The Naaman Trust

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Removed trust behind Canon Andrew White's Baghdad ministry, succeeded by FRRME and itself the subject of an unpublished Commission inquiry

The Naaman Trust

Type Trust (removed)
Founded 1978-03-15 (registered)
Dissolved 2012-03-16 (removed from the register: funds transferred on incorporation to charity 1133576)
Registration ID Registered charity 277409
Area served Throughout England And Wales, Iraq, Israel


The Naaman Trust was registered on 15 March 1978 and removed on 16 March 2012, when its funds were transferred to the incorporated Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME, 1133576); it used FRRME as a working name, and its register areas were England and Wales, Iraq and Israel.[1][2] The register describes its activities as supporting "Canon Andrew White with his ministry at St Georges Church, Baghdad" and "his relief & reconcilition work in the Middle East".[2] Its recorded income was highest in 2008 (£1.10 million); the final period, to 31 July 2011, showed income of £191,607.[2][1]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "A) THE APPLICATION OF THE TRUST FUND TO ANY CHARITABLE INSTITUTION OR OBJECT ESTABLISHED FOR ANY ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES: PROMOTING AND SUPPORTING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND BY THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF MISSIONARY ACTIVITY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND OVERSEAS. THE RELIEF OF THE POOR AND NEEDY. THE RELIEF OF THE SICK AND AGED. THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION. B) GENERALLY THE ADVANCEMENT AND SUPPORT OF ANY WHOLLY CHARITABLE OBJECT NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THE FOREGOING WHICH MAY COMMEND ITSELF TO THE TRUSTEES."[1]

The register describes its activities as: "The Charity supports Canon Andrew White with his ministry at St Georges Church, Baghdad.We also support his relief & reconcilition work in the Middle East."[1]

Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives, The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty, Overseas Aid/famine Relief, Accommodation/housing, Religious Activities.[1]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout England And Wales, Iraq, Israel.[1]

Trustees

The register extract holds no trustee records for removed charities.

The register extract holds no trustees for this removed trust, and archived register pages show none. The Commission's reports refer to the founder only as "Trustee A"; the register's activities text names Canon Andrew White.[2][3]

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2008-12-31 £1,097,998 £941,030
2009-12-31 £918,791 £976,424
2010-12-31 £686,038 £735,008
2011-07-31 £191,607 £133,572

Source: register annual-return history.[1]

Funding in Israel

  • No accounts were found on the live register or in the UK Government Web Archive. The register records expenditure of £761.52k (2007), £941.03k (2008), £976.42k (2009) and £735.01k (2010), including grants to institutions of £389.63k in 2010.[2]
  • A May 2008 capture of frrme.org reported a "FRRME trip to Israel" as "a big step towards resuming its work in Israel/PNC".[4]

Israeli partners

No Israeli partner is named in the sources found. The 2020 inquiry report refers to "the charity's Israeli consultant" of the successor FRRME.[3]

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
"Israel/PNC" in the 2008 website news item suggests work in the Palestinian territories as well as Israel, but no place or project is named.[4] Not established

Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding was found in the register record or the archived website captures read for this profile.[2]

Controversies and regulatory action

  • Unpublished Charity Commission inquiry (2009–2010). The Commission's 2020 report on FRRME states that in 2009/2010 it "conducted an inquiry into the now removed charity the Naaman Trust (charity 277409)". Its conclusions "were not made public at the time due to concerns that detailing the trust's operations would have had an adverse impact on the safety of its staff in the Middle East"; the findings included "weaknesses in the trust's financial controls" and "poor governance practices, including regarding the management of Trustee A". A monitoring case in 2011/2012 found improvements but that guidance on managing Trustee A "had not been fully implemented".[3]
  • Successor charity inquiry (2016–2020). The trust "effectively became" FRRME, which took on its assets, liabilities and work between 2010 and 2012; the two had a majority of trustees in common.[3] The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into FRRME on 9 June 2016 after a serious incident report that a trustee and employee, "Trustee A", was suspected of having, in a personal capacity, transferred funds to Islamic State to secure the release of two hostages; the funds in question, $17,500, had been solicited from two US institutions at a fundraising event for FRRME US. The suspected payment was not substantiated, and the Commission found no evidence that charitable funds were used, but concluded that Trustee A's conduct was serious misconduct and/or mismanagement and that the other trustees had mismanaged the charity. The Metropolitan Police interviewed Trustee A under caution and took no further action.[3][5] The Church Times reported on 1 July 2016 that an inquiry had begun into alleged ransom payments by Canon Andrew White, and that FRRME had suspended him.[6]
  • Israel-related finding in the successor inquiry. The 2020 report found that a car bought by Trustee A in Israel for $70,000 in April 2015 was registered to the charity's Israeli consultant rather than to the charity, and was written off in 2018.[3]
  • The trust is not named in the 2025–2026 cheque-cashing class-inquiry announcements or statement of results.[7][8][9][10]

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).[11] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[12]

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.[13]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[14]

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.[15]

Land and property

The register extract does not record whether the charity owned or leased land or property (the field is blank for this removed charity).[1] No title registers were purchased.[16]

US counterparts (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer)

Organisation EIN Latest filing year Revenue (US$) Expenses (US$)
American Foundation For Relief And Reconciliation In The Middle East[17] 271203367 2023 396,380 246,284

These US organisations share the name or beneficiary of the UK charity; no financial flows between them and the UK charity were established.

Parliament

Selected Hansard references
Date House Member Debate
2010-05-26 Lords Lord Hylton Queen's Speech[18]

Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Naaman Trust", "Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East", "FRRME" returned 1 contribution in total.[18]

Web archive

  • frrme.org: 13 yearly captures, first 2008-05-28, last 2020-05-10.[19]

The UK Government Web Archive holds 1 archived Charity Commission register page used in this profile (cited in the sections above). The 2021 archived full print showed the status "Removed charity" and "Other regulators: not shown".[20]

See also

External links

  • No current official website.

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, charity_other_names), extract dated 14 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Charity Commission, The Naaman Trust (277409): register full print UK Government Web Archive, capture of 13/07/2026. ("16 March 2012: Removed (Funds transferred (incor))"; "Funds transferred to 1133576 FOUNDATION FOR RELIEF AND RECONCILIATION IN THE MI..."; activities: "The Charity supports Canon Andrew White with his ministry at St Georges Church, Baghdad. We also support his relief & reconcilition work in the Middle East."; areas Throughout England And Wales, Iraq, Israel; income £790.97k (2007), £1.10m (2008), £918.79k (2009), £686.04k (2010)).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Charity Commission, Charity Inquiry: Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East GOV.UK, published 17 January 2020 (marked "withdrawn" on 18 January 2022 because it is over two years old), retrieved 15 October 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 FRRME, frrme.org home page Wayback Machine, capture of 28 May 2008 (news item "FRRME trip to Israel", 20 May 2008: "After a long time away from the region, the FRRME took a big step towards resuming its work in Israel/PNC by making its first visit to the ...").
  5. ↑ Charity Commission, "Trustee put charity at risk", says regulator, after terrorist financing allegations GOV.UK, 17 January 2020 (withdrawn 10 November 2023), retrieved 15 October 2026.
  6. ↑ Gavin Drake, Inquiry begun into alleged ransom payments by Canon White Church Times, 1 July 2016, retrieved 15 October 2026.
  7. ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
  8. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
  9. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
  10. ↑ 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).
  11. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-13 charity names found no matching Scottish registration.
  12. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 15 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-13 charity names returned zero results, except "J O Charitable", which returned only unrelated Northern Irish charities).
  13. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East' The Gazette, searched 15 October 2026.
  14. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-277409 360Giving, queried 15 October 2026.
  15. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-13 screening covered 285 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, Companies House officers of the six charitable companies (including the removed Hatzolas Chasanim Ltd and Trumfold Limited), related companies named in the accounts (Cromwell Corporate Protector Limited, Salmino Limited, Bullion Properties Limited, Crewpride Limited, Wilkincroft Ltd and others), and trustees, examiners, donors and grant recipients named in the accounts and fetched partner pages read for this batch; matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually. No forename-and-surname match for any person was found; the only token matches were generic words in organisation names ("Trust", "Limited", "Ltd", "Foundation") and surname-only coincidences (Weiss, Friedman, Kish, Silver, James, Seal, Potash); lists downloaded October 2026.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ American Foundation For Relief And Reconciliation In The Middle East – Nonprofit Explorer ProPublica, viewed 15 October 2026.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East" Hansard, queried 15 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).
  19. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for frrme.org Wayback Machine, queried 15 October 2026.
  20. ↑ Register entry 277409, full print (capture of 20210117) UK Government Web Archive.
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