Friends of Pilzno
Harrow CIO that passed £55,960 in 2024/25 to "Pilzno", an Orthodox Jewish learning and counselling centre in Israel run through a trustee's son, while stating that no connected person benefited
| Friends of Pilzno
| |
|---|---|
| Type | CIO |
| Founded | 2016-03-18 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1166119 |
| Headquarters | Harrow HA3 |
| Area served | Throughout England, Israel |
| Key people | Roger Gerzi (chair) |
Friends of Pilzno is a charitable incorporated organisation (foundation model) registered on 18 March 2016; its principal address is in Harrow HA3.[1][2] Its objects are to advance the Orthodox Jewish faith through education, counselling and help for children with special needs, and "the charity supports the work of Pilzno in Israel", which helps people with emotional and learning difficulties and "continues to operate a centre of learning in Israel", with publications and courses in the UK, USA and Israel (PDF p.4).[2] The accounts for the year to 31 March 2025 name the trustees as Mr R Gerzi, M Marcus and Mr N D Gee; the register lists Roger Gerzi, Nigel David Gee and Max Alfred Naar (PDF p.2, 5).[2][3] The independent examiner is Prakash Dhungana FCCA of Watford (PDF p.2).[2] Donations were £62,211 (2024: £26,111), of which £16,378 came from trustees and related parties, and "donations to other charities: Pilzno" were £55,960 (2024: £26,440) (PDF p.7, 12, 14).[2]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE ORTHODOX JEWISH FAITH"[3]
The register describes its activities as: "To advance the Jewish Religion by activities, projects and services in the areas of education, counselling through discussions and assisting children with special needs"[3]
Register classifications: Religious Activities.[3]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout England, Israel.[3]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[3]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigel David Gee | 2016-03-18 | Devonshire Street Charitable Foundation (1123295); Lodge of Israel Benevolent Fund (214214); The Lodge of Israel No 205 Bicentennial Charity Fund (801958); The Nigel Gee Foundation (1151843) | |
| Roger Gerzi | 2016-03-18 | Yes | — |
| Max Alfred Naar | 2026-09-14 | — |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-01-04 | Nigel David Gee; Michael David Marcus; Roger Gerzi | [4] |
| 2021-01-13 | Roger Gerzi (chair) (from 18 March 2016); Nigel David Gee (from 18 March 2016) – also trustee of Devonshire Street Charitable Foundation, The Lodge of Israel No 205 Bicentennial Charity Fund, Lodge of Israel Benevolent Fund, The Nigel Gee Foundation, The Cecil Gee Charitable Trust; Mike Marcus (from 18 March 2016) | [5] |
Nigel David Gee is also a register trustee of the Nigel Gee Foundation (1151843), Devonshire Street Charitable Foundation (1123295), Lodge of Israel Benevolent Fund (214214) and The Lodge of Israel No 205 Bicentennial Charity Fund (801958).[3]
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-03-31 | £10,269 | £5,030 |
| 2022-03-31 | £8,736 | £13,810 |
| 2023-03-31 | £15,028 | £14,150 |
| 2024-03-31 | £26,111 | £26,650 |
| 2025-03-31 | £62,211 | £56,262 |
Source: register annual-return history.[3]
Funding in Israel
- Year to 31 March 2025: "Donations to other charities: Pilzno" £55,960 (2024: £26,440), for its centre of learning in Israel (PDF p.4, 12).[2]
Israeli partners
"Pilzno", which the accounts say runs a centre of learning in Israel through the son of trustee Roger Gerzi; its town is not given (PDF p.4–5).[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 |
|---|---|
| No place in Israel is named.[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;[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]
- Connected recipient. The report says: "Pilzno work is in Israel and is through the son of Roger Gerzi, a trustee", but note 8 says that "[n]one of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity", and the grant is not disclosed as a related-party transaction (PDF p.5, 13–14).[2]
- Trustee list differs from the register. The accounts name M Marcus as a trustee; the register lists Max Alfred Naar instead (PDF p.2).[2][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).[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 Pilzno" returned 0 contributions in total.[18]
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".[5]
External links
- No current official website.
Notes
- ↑ Charity Commission, Friends of Pilzno (1166119): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Charity Commission, Friends of Pilzno (1166119): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 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.
- ↑ Register entry 1166119, contact and trustees (capture of 20180104) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Register entry 1166119, full print (capture of 20210113) 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-21 charities, all retrieved successfully on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section; none was shown for any of them. Twenty registered charities showed "Charity reporting is up to date (on time)" and the J S and N Hodari Charitable Trust "Charity reporting is up to date (33 days late)"; the other four (Friends of the Israel Aged, Eizer Le'Zedoko, Truevine Christians International and the Olive Tree Reconciliation Fund) 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-21 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-21 charity names returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Friends of Pilzno' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1166119 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-21 screening covered 246 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, Companies House officers of the five charitable companies, and trustees, examiners and other people 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 Levy, Cohen, Phillips, Smith) or generic words in organisation names (Limited, Trust, International).
- ↑ 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 Pilzno" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).