Glasgow Jewish Representative Council

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Representative body of the Jewish community of Glasgow and the West of Scotland since 1914; former charity SC047108, now a standing committee of the Jewish Council of Scotland

Glasgow Jewish Representative Council

Type Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), dissolved
Founded 1914
Registration ID SC047108 (Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator)
Status Merged into the Jewish Council of Scotland on 19 January 2025; charity removed from the register 6 May 2026
Headquarters Jewish Community Centre, 222 Fenwick Road, Giffnock, Glasgow, G46 6UE[1]
Area served Glasgow and the West of Scotland
Services Representation of the Jewish community to local authorities and interfaith bodies; communal forum
Registration Scotland (OSCR)

Glasgow Jewish Representative Council (GJRC, the "Rep Council") was formed in 1914 to represent the Jewish community of Glasgow and the surrounding area.[2] From 2017 it was a Scottish charity (SC047108). On 19 January 2025 it merged with the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC), which took the name Jewish Council of Scotland (JCoS) and "assumed the responsibilities of GJRC". All of GJRC's assets and liabilities passed to the new body that day.[3][4] GJRC carries on as one of JCoS's two standing committees, and its President sits on the JCoS Executive.[4] OSCR removed the SCIO from the register on 6 May 2026 ("SCIO dissolved").[5]

In October 2024 the Council published a position statement saying the community "has long been and continues to be strongly Zionist" (see below).[6] Its 2024 trustees included Sammy Stein,[6] who in 2019 spoke "on behalf of Cofis and affiliated organisation Glasgow Friends of Israel".[7]


The GJRC states:

When the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council (GJRC) was formed in 1914, it was to represent the Jewish community in Glasgow and the surrounding areas. The Council helps to ensure cordial relations between the Jewish community and other civic and religious groups and sends delegates to a variety of faith and other forums and committees. The Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, which is democratically elected, hosts a forum for religious, welfare, cultural, social, educational and youth organisations. It liaises with these bodies to ensure the effective running of the community.[8]

GLASGOW JEWISH REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL POSITION ON ISRAEL

10 October, 2024
In light of recent events and experience over the last year, it’s important for the Rep Council to be clear as to where we, as an organisation representing the Jewish community of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, stand regarding Israel:
Our community has long been and continues to be strongly Zionist, in the sense of being supportive of the right to Jewish self-determination in our ancestral homeland. Israel is integral to the Jewish identity of the overwhelming majority of Jews in the UK, and attachment to the land of Israel is inherent in Jewish belief and practice.
Reflecting this, the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council in turn is committed to:
  • Supporting and defending the maintenance of Israel as a pluralist Jewish and democratic state;
  • Recognising the right and obligation of Israel’s government to ensure security for and to protect the rights and freedoms of its population, including Israel’s inherent right to self-defence against armed attack;
  • Promoting lasting peace in the Middle East, including an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via a negotiated and mutually agreed two-state solution, with a secure Israel existing alongside a viable Palestinian State, and
  • Combatting so-called “anti-Zionist” discrimination against the Jewish right of self-determination.[6]

People

Presidents of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council

2024

Elected to office: President, Timothy Lovat; Vice-President, Nicola Livingston; Treasurer, Barry Berlow-Jackson; Secretary, Micheline Brannan; Trustees, Gregory Barnett, Daniel Clapham. Gary Cohen, Henry Lovat, Jackie Sevitt, Susan Siegel, Claire Singerman, Sammy Stein and Evelyn Yedd. Immediate Past President, Paul Edlin. Honorary Solicitor, Howard Beach.[6]

  • Administrator: Evy Yedd – office@glasgowjewishrepcouncil.org
  • Communications Manager: Sharon Mail – communications@glasgowjewishrep.org

Charity registration and merger

  • Founded: 1914; SCIO registered 23 January 2017[1]
  • Charity registration: SC047108 (removed 6 May 2026)
  • Income and expenditure: Income £26,487; expenditure £37,137 (final period 1 January 2024 to 18 January 2025)[1]

GJRC registered as a SCIO on 23 January 2017.[1] It took over from an older charity, the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council Charitable Education & Welfare Association (SC016626). That body was registered on 3 December 1990 and removed on 13 November 2017; the register notes: "This charity is in the process of being wound up and will transfer all its assets and liabilities to Glasgow Jewish Representative Council – SC047108".[5]

GJRC's last accounts cover 1 January 2024 to 18 January 2025. Note 10 states: "On 19 January 2025 the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council and the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities merged to form the Jewish Council for Scotland. On this date all assets and liabilities were transferred to the new organisation."[3] The Jewish Council of Scotland's 2025 accounts record "Opening balances from GJRC" of £8,449 and show GJRC bank accounts held within JCoS at the end of 2025.[4] Companies House lists GJRC as CS001807.[10]

The register described GJRC's work: "The Council speaks on behalf of the Jewish Community of Glasgow and the West of Scotland and provides a democratic forum for organisations within the community. This is achieved by regular communication, with local authorities, interfaith institutions and internal communication within our own community." It had one member of staff.[1]

Finances

Annual returns to OSCR[1]
Year ending Income (£) Expenditure (£) Annual return received
31 December 2021 43,963 49,202 12 August 2022
31 December 2022 56,181 62,191 8 August 2023
31 December 2023 46,449 45,483 30 September 2024
31 December 2024 (to 18 January 2025) 26,487 37,137 29 September 2025

Final period, 1 January 2024 to 18 January 2025

  • Income: £26,487, made up of donations of £14,073, income from charitable activities of £12,302 and bank interest of £112. £4,500 of the donations was restricted to the "J. Youth Fund".[3]
  • Spending: £37,137, including wages of £19,473, property charges of £6,655, professional fees of £4,391, activities and meetings £4,043, "Yom Hashoah expenses" £1,390 and affiliation dues £915. In 2023 GJRC also paid "ScoJec fees" of £2,931.[3]
  • Funds: £9,265 at 18 January 2025 (unrestricted £6,271, including Chanukah and Ajex funds; restricted "J. Youth Fund" £2,994).[3]
  • Advisers: independent examiner Stewart Gilmour & Co., Chartered Accountants, 3rd Floor, St George's Buildings, 5 St Vincent Place, Glasgow, G1 2DH (report dated 16 September 2025); solicitors Howard Beach, TLT Solicitors, 140 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 2HG.[3] Howard Beach is also a trustee of the Glasgow Jewish Community Trust and of Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue on the OSCR register.[11][12]
  • The trustees' names are redacted in the OSCR copy, and the register lists none.[3][1]

Grants from the Glasgow Jewish Community Trust

The Glasgow Jewish Community Trust gave GJRC an annual grant of £20,000 and a special grant of £5,000 in 2023. In 2024 it gave £250 (unrestricted) and £2,500 (restricted), and no annual grant; its accounts note that GJRC and SCoJeC "merged to form the Jewish Council of Scotland during the year".[13]

Israel and Zionist links

  • Position on Israel: the October 2024 statement (quoted above) commits the Council to "Supporting and defending the maintenance of Israel as a pluralist Jewish and democratic state" and to "Combatting so-called 'anti-Zionist' discrimination".[6]
  • Jewish Community Centre: in 2008 the GJRC website said the Jewish Community Centre at 222 Fenwick Road "is managed by the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council and houses the offices of the Representative Council, UJIA, the Jewish Learning Centre, the Israel Information Office, the Chaim Bermant Library, the UJIA Makor Resource Centre, the Student Chaplain, the Shaliach and the Youth Worker".[14] The property of the Giffnock and Newton Mearns congregations, including the Giffnock site at 222 Fenwick Road, is now held by Eastwood Jewish Community Centres (see that page).
  • Office-holders: Paul Morron, president 2013-2016, sat on UJIA's Scottish Programmes Committee in 2016.[15] Sammy Stein, a GJRC trustee in 2024, co-founded Glasgow Friends of Israel and spoke for COFIS in 2019.[6][7][16]

contact

Address: Jewish Community Centre, 222 Fenwick Road, Giffnock, Glasgow, G46 6UE
Tel: 0141 577 8200
Web: www.jewishglasgow.org
Office hours: Mon – Fri 9am – 2pm (If planning to visit it is suggested that you call beforehand).
Glasgow Jewish Representative Council is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation and has a Charity Number SC047108.
Archive holdings of glasgowjewishrepcouncil.org
Archive holdings of jewishglasgow.org

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Glasgow Jewish Representative Council (SC047108) Scottish Charity Register, accessed 20 October 2026.
  2. ↑ Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, The Council jewishglasgow.org.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, Report of the Trustees and Draft Financial Statements for the period 1 January 2024 to 18 January 2025 (redacted copy), via Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, accessed 20 October 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jewish Council of Scotland, Trustees' Annual Report and Accounts for the Year ended 31st December 2025, via Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, accessed 20 October 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download (current register, 14 October 2026, and former charities, 20 October 2026), accessed 20 October 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, jewishglasgow.org, archived 4 February 2025.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ben Wray, Exclusive: Scottish pro-Israel group distances itself from former convener over racist Facebook page Source News, 15 March 2019.
  8. ↑ About Us Glasgow Jewish (jewishglasgow.org), accessed 21 October 2026.
  9. ↑ https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/3c5b45be-109b-39d0-a207-fe2d54d93b30
  10. ↑ Companies House, GLASGOW JEWISH REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL (CS001807), accessed 20 October 2026.
  11. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Glasgow Jewish Community Trust (SC013684) Scottish Charity Register, accessed 20 October 2026.
  12. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue (SC049806) Scottish Charity Register, accessed 20 October 2026.
  13. ↑ Glasgow Jewish Community Trust, Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024 (redacted copy), note 5, via Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, accessed 20 October 2026.
  14. ↑ Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, General organisations glasgowjewishrepcouncil.org, archived 19 November 2008.
  15. ↑ United Jewish Israel Appeal, UJIA Annual Report 2016.
  16. ↑ Richard Haley, Who are Friends of Israel? Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, 6 February 2019.
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