Sheila & Denis Cohen Charitable Trust
Scottish-registered grant-making trust (SC009930) of the Cohen family, administered from London, funding Jewish, Israeli and general causes
| Sheila & Denis Cohen Charitable Trust
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Charitable trust (deed of trust) |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Registration ID | Scottish charity SC009930 |
| Headquarters | Gravita, Aldgate Tower, 2 Leman Street, London E1 8FA |
| Area served | Main operating location outwith Scotland |
Sheila and Denis Cohen Foundation is a Scottish Zionist charity (SC009930). Registered charity from 28 August 1983
- Address: Gravita, Aldgate Tower , 2 Leman Street London E1 8FA
The trust was established by a deed of trust registered in Edinburgh on 11 May 1983 (PDF pp.4, 9).[1] It is registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator as a standard charity whose main operating location is outwith Scotland; it has no staff or volunteers, and its stated activity is to "make donations to charitable institutions, societies, foundations and funds as the trustees determine at their discretion". Its listed beneficiaries are "People with a particular ethnic or racial origin". Its address on the Scottish register, Gravita, Aldgate Tower, 2 Leman Street, London E1 8FA, is that of its independent examiner, Gravita Business Services II Limited.[2] The trustees' names are redacted in the accounts published by the regulator.[1]
People
Denis Cohen | Sheila Cohen | David Mayer Cohen | Lucy Cohen
Donations
- Patrons of Jewish Quarterly[3]
- Donors to BIRAX
| Grants payable | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFU | 2,000 | 2,000 | |||
| BICOM - Greenaway Foundation | 5,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | |
| British Friends of Gesher | 800 | 800 | |||
| British Friends of the Art Museums of Israel (BFAMI) | 500 | 500 | 1,000 | 2,000 | |
| British Council | 3,000 | 3,000 | 6,000 | ||
| British Friends of the Hebrew University | 1,500 | 1,500 | |||
| British Friends of the Jaffa Institute | 1,500 | 1,500 | |||
| Cancestry | 1,000 | 1,000 | |||
| Centrepoint | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 500 | 6,500 |
| Caesarea Synagogue - UJIA | 500 | 500 | |||
| Cancer Research UK | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 12,000 |
| Chai Cancer care | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Children Book Project | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Community Security Trust | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 4,500 | 10,500 |
| Cosgrove Care | 500 | 500 | 500 | 1,500 | |
| Eliya | 1,000 | 1,000 | |||
| Erskine | 250 | 300 | 300 | 300 | 1,150 |
| Friends of Yad Sarah | 500 | 500 | 1,000 | ||
| Families Outside | 500 | 500 | 1,000 | ||
| Freddy Krivine Foundation | 500 | 500 | 1,000 | ||
| Gesher | 800 | 800 | |||
| Great Ormond Street Hospital | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Guide Dogs for the Blind | 500 | 500 | |||
| Gvat Haviva | 1,000 | 5,000 | 6,000 | ||
| Haifa University | 5,000 | 5,000 | |||
| Hampstead Hospice - Marie Curie Hospice | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 6,000 | |
| Hampstead Theatre | 300 | 300 | 500 | 1,100 | |
| Hand in Hand - New Israel Fund | 3,000 | 3,000 | 6,000 | ||
| Hillel /University Jewish Chaplaincy | 500 | 500 | 500 | 1,500 | |
| Holocaust Educational Trust (Francoise Winton) | 3,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 2,450 | 8,450 |
| IDI (UJIA) | 1,000 | 1,000 | 12,000 | 14,000 | |
| Jaffa Institute | 1,200 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 3,700 | |
| Jewish Blind and Disabled | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Jewish Book Council | 2,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 | 7,500 | |
| Jewish Care | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 18,000 | |
| Jewish child's day | 1,000 | 1,000 | |||
| Jewish Deaf Association | 200 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 1,400 |
| Jewish Heritage Centre | 500 | 500 | 1000 | ||
| Jewish Renaissance | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 3,000 | |
| Jewish Women's Aid | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Jnetics | 250 | 200 | 450 | ||
| JW3 Development | 1,000 | 1,000 | |||
| Kisharon | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,500 |
| Library for the blind - My Israel | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Maccabi GB | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 2,000 |
| Magen David Adom (UK) | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Marie Curie | 2,000 | 2,000 | |||
| Merchavim | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 1,500 | 7,500 |
| Mosaica | 1,000 | 1,000 | |||
| Moira Anderson Foundation | 250 | 250 | |||
| Myisrael (in support of Ashkelon Family Nest) | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 3,000 | |
| New Israel Fund+ Givat Haviva | 2,000 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 11,000 |
| New Israel Fund ( re Israel in Crisis) | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 11,000 |
| Nightingale Hammerson | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Norwood Ravenswood | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 |
| ORT UK | 1,000 | 1,000 | |||
| Peres Centre | 1,000 | 1,000 | |||
| Portland Trust | 2,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 | 10,000 |
| Pain Concern | 500 | 500 | |||
| Place2Be | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | |
| Real Action | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 6,000 |
| Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity | 1,500 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,500 | |
| Royal Free | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Safe Heart | 1,408 | 1,408 | |||
| Shaare Zedek UK | 1,800 | 1,800 | 1,800 | 1,800 | 7,200 |
| Simon Marks Jewish Primary School | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 2,000 |
| Stepping Stones for Families | 250 | 300 | 400 | 1,000 | 1,950 |
| Teapot Trust | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 2,000 |
| Tel Aviv University Trust | 4,000 | 2,800 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 16,800 |
| The Five Foundation | 1,500 | 1,500 | |||
| The University of Haifa UK | 3,000 | 3,000 | |||
| Technoda (Toremet) | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 6,000 |
| The Benedetti Foundation | 250 | 300 | 300 | 1,000 | 1,850 |
| The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Foundation UK | 3,500 | 3,500 | 3,500 | 10,500 | |
| The London Music Fund | 1,000 | 500 | 1,000 | 800 | 3,300 |
| The Griffin Institute | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 6,000 |
| The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 3,000 | |
| The Wiener Holocaust Library | 1,500 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 6,000 | |
| UCH London Nurses Fund | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| UJIA | 32,000 | 30,000 | 37,000 | 25,000 | 124,000 |
| UJIA (in support of Ukraine Emergency Appeal) | 5,000 | 5,000 | |||
| UJIA re Mosaica | 1,000 | 1000 | |||
| UJS | 500 | 500 | 500 | 1,500 | |
| UK Friends of AWIS | 500 | 500 | 2,500 | 3,500 | |
| UK Friends of Freddie Krivine Ltd | 500 | 500 | |||
| UK Friends of IDC | 1,500 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,500 | |
| University Jewish Chaplaincy | 1,000 | 500 | 1,500 | ||
| United Synagogue-St John's Wood Synagogue | 2,000 | 1,000 | 800 | 1,300 | 5,100 |
| Wigmore Hall Trust | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| WIZO UK | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| World Jewish Relief | 1,500 | 1,500 | |||
| World Jewish Relief (in support of Ukraine Emergency Appeal) | 7,000 | 7,000 | |||
| Yad Vashem - UK Foundation | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Total | 141,800 | 121,250 | 114,500 | 139,158 | 516,708 |
Source for 2024 and 2025: note 7, Grants payable (PDF pp.12–13).[1] The 2024 column total of £114,500 is the figure stated in the accounts.
Finances
| Year ending | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 5 April 2022 | £66,871 | £191,159 |
| 5 April 2023 | £69,263 | £159,131 |
| 5 April 2024 | £108,560 | £153,286 |
| 5 April 2025 | £130,102 | £173,871 |
Source:[2]
In the year to 5 April 2025 the trust's income of £130,102 came entirely from its investments (interest £125,758 and listed-investment income £4,344). It spent £173,871: £23,678 on investment management and £150,193 on charitable activities, of which grants were £139,158 (2024: £114,500) and governance £11,035. After investment losses of £123,148 and other losses of £44,585, its funds fell from £2,643,856 to £2,432,354, nearly all held in investments (£2,403,725) (PDF pp.7–8, 11–12).[1]
Support for the Israeli military
The trust has given to UK Friends of AWIS (the UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel's Soldiers), which funds welfare for serving IDF soldiers: £500 in each of 2022 and 2023, as listed above, and £2,500 in the year to 5 April 2025, with nothing in 2024 (PDF p.13).[1]
Prior scrutiny. No Charity Commission inquiry or Official Warning, and no complaint or report by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, the Islamic Human Rights Commission or Declassified UK, concerning this charity's support for soldiers was found (checked October 2026). The trust is not listed on the Powerbase page UK AWIS - supporters.
Activity beyond the Green Line
| Finding | Confidence |
|---|---|
| No grant named in the 2022 to 2025 lists is to an organisation located beyond the Green Line. | Not established |
Controversies and regulatory action
- No regulatory action concerning the trust was found on the Scottish Charity Register or in the sources searched. The charities in the Commission's settlements class inquiry (opened August 2026) have not been named, so it is not known whether this trust is among them.[4]
Contact
- Gravita, Aldgate Tower, 2 Leman Street, London E1 8FA[2]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Sheila and Denis Cohen Charitable Trust, Annual report and unaudited financial statements for the year ended 5 April 2025 (redacted), PDF published by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Sheila & Denis Cohen Charitable Trust – SC009930 Scottish Charity Register, accessed 28 October 2026.
- ↑ https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/32140/spread/2
- ↑ 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").