The Max Barney Foundation
London grant-maker for vocational training and job creation whose grants include more than £200,000 to Ariel University in the occupied West Bank
| The Max Barney Foundation
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  Edith Wolfson Medical Center, Holon (2024). The foundation's FY2025 grants included £426,162 to Friends of Edith Wolfson Centre |
| Type | Charitable company |
| Founded | 2015-11-26 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1164583; company 09041095 |
| Headquarters | Max Barney, 168 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6HU |
| Area served | Israel, Throughout England And Wales |
| Key people | Alexander Bard (chair) |
The Max Barney Foundation (formerly the Phil&Prop Foundation) is a charitable company (09041095) registered on 26 November 2015; register areas are Israel and England and Wales.[1] Its trustees are A Bard, M H Goldstein and G Phillips, with its registered office at 168 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6HU; its purposes are "relief for unemployment through vocational training and job creation and other general charitable activities". In the year ended 31 May 2025 income was £834,506 (donations £800,220), expenditure £2,213,586 and grants £2,187,666 (vocational training £1,961,416; job creation £166,000; general £60,250); funds were £2,096,486.[2]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "TO ADVANCE SUCH CHARITABLE PURPOSES (ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF ENGLAND & WALES) AS THE TRUSTEES SEE FIT FROM TIME TO TIME."[1]
The register describes its activities as: "Relief of unemployment through vocational training and job creation. Beneficiaries are unemployed who may be disadvantaged or marginalised. Support will be available to all, but will focus on the Jewish community via grants and investment in charities, social enterprises, businesses or any other projects. The Trustees of the Foundation may consider other applications for smaller grants."[1]
Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, Economic/community Development/employment.[1]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel, Throughout England And Wales.[1]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Bard | 2014-05-15 | Yes | — |
| Gary Phillips | 2016-12-12 | London Maccabi Recreational Trust (1095196); Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust (1152781); The Institute of Jewish Studies (213114) | |
| Michael Goldstein | 2017-01-12 | — |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-01-04 | Michael Goldstein; Alexander Bard; Gary Phillips | [3] |
| 2021-01-09 | Gary Phillips (from 12 December 2016) – also trustee of Jews' College, London Maccabi Recreational Trust, The Institute of Jewish Studies; Michael Goldstein (from 12 January 2017); Alexander Bard (chair) (from 15 May 2014) | [4] |
| 2021-07-02 | Gary Phillips (from 12 December 2016) – also trustee of Jews' College, London Maccabi Recreational Trust, The Institute of Jewish Studies; Alexander Bard (chair) (from 15 May 2014); Michael Goldstein (from 12 January 2017) | [5] |
Companies House officers
Companies House lists 6 current and former officers of the charitable company (09041095), 3 of them active.[6]
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-05-31 | £1,024,255 | £1,236,531 |
| 2022-05-31 | £2,546,845 | £1,369,720 |
| 2023-05-31 | £4,025,821 | £1,670,821 |
| 2024-05-31 | £1,664,486 | £2,399,591 |
| 2025-05-31 | £834,506 | £2,214,909 |
Source: register annual-return history.[1]
Archived accounts
Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:
Funding in Israel
- FY2025 material grants (PDF p.18, checked against the page image): Friends of Edith Wolfson Centre £426,162; Health Corporation of the Tel Aviv Medical Centre £308,510; Ariel University £217,470 (2024: £86,335); The Shamir Friends Association £194,435; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (UK) Trust £164,082 (2024: £546,941); Friends of the Barzilai Medical Center Inc £161,396; Laniado Hospital £157,222; Friends of Bnai Zion Medical Center £122,330; Friends of Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer £105,675; The Work Avenue Foundation £93,000; other £237,384.[2]
Israeli partners
Israeli hospitals and their friends' associations (Wolfson, Tel Aviv Sourasky, Shamir, Barzilai, Laniado, Bnai Zion, Sheba), JDC, The Work Avenue Foundation and Ariel University.[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 |
|---|---|
| £217,470 in FY2025 (and £86,335 in FY2024) to Ariel University. The UK government describes Ariel as "a settlement illegal under international law" in the occupied Palestinian territories, and the university is at Ariel 40700.[2][9][10] | High – settlement (verified place) |
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]
- Grants to a university in a settlement. The foundation gave £217,470 to Ariel University (2024: £86,335).[2] The UK Foreign Secretary described the upgrading of Ariel College as "the creation of Israel's first university beyond the Green Line, in a settlement illegal under international law";[9] Israel's Council for Higher Education gives the university's address as Ariel 40700.[10]
- Related parties. Trustees donated £218,008; the foundation gave £7,000 to the London School of Jewish Studies (trustee Gary Phillips) and £10,500 to the United Synagogue (trustee Michael Goldstein).[2]
Other registers and records
Scotland and Northern Ireland
No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (full register download of 14 October 2026 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 notice feeds (all notices, insolvency and company) for the charity's name found no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice; results were limited to Companies House filing lists.[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. Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor (UK sanctions ID RUS1127) does not appear among this charity's trustees or officers.[21]
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.[22]
Parliament
Hansard searches for 'Max Barney Foundation', 'Phil&Prop Foundation' returned 0 contributions in total.[23]
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".[4]
See also
External links
- No current official website.
Notes
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Charity Commission, The Max Barney Foundation (1164583): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 14 October 2026 (the PDF is a scan and was read by OCR, with key figures checked against the page images; "PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ Register entry 1164583, contact and trustees (capture of 20180104) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Register entry 1164583, full print (capture of 20210109) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1164583, full print (capture of 20210702) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Company 09041095: officers Companies House, viewed 14 October 2026.
- ↑ The Max Barney Foundation accounts, year ended 2017-05-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
- ↑ The Max Barney Foundation accounts, year ended 2018-05-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Foreign Secretary expresses disappointment at Israeli decision to upgrade Ariel College GOV.UK, 10 September 2012 ("the creation of Israel's first university beyond the Green Line, in a settlement illegal under international law").
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Council for Higher Education (Israel), Ariel University che.org.il, viewed 14 October 2026 (address: Ariel University, Ariel 40700; recognised 24 December 2012).
- ↑ 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 1–7 (175 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 – and The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust (1003102).
- ↑ 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 (re-fetched 14 October 2026).
- ↑ 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), both retrieved 15 October 2026.
- ↑ 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").
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, CharityExport-14-Oct-2026.csv, downloaded 14 October 2026; keyword search of charity names for the batch-5 charities found no matching Scottish registration.
- ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 14 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch-5 charity name returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Max Barney Foundation' The Gazette, searched 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1164583 360Giving, queried 14 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-5 screening covered 345 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages and archived full-print register pages (UK Government Web Archive), Companies House officers of the charitable companies, and trustees, officers and related persons named in the accounts read for this batch (including archived accounts) and on the Companies House pages for Brightness Ltd; matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually (all candidate hits were surname-only coincidences or generic word overlaps); 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 on 14 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 'Max Barney Foundation' Hansard, queried 14 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).