Quitak Foundation
Radlett-administered trust funding Ethiopian-Israeli students, Hand in Hand schools and an ORT college in Bnei Brak; grants of £269,365 are not itemised
| Quitak Foundation
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Trust |
| Founded | 1999-01-19 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1073371 |
| Headquarters | Davis Bonley Ltd, 137 Watling Street, Radlett, Hertfordshire, WD7 7NQ |
| Area served | Throughout England And Wales, France, Israel |
| Key people | Alex Portnoy Jp (chair) |
The Quitak Foundation is a trust established by a deed of 17 December 1997, varied on 23 December 1998, and registered on 19 January 1999 with gifts from Mr and Mrs Simon Edgar Quitak and, later, assets from their estates; its objects are Jewish education, medical research and support, and welfare, sport, social and cultural causes, and its register areas are England and Wales, France and Israel (PDF p.4).[1][2] The trustees are Alex Portnoy JP FCCA (chair), Gary Quitak, James Meston, Ruth Portnoy and Michelle Ginno; the registered office is c/o Davis Bonley, Radlett, whose Andrew Davis FCA is the independent examiner (PDF p.3).[1][2] In the year to 5 April 2025 investment income was £89,508 and grants £269,365 (2024: £186,395); after unrealised losses of £45,876 funds fell to £3,027,658, including £1m in structured deposits (PDF p.9, 13).[2]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "THE TRUSTEES SHALL HOLD THE CAPITAL AND INCOME OF THE TRUST FUND UPON TRUST TO APPLY THE INCOME, AND ALL OR SUCH PART OR PARTS OF THE CAPITAL , AT SUCH TIME OR TIMES AND IN SUCH MANNER AS THE TRUSTEES MAY IN THEIR ABSOLUTE DISCRETION THINK FIT IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD FOR SUCH CHARITABLE PURPOSES AS THE TRUSTEES MAY DETERMINE PARTICULARLY BY MAKING GRANTS TO CHARITIES OR FOR CHARITABLE PURPOSES WHICH MAY INCLUDE THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH TENETS AND DOCTRINES OF THE JEWISH FAITH AND OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES FOR THE BENEFIT OF JEWISH PERSONS"[1]
The register describes its activities as: "Advancement of education in accordance with the tenets and doctrines of the Jewish Faith; advancement of medical research; advancement of medical support services."[1]
Register classifications: Education/training, The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives, The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty.[1]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout England And Wales, France, Israel.[1]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Portnoy Jp | not recorded | Yes | — |
| Gary Joseph Quitak | not recorded | — | |
| Ruth Portnoy | 2011-09-23 | — | |
| James Alexander Charles Meston | 2011-09-23 | — | |
| Michelle Hannah Ginno | 2013-03-01 | — |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-15 | Michelle Hannah Ginno (from 01 March 2013); James Alexander Charles Meston (from 23 September 2011); Gary Joseph Quitak; Alex Portnoy Jp, Acca (chair); Ruth Portnoy (from 23 September 2011); Marguerite Quitak | [3] |
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-04-05 | £32,686 | £67,158 |
| 2022-04-05 | £1,969,681 | £100,078 |
| 2023-04-05 | £46,090 | £274,874 |
| 2024-04-05 | £71,468 | £209,578 |
| 2025-04-05 | £89,508 | £287,653 |
Source: register annual-return history.[1]
Funding in Israel
- 2024/25 grants £269,365, not itemised (PDF p.12).[2] The report names the work funded: the Forgotten People Fund (studies and professional qualifications for members of the Ethiopian Jewish minority in Israel); Hand in Hand (education of Arab and Jewish children); Lev Chash (accommodation in Israel for families of sick children near a hospital); and ORT Israel, for which it furnished a technical laboratory at one of its colleges in Bnei Brak, with student support continuing to March 2027 (PDF p.5, 7).[2]
- Outside Israel it funds Out for Change (educational outcomes for people from very religious Jewish communities) and, through Tikva UK, children in Ukraine and Romania (PDF p.5).[2]
Israeli partners
Forgotten People Fund; Hand in Hand; Lev Chash; ORT Israel (PDF p.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 |
|---|---|
| The only Israeli place named is Bnei Brak (ORT college); no partner is said to work beyond the Green Line (PDF p.5).[2] | Medium |
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]
- Payments to trustees. Trustees received £14,062 (2024: £18,142): professional fees of £5,950 to Alex Portnoy and investment manager's fees of £8,112 to JPM Asset Management Limited, "of which Mr J Meston is a director" (PDF p.13).[2]
- Grants not itemised. Grants of £269,365 "to organisations for educational and medical activities" are not broken down by recipient; the charity has unrecognised commitments of NIS 640,000 (about £140,000) under educational sponsorship agreements payable from September 2025 to March 2027 (PDF p.12, 14).[2]
- Investments. The report says the structured deposits (Barclays and Credit Agricole, through Meteor Investment Management) are not formally valued, and cites fund costs reported by "ABRDN" although the investment adviser is named as JPM Asset Management (PDF p.3, 6).[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).[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 "Quitak Foundation", "Quitak" 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 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.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Charity Commission, Quitak Foundation (1073371): 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 1073371, full print (capture of 20210115) 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-18 charities, all retrieved successfully on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section; none was shown for any of them. Sixteen registered charities showed "Charity reporting is up to date (on time)"; the Porter Foundation showed "up to date (1 day late)", The Persian Hebrew Community "up to date (48 days late)", Bernard Kahn Charitable Trust "up to date (33 days late)" and the Rabbi Yisroel Yehudah Peritz Charitable Trust "up to date (3 days late)"; Jassiane Limited showed "Charity reporting is overdue by 623 days"; The Friends of Birzeit University, The Friends of the Or Hachaim Educational Centre for Girls and John Hagee Ministries 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-18 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-18 charity names returned no matching charity).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Quitak Foundation' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1073371 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-18 screening covered 285 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, Companies House officers of the seven charitable companies, and trustees, examiners, grantees, subsidiaries 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 Weiss, Cohen, Salem and Tauber) or generic words such as "Foundation", "Aid" and "People"; lists downloaded October 2026.
- ↑ 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 "Quitak Foundation" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).