Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift)
Borchard family trust making about 100 grants a year, including £51,000 to Israeli welfare, shared-society and human-rights groups
| Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift)
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Other |
| Founded | 1998-04-22 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1069246 |
| Headquarters | Whittlebury NN12 |
| Area served | Israel, Throughout England |
Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift) (Charity no. 1069246)
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "(1) THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE JEWISH RELIGION BY STRENGTHENING THE CONTINUITY OF NORMATIVE JUDAISM; AND(2) THE PROMOTION BOTH IN ISRAEL AND ELSEWHERE OF PROJECTS WHICH ARE BOTH CHARITABLE ACCORDING TO ENGLISH LAW AND OF BENEFIT TO THE WIDER JEWISH COMMUNITY."[1]
The register describes its activities as: "The promotion of normative Judaism through direct help for individual charities which are well established both in Israel and in Europe and the USA for Jews in need and in so doing, to help them develop both their faith and wellbeing."[1]
Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, Education/training, The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty, Religious Activities, Arts/culture/heritage/science, Environment/conservation/heritage, Economic/community Development/employment.[1]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel, Throughout England.[1]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Goldsmith | not recorded | — | |
| Rachel Borchard Lewis | 2015-11-03 | — | |
| David Simon Myerson | 2023-05-24 | Free From Fear (1199297); Thea and Heinz Skyte Charitable Trust (1201039) |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-16 | Mark Goldsmith; Nuphar Eida Yehiel; Rachel Borchard Lewis (from 03 November 2015); Daniel Sperber | [2] |
| 2021-07-06 | Mark Goldsmith; Yehuda Sperber (from 10 December 2020); Nuphar Eida Yehiel; Rachel Borchard Lewis (from 03 November 2015) | [3] |
Income and expenditure
Data for financial year ending 31 March 2022
- Total income: £152,599
- Total expenditure: £557,291
Latest figures (Charity Commission register)
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-03-31 | £110,208 | £468,276 |
| 2022-03-31 | £152,599 | £557,291 |
| 2023-03-31 | £113,426 | £433,919 |
| 2024-03-31 | £156,610 | £447,020 |
| 2025-03-31 | £145,857 | £534,745 |
Source: register annual-return history.[1]
Archived accounts
Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:
- Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2014[4]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2015[5]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2016[6]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2017[7]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2018[8]
Funding in Israel
- FY2025 grants to "Israeli Charitable Institutions" totalling £51,000 (PDF p.7, 21): Leket Israel £5,000 (volunteers to the North), Matan Israel £5,000 (art tuition and living expenses for one individual), Union of Orthodox Jewish Communities (JLIC) £5,000 ("ongoing work with evacuated communities"), Israel Religious Action Centre (IRAC) £4,000, Merchavim £4,000 (Shared Society Incubator), Project Rozana UK £4,000 ("Palestinian Israeli Health Diplomats"), Muslala £3,500, Beit Issie Shapiro £3,000, Hand in Hand £3,000 (bilingual Galilee school project), Physicians for Human Rights in Israel £3,000 (primary healthcare for "status-less communities in Israel"), Tel Aviv University £3,000 (safety and dignity for migrant workers), The Freddie Krivine Initiative £3,000, Israel Guide Dog Centre UK £2,000, Israel Tennis Centres £2,000 and Standing Together Ltd £1,500.[9]
- UK grants with an Israel connection include UJIA £8,500 (Madrachim training for an Israel trip) and the Weizmann Institute Foundation £2,500 (PDF p.21).[9]
Israeli partners
The Israeli grantees listed above; the accounts state each grant's purpose but give no addresses (PDF p.7, 21).[9]
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 JLIC grant is for "evacuated communities"; the accounts do not say which communities or where (PDF p.7).[9] | Not established |
| No grant is stated to fund activity beyond the Green Line.[9] | Not established |
Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[9]
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;[10] 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.[11][12][13][14] 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.[15]
- Collection costs paid by a family-linked company. Fairplay Towage & Shipping Co. Ltd paid £76,000 (2024: £47,000) of curation, storage and insurance costs for the Ruth Borchard Collection; two members of the Borchard Family Council, which appoints one trustee, are directors of Fairplay (PDF p.26).[9]
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).[16] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[17]
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.[18]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[19]
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.[20]
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.[21]
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Shoresh Charitable Trust", "Ruth Borchard" returned 0 contributions in total.[22]
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".[2]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 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.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Register entry 1069246, full print (capture of 20210116) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1069246, full print (capture of 20210706) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift) accounts, year ended 2014-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift) accounts, year ended 2015-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift) accounts, year ended 2016-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift) accounts, year ended 2017-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift) accounts, year ended 2018-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Charity Commission, Shoresh Charitable Trust (Dr Ruth Borchard Gift) (1069246): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ 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-15 charities, all retrieved successfully on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section; none was shown for any of them. Nineteen registered charities showed "Charity reporting is up to date (on time)"; The Kolel Limited showed "up to date (85 days late)" and Practical Compassion for Destitute Children "up to date (2 days late)"; Lionel Black Charitable Trust, Friends of Horim Establishments Tel Aviv and Arad, Prayer for Israel (326132) and The Maurice Wohl Charitable Trust 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-15 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-15 charity names returned no matching charity; the only result, for "Donkey", was an unrelated Belfast organisation).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Shoresh Charitable Trust' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1069246 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-15 screening covered 227 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, Companies House officers of the three charitable companies and of J. E. Joseph Trustee Company Limited, directors of the dissolved Friends of Horim company (01966551), and trustees, executive-committee members, 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 Hassan, Friedman, Cohen and Sabah) or the generic words "Company Limited"; 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 "Shoresh Charitable Trust" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).