Leo and Betty Gruss Charitable Trust
Estate-funded trust that is spending out and expects to wind up; it made twelve grants totalling £627,580 in 2025 and has committed £1.5m to a Jerusalem Foundation project, of which £500,000 had been paid
| Leo and Betty Gruss Charitable Trust
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Trust |
| Founded | 2008-01-04 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1122175 |
| Headquarters | Hatfield AL9 (c/o Keelings Ltd, The Charity's Accountants) |
| Area served | Throughout England And Wales, Israel |
The Leo and Betty Gruss Charitable Trust was established by a trust deed of 7 November 2007 and registered on 4 January 2008; the accounts give no address, and the independent examiner, Alfonso Del Basso of Keelings Ltd, is in Hatfield AL9.[1][2] It was formed "during the lifetime of Leo and Betty Gruss" to receive their estate; Betty Gruss died in 2018 and Leo Gruss in 2020, and the charity is residuary beneficiary of his estate.[1] Its objects are the relief of poverty, including help to large needy families and needy brides, and the advancement of the Orthodox Jewish religion and of Jewish education.[1] The register lists the trustees as Anthony Levine, Dr Simon Cohen, Karen North, Matthew James Wootliff and Naomi Greenwood; the clerk is Ms H Rook (PDF p.5).[3][2] In 2025 it received deposit interest of £52,531 and made "twelve (2024: ten) grants to institutions amounting to £627,580"; funds fell from £1,932,785 to £1,334,000 (PDF p.7, 10).[2] "The charity is expected to conclude its activities and wind up within the next twelve months from the date of this report" (PDF p.3).[2]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "1) THE RELIEF OF POVERTY INCLUDING IN PARTICULAR BUT WITHOUT PREJUDICE AS TO THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING THE GIVING OF AND AFFORDING ASSISTANCE TO LARGE NEEDY FAMILIES AND NEEDY BRIDES.2) TO ADVANCE THE RELIGION OF THE JEWISH FAITH IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ORTHODOX PRACTICE.3) TO ADVANCE JEWISH EDUCATION.4) SUCH OTHER PURPOSES AS ARE RECOGNISED BY ENGLISH LAW AS CHARITABLE."[3]
The register describes its activities as: "The charity was formed on 7 November 2007 during the lifetime of Leo and Betty Gruss. Their intention was to bequeath their estate to the charity. Betty Gruss died in 2018, Leo Gruss died in 2020. Probate was granted on the estate of Mr Gruss and the charity is the beneficiary of the residue of the estate. Trustees are working towards funding projects which will meet the charity's objectives."[3]
Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, Education/training, The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives, Disability, The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty, Religious Activities, Arts/culture/heritage/science.[3]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout England And Wales, Israel.[3]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[3]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Levine | 2017-06-23 | — | |
| Simon Cohen | 2018-06-22 | — | |
| Karen North | 2021-02-25 | — | |
| Matthew James Wootliff | 2022-03-31 | — | |
| Naomi Greenwood | 2023-01-30 | — |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-08 | Rachel Paul; Simon Cohen (from 22 June 2018); Anthony Levine (from 23 June 2017); Michael Baum (from 02 December 2013) | [4] |
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-31 | £9,690 | £16,230 |
| 2022-12-31 | £24,969 | £278,219 |
| 2023-12-31 | £9,721 | £244,527 |
| 2024-12-31 | £71,319 | £531,909 |
| 2025-12-31 | £56,790 | £655,575 |
Source: register annual-return history.[3]
Funding in Israel
- Commitment "to grant £1.5m to The Jerusalem Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales (registered number 258306)" in stage payments; £500,000 had been paid by 31 December 2025; the project is not described (PDF p.13).[2]
Israeli partners
The Jerusalem Foundation (UK charity 258306); no Israeli body or project is named (PDF p.13).[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 Jerusalem Foundation project is not described or located.[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;[5] 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.[6][7][8][9] 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.[10]
- Grant recipients not listed. Apart from the Jerusalem Foundation commitment and £10,000 to Talk Matters, the accounts do not name the institutions receiving the £627,580 (PDF p.10, 13).[2]
- Clerk's fees. The related-party note records clerk fees of £20,500 (2024: £20,000) and expenses of £534 paid to Ms H Rook (PDF p.13).[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).[11] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[12]
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.[13]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[14]
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.[15]
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.[16]
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Leo and Betty Gruss Charitable Trust", "Gruss Charitable Trust" returned 0 contributions in total.[17]
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".[4]
External links
- No current official website.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Charity Commission, The Leo and Betty Gruss Charitable Trust (1122175): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Charity Commission, Leo and Betty Gruss Charitable Trust (1122175): 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 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.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Register entry 1122175, full print (capture of 20210108) 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 'Gruss Charitable Trust' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1122175 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 "Gruss Charitable Trust" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).