The Bersam Trust
Salford Orthodox Jewish educational charity; Charity Commission inquiry 2019–21
| The Bersam Trust | |
|---|---|
| Type | Unincorporated charitable trust |
| Logo | |
| Founded | Trust deed 31 May 1955; registered 6 December 1966 |
| Founder(s) | |
| Dissolved | |
| Registration ID | |
| Status | |
| Headquarters | |
| Location | 2 Merrybower Road, Salford M7 4HE |
| Area served | |
| Services | |
| Registration | |
| Key people | Joshua Waldman Abraham Vogiel Jehuda Waldman Ignatius Moskovitz |
| Website | |
| Remarks | |
The Bersam Trust (charity number 526452) is an unincorporated charitable trust in Salford, Greater Manchester. It is governed by a declaration of trust dated 31 May 1955 and a declaration of change of name dated 29 April 1965. It was registered with the Charity Commission on 6 December 1966, removed on 9 November 2010 as “does not operate”, and re-registered on 30 March 2011. Contact address: 2 Merrybower Road, Salford M7 4HE.[1][2]
Charitable objects: “To provide Jewish children with a strictly orthodox Jewish religious education for which rules are laid down in Hebrew or Yiddish and of affording an adequate secular education.” The Commission’s activity summary is that the charity raises funds to support orthodox Jewish religion and education. It owns or leases land and leases school premises to Talmud Torah Chinuch Neorim. Year to 31 March 2025: income £233,531; expenditure £148,889. Four trustees; no trading subsidiary; Gift Aid recognised.[1]
Lease to Talmud Torah Chinuch Neorim
On 29 September 2016 the trustees leased the school premises for 24 years to Talmud Torah Chinuch Neorim (company number 09255139, incorporated 8 October 2014 as a company limited by guarantee).[3]
The inquiry obtained the lease. It found that the party entering the lease is named as the charity (however, the charity itself is a trust and has no legal personality); the company was dormant at the time the lease was granted; and at the time of entering into the lease, three of the four directors of the company were also trustees of the charity. These were the only trustees of the charity at that time and it was not possible for them to manage the conflict of interest arising in this transaction.[3]
Joshua Waldman remains a trustee of both the Bersam Trust and the school charity Talmud Torah Chinuch Neorim (charity number 1204207).[4][5]
Charity Commission inquiry
The Commission opened a statutory inquiry on 14 January 2019 over potential misconduct and mismanagement. It had compared the annual accounts with bank records obtained under section 52 of the Charities Act 2011 and found “significant discrepancies” between recorded financial activity and money moving through the accounts; comparative figures did not match the previous year’s accounts and the independent examiner had not explained the differences. Bank accounts were frozen under section 76(3)(d).[6]
The inquiry report was published on 12 February 2021. In the years ending 31 March 2014 to 31 March 2018 the charity, in addition to bank borrowing, received 56 loans totalling £2.4 million. Forty-nine of those loans, amounting to £1.9 million, had no written loan agreement. Lenders included individuals and other charities. Many loans were oral only. Six written agreements covering £485,000 were produced at inspection; two named the school rather than the charity as borrower and one named no lender. A further agreement for £31,500 was supplied later. Trustees told inspectors that most loans were “on trust.” The Commission found no evidence that money was lost, but held that the trustees had exposed the charity to “significant and unnecessary risk” and could not evidence why it was obliged to repay £1.9 million. That was treated as breach of trust / misconduct and/or mismanagement.[3][7]
The charity was administered as if school and charity were one organisation. One loan was secured on the school achieving a satisfactory Ofsted rating — a matter the charity did not control. A trustee who worked at the school took part in decisions on leasing the charity’s building to the school without the conflict being identified or managed.[7]
An Official Warning under section 75A of the Charities Act 2011 was issued to three trustees — Joshua Waldman, Abraham Vogiel and Jehuda Waldman (Jehudah) — requiring written recording of loans and significant decisions. Amy Spiller of the Commission said the trustees had, “through their lack of financial management and basic governance, agreed a significant number of undocumented loans that risked their charity’s future.” Third Sector reported that the trust called the warning and reports “unjust.”[8][9]
The live inquiry pages were later withdrawn under the Commission’s archive policy. An archived text of the decision remains on GOV.UK / web.archive.org.[3]
People
Trustees
| Name | Appointed | Other trusteeships (Commission) |
|---|---|---|
| Joshua Waldman | 25 October 2011 | Ohr Torah Ltd; Belz Communities; AB Foundation; Talmud Torah Chinuch Neorim |
| Abraham Vogiel | 3 July 2013 | The Ashwell Trust; Broom Foundation (also listed historically with A and N Trust Fund) |
| Jehuda Waldman | 16 August 2013 | Chassidei Belz Manchester |
| Ignatius Moskovitz | 22 March 2018 | none on record |
Joshua Waldman, Abraham Vogiel and Jehuda Waldman were the three trustees named on the Official Warning. Moskovitz was appointed after the 2016 lease.[4][8]
See also
Resources
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-charity-inquiry-the-bersam-trust
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/official-warning-issued-to-trustees-over-49-undocumented-loans-agreed-on-behalf-of-manchester-charity
- Decision: Charity Inquiry: The Bersam Trust Published 12 February 2021.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Charity Commission, THE BERSAM TRUST charity 526452, accessed 9 September 2026.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Governance charity 526452, accessed 9 September 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Charity Commission, Charity Inquiry: The Bersam Trust published 12 February 2021 (withdrawn from the live site; archived).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Charity Commission, Trustees charity 526452, accessed 9 September 2026.
- ↑ Charity Commission, TALMUD TORAH CHINUCH NEORIM charity 1204207, accessed 9 September 2026.
- ↑ Charity Commission, New Charity Inquiry: The Bersam Trust 31 January 2019 (withdrawn 12 February 2021).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Charity Commission, Official Warning issued to trustees over 49 undocumented loans agreed on behalf of Manchester charity 12 February 2021 (withdrawn 14 November 2023).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Third Sector, Regulator issues warning to trustees who failed to document loans worth millions of pounds, February 2021.
- ↑ Jewish News, Jewish charity gets warning from watchdog over undocumented loans worth £1.9m, 15 February 2021.