people".[2] The accounts describe ESRA (English Speaking Residents Association) as an Israeli charity (registration 580037455) and name its main beneficiary project as "Students Build a Community", which "in cooperation with local municipalities, provides housing accommodation for university students in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in return for those students mentoring local schoolchildren"; UK volunteers also tutor "Israeli schoolchildren from all sectors of society - Jewish (Secular & Religious), Arab, Bedouin, etc." online.[2] The trustees named in the accounts for the year to 31 March 2026 are Richard Stein (chair), Stephen Samuel (treasurer), Roger Adelman (retired 9 November 2025), Adam Davis, Peter Young and Bernice Ruth Jacobs (appointed 9 November 2025); the register lists Richard John Stein, Stephen Samuel, Adam Davis, Peter Victor Young and Bernice Ruth Jacobs.[2][3] Donations were £47,286 (2025: £56,973); donations to ESRA were £40,250 (2025: £86,000) and other costs £2,211, and funds rose from £3,722 to £8,547.[2] The accounts were examined by Jonathan Levy of Edgware, whose report is dated "August 2026" with no day.[2]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "TO PROVIDE SUCH FINANCIAL OR MATERIAL ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT THE CHARITABLE WORK OF ESRA ISRAEL, AS THE TRUSTEES SHALL FROM TIME TO TIME DETERMINE WITH PARTICULAR PREFERENCE FOR SUPPORT OF PROJECTS WHICH RELIEVE THE CHARITABLE NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE."[3]

The register describes its activities as: "ESRA was established to help English-speaking olim acclimate to life in Israel. This soon evolved to helping diverse waves of immigrants, and then to helping any needy sector of Israeli society, with an emphasis on educational advancement for all of Israel's children."[3]

Register classifications: The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty.[3]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel.[3]

Trustees

Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[3]

Trustees of Friends of ESRA in Israel (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
Stephen Samuel 2019-05-13 Maurice Samuel Charitable Aid Trust (289753)
Richard John Stein 2019-05-31 —
Peter Victor Young 2022-11-27 —
Adam Davis 2022-11-27 —
Bernice Ruth Jacobs 2025-11-09 —

Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)

Trustees shown in archived register pages
Capture date Trustees listed Source
2021-01-13 Roger Adelman – also trustee of Handicapped Children's Aid Committee; Richard John Stein; Stephen Samuel – also trustee of Maurice Samuel Trust [4]

Stephen Samuel is also a register trustee of the Maurice Samuel Charitable Aid Trust (289753).[3] The charity's website lists a "Bebe Jacobs" as a contact for the tutoring programme; it is not established that she is the trustee Bernice Ruth Jacobs.[5]

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2022-03-31 £48,472 £50,144
2023-03-31 £49,519 £49,899
2024-03-31 £91,955 £67,453
2025-03-31 £56,973 £87,111
2026-03-31 £47,286 £42,461

Source: register annual-return history.[3]

Funding in Israel

The old city of Akko (2008); ESRA's "Students Build a Community" project, which the charity funds, lists Akko among its cities
  • Year to 31 March 2026: donations to ESRA of £40,250 (2025: £86,000), mainly for "Students Build a Community"; the accounts do not split the money by city.[2]

Israeli partners

ESRA (English Speaking Residents Association), Israeli registered charity 580037455.[2]

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.

Evidence of activity beyond the 1949 armistice line
Finding Confidence
The charity's website says "Students Build a Community" "includes 8 different projects based on the same proven theme in the Israeli cities of Netanya (4 projects), Akko, South Tel Aviv, Jerusalem (2023) and Rehovot (from 2024)". The places are quoted as given; no project addresses are given, and the UK funding is not broken down by place.[5] Medium (cities listed by the charity's website; UK funding not broken down)

Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[2]

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;[6] 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.[7][8][9][10] 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.[11]
  • Minor presentation points. The examiner is described as "ACCA" on one page and signs as "FCCA"; the CIO's registration is shown as "Company number: CE018465"; and the deferred-income note shows £660 added and £660 released, the same figure as the examiner's fee.[2]

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).[12] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[13]

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.[14]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[15]

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.[16]

Land and property

The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[3] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[17]

Parliament

Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Friends of Esra in Israel", "Friends of ESRA" returned 0 contributions in total.[18]

Web archive

  • friendsofesra.org.uk: 5 yearly captures, first 2021-10-24, last 2026-01-15.[19]

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 "Recently registered" and "Other regulators: No information available".[4]

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ Charity Commission, Friends of ESRA in Israel (1184809): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Charity Commission, Friends of ESRA in Israel (1184809): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 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.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Register entry 1184809, full print (capture of 20210113) UK Government Web Archive.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Friends of ESRA in Israel, Home page friendsofesra.org.uk, viewed 16 October 2026.
  6. ↑ 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-23 charities, all retrieved on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" notice; none was shown.
  7. ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
  8. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
  9. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
  10. ↑ 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).
  11. ↑ 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").
  12. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-23 charity names found no matching Scottish registration.
  13. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 16 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-23 charity names returned zero results).
  14. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Friends of ESRA' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
  15. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1184809 360Giving, queried 16 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-23 screening covered 249 name strings: the 25 charity names and their other names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees, officers and other people named in the accounts and websites read for this batch, and the Companies House officers of the charitable companies; the only hits were generic words (such as "Trust", "Company Limited" in the name of a corporate formation agent, and ".com") and surname-only matches, which were rejected; no person matched. Screened 16 October 2026.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "Friends of ESRA" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).
  19. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for friendsofesra.org.uk Wayback Machine, queried 16 October 2026.
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