The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association

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UK company owning and funding the Garden Tomb site in Jerusalem

The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association

Logo Garden Tomb Jerusalem.jpg
Type Charitable company
Founded 2011-10-10 (registered)
Registration ID Registered charity 1144197; company 07591911
Headquarters Upper Ground Floor, 18 Farnham Road, Guildford, GU1 4XA
Area served Israel
Key people Stephen Bridge (chair)
Website http://www.gardentomb.com


The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association is a charitable company (07591911) that supports the Garden Tomb site in Jerusalem; Israel is its only register area, and the register records that it owns or leases land.[1] Its charity office is PO Box 19462, Jerusalem, and its UK registered office is at AJ Bennewith & Co, Guildford. In the year to 31 December 2025 income was £410,801 and expenditure £452,176; funds were £3,103,484 (PDF p.3, 8).[2]

Objects and activities

The Garden Tomb, Jerusalem (2019). The company's FY2025 charitable activity of £442,663 was for continuing operations at the Garden Tomb site

The charity's registered objects read: "THE CHARITY'S OBJECT (THE OBJECT) IS THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH."[1]

The register describes its activities as: "The Garden Tomb is a principal Protestant site in Israel. Over 400,000 visitors annually are guided by GT volunteers and shown things there on the night Jesus died. It may or may not be the exact site but it offers a great teaching aid to discuss the importance of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has been run by the charity since 1894,and is a very special place of worship."[1]

Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, Education/training, Religious Activities, Arts/culture/heritage/science, Other Charitable Purposes.[1]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel.[1]

Trustees

Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]

Trustees of The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
Kieran Joseph Ryan 2020-03-10 —
Steven David King 2022-01-18 —
Sir Charles James Hoare Bt. 2023-12-12 Christian Heritage International (1160735); Christian Heritage London (1160736)
Fiona Tweedy Saunderson 2024-07-01 —
Stephen Bridge 2026-04-28 Yes —

Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)

Trustees shown in archived register pages
Capture date Trustees listed Source
2021-07-06 Paul Mayo (from 15 March 2016); Bruce Godfrey Streather (from 10 March 2020); Rev Paul Weaver (from 17 June 2014); Kieran Joseph Ryan (from 10 March 2020); Fiona Tweedy Saunderson (from 17 June 2014) – also trustee of The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Holy Trinity, Cambridge; Paul Keeys (from 17 December 2019); Alison Ann Laing (from 14 March 2017); Mark Aldridge (from 06 March 2018) [3]

The accounts name S Holland as Jerusalem Director (PDF p.3).[2]

Companies House officers

Companies House lists 25 current and former officers of the charitable company (07591911), 5 of them active.[4] Officers recorded as resident outside the UK: Keiran Joseph Ryan (Ireland, active); Kieran Joseph Ryan (Ireland, resigned).[4]

Appointments of these officers to overseas companies registered in the UK (FC) or on the Register of Overseas Entities (OE):

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2021-12-31 £905,698 £351,593
2022-12-31 £447,987 £1,010,540
2023-12-31 £752,707 £766,859
2024-12-31 £496,499 £487,894
2025-12-31 £410,801 £452,176

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 31/12/2014[6]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2015[7]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2016[8]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2017[9]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2018[10]

Funding in Israel

  • FY2025 charitable activity £442,663 for continuing Association operations at the Garden Tomb site (PDF p.8, 14).[2]

Israeli partners

The Garden Tomb Jerusalem (Israeli association 580656165); Friends of the Garden Inc (US).[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.

Evidence of activity beyond the 1949 armistice line
Finding Confidence
The Garden Tomb is in Jerusalem north of the Damascus Gate; no settlement is named. 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;[11] 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.[12][13][14][15] 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.[16]
  • Israeli sister body and loan. Note 8 records transactions with The Garden Tomb Jerusalem (Israeli societies registrar 580656165), including a 2018 interest-free start-up loan of NIS 1,617,000 (£379,076), of which £250,000 remained outstanding at 31 December 2025, and a service agreement under which the UK waived its $20,000 monthly fee for 2025. Friends of the Garden Inc (US) donated £26,923 (PDF p.14).[2]

Other registers and records

Scotland and Northern Ireland

No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (register export dated 15 October 2026, downloaded 15 October 2026 and searched by name).[17] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[18]

The Gazette

Searches of The Gazette for the charity's name returned only Companies House filing lists; no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice naming the charity was found.[19]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[20]

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.[21]

Land and property

The register records that the charity owns and/or leases land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased.[22] Candidate titles and addresses (CCOD dataset and register/accounts data):[23]

  • Garden Tomb site, Jerusalem, Israel (Israeli association Garden Tomb Jerusalem, societies registrar 580656165) – Accounts note 8 (PDF p.14); outside England and Wales, so not covered by HM Land Registry (source: accounts)

Parliament

Hansard searches for 'Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association', 'Garden Tomb' returned 1 contribution in total; those not listed above were not established to concern this charity.[24]

Web archive

  • gardentomb.com: 27 yearly captures, first 2000-04-16, last 2026-01-02.[25]
  • gardentomb.org: 16 yearly captures, first 2009-11-25, last 2026-02-13.[26]

The UK Government Web Archive holds 2 archived Charity Commission register pages used in this profile (cited in the sections above).

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 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), extract dated 14 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Charity Commission, The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association (1144197): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 15 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file; text recovered by OCR from scanned pages).
  3. ↑ Register entry 1144197, full print (capture of 20210706) UK Government Web Archive.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Company 07591911: officers Companies House, viewed 15 October 2026.
  5. ↑ KING, Steven David: appointments Companies House, viewed 15 October 2026.
  6. ↑ The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association accounts, year ended 2014-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  7. ↑ The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association accounts, year ended 2015-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  8. ↑ The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association accounts, year ended 2016-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  9. ↑ The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association accounts, year ended 2017-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  10. ↑ The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association accounts, year ended 2018-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  11. ↑ 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 every charity in batches 1–8 (200 pages, all retrieved successfully on 15 October 2026) and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section. Alerts appeared only for Mifal Hachesed Vehatzedokoh (1139320), Ezer Viznitz Foundation (1161881), BC Trust (1155555), Vyoel Moshe Charitable Trust (327054) – all named in the cheque-cashing class inquiry – The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust (1003102), The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust (299687) and Kollel Mishkon Yakov (1170620).
  12. ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
  13. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
  14. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
  15. ↑ 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), both retrieved 15 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 2026, retrieved 15 October 2026 (a fact-finding statutory class inquiry initially involving 8 charities which "are not being publicly named at this time").
  17. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, downloaded October 2026; keyword search of the batch-7 charity names found no matching Scottish registration (the only hit, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Lieutenancy of Scotland, is a separate Scottish body).
  18. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 15 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch-7 charity name returned zero results).
  19. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Garden Tomb' The Gazette, searched 15 October 2026.
  20. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1144197 360Giving, queried 15 October 2026.
  21. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-7 screening covered 428 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages (UK Government Web Archive), Companies House officers of the charitable companies, and trustees, officers, lenders, subsidiaries and related bodies named in the accounts read for this batch (including Ambertown International Ltd); matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually. The single forename-and-surname candidate (a former Wimbledon and District Synagogue director against a UK counter-terrorism designation) has different middle names and was not treated as a match; all other candidates were surname-only coincidences or generic word overlaps; lists downloaded October 2026.
  22. ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK, accessed 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.
  23. ↑ HM Land Registry, UK companies that own property in England and Wales (CCOD) and Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales (OCOD) full extracts, October 2026 release, matched on charitable company numbers, registered names and the names of subsidiaries named in the accounts; title numbers listed are candidates only – no title registers were purchased.
  24. ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching 'Garden Tomb' Hansard, queried 15 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).
  25. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for gardentomb.com Wayback Machine, queried 15 October 2026.
  26. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for gardentomb.org Wayback Machine, queried 15 October 2026.
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