Friends of Gaon Yaakov
Stamford Hill charity raising funds for an Israeli teachers' training college called Gaon Yaakov; its three-page 2025 filing shows £82,550 paid out
| Friends of Gaon Yaakov
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Other |
| Founded | 1984-05-29 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 326592 |
| Headquarters | London N16 |
| Area served | Hackney, Israel |
Friends of Gaon Yaakov was registered on 29 May 1984 (also recorded as "Friends of Goan Yaakov"); its contact address is in London N16.[1] Its report says: "The sole object of Friends of Gaon Yaakov is to raise funds in support of an education institute located in Israel by the name of Gaon Yaakov", which it describes as "a teachers' training college" that "relies heavily on outside donations" (PDF p.2).[2] The trustees are Chaskel Rand, Yechiel Chersky and Schloime Rand; the report names Schloime Rand as "co Treasurer" and says a new trustee was appointed after a trustee's death (PDF p.2).[1][2] In the year to 5 April 2025 donations received were £83,821 and donations paid £82,550; the receipts and payments account was examined by S Cohen and signed on 20 January 2026 (PDF p.1–3).[2]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "(I) THE TRUSTEES SHALL STAND POSSESSED OF THE TRUST FUND UPON TRUST TO PAY OR APPLY THE WHOLE OF THE INCOME AND THE CAPITAL OF THE TRUST FUND TO OR TOWARDS OR IN FURTHERANCE OR FOR THE BENEFIT OF SUCH ONE OR MORE CHARITIES, CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS OR CHARITABLE PURPOSES IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD IN SUCH SHARES AND IN SUCH MANNER AS THE TRUSTEES IN THEIR ABSOLUTE DISCRETION MAY FROM TIME TO TIME DETERMINE. (II) PURSUANT TO THE FOREGOING TRUST AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THE GENERALITY THEREOF THE TRUSTEES MAY IN PARTICULAR APPLY THE WHOLE OR ANY PART OR PARTS OT THE TRUST FUND AND THE INCOME THEREOF FOR THE CHARITABLE PURPOSES OF THE COLLEGE IN SUCH MANNER AS THE TRUSTEES MAY IN THEIR ABSOLUTE DISCRETION THINK FIT."[1]
The register describes its activities as: "TO PROVIDE FUNDS TO SUPPORT GAON YAACOV"[1]
Register classifications: Education/training, The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty, Religious Activities.[1]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Hackney, Israel.[1]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaskel Rand | 1984-05-29 | — | |
| Yechiel Chersky | 2021-09-20 | Bourneheights Limited (298359); The Friends of Ohr Yechiel Trust (1038062) | |
| Schloime Rand | 2024-01-01 | Belz Foundation Ltd (1112150); Bikur Cholim Limited (1085965); Bourneheights Limited (298359); Clapton Common Boys Club (1121347); Cosmon (Belz) Limited (266130); Grand Belz Ltd. (1097892) |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-07 | Chaskel Rand (from 29 May 1984); Erno Berger – also trustee of Bourneheights Limited | [3] |
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-04-05 | £168,190 | £168,174 |
| 2022-04-05 | £115,296 | £115,259 |
| 2023-04-05 | £187,578 | £185,836 |
| 2024-04-05 | £78,813 | £79,993 |
| 2025-04-05 | £83,821 | £82,895 |
Source: register annual-return history.[1]
Funding in Israel
- Year to 5 April 2025: donations paid £82,550 (2024: £79,530); the recipient is not named, but the charity's sole object is the Gaon Yaakov institution in Israel (PDF p.1–2).[2]
Israeli partners
"Gaon Yaakov", described in the accounts as a teachers' training college in Israel; its town is not given (PDF p.2).[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.
| Finding | Confidence |
|---|---|
| The accounts say only that the institution is "located in Israel" (PDF p.2).[2] | Not established |
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;[4] 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.[5][6][7][8] 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.[9]
- Claim of a record year. The report says the year "reported substantially more donations received than in any previous year in existence of the charity", but the register's annual-return history shows higher income in 2021 (£168,190), 2022 (£115,296) and 2023 (£187,578) than the £83,821 received in 2024/25 (PDF p.2).[2][1]
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).[10] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[11]
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.[12]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[13]
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. Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor (UK sanctions ID RUS1127) does not appear among this charity's trustees or officers.[14]
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.[15]
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Friends of Gaon Yaakov", "Gaon Yaakov" returned 0 contributions in total.[16]
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".[3]
External links
- No current official website.
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 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Charity Commission, Friends of Gaon Yaakov (326592): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Register entry 326592, full print (capture of 20210107) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ 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-19 charities, all retrieved successfully on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section; none was shown for any of them. Twenty-two registered charities showed "Charity reporting is up to date (on time)"; British Friends of Ramoth Jerusalem showed "Charity reporting is overdue by 1691 days"; Leibovici Charitable Trust and Friends of Bereaved Families Forum (1118221) showed "Removed charity".
- ↑ 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-19 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-19 charity names returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Friends of Gaon Yaakov' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-326592 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-19 screening covered 358 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, Companies House officers of the eight charitable companies, and trustees, examiners, grantees and other people and bodies named in the accounts and sources read for this batch; matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually. No forename-and-surname match for any person was found; token matches were surname-only coincidences (for example Miller, Gold) or generic words in organisation names (Trust, Ltd, Limited).
- ↑ 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 "Friends of Gaon Yaakov" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).