The Welfare Association (Taawon UK)

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UK charity partnered with Taawon (Welfare Association, Geneva), funding Palestinian child welfare, education and relief in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and Lebanon

The Welfare Association (Taawon UK)

Logo The Welfare Association Taawon UK logo.png
Type Charitable company
Founded 1993-04-26 (registered)
Registration ID Registered charity 1020238; company 02809950
Headquarters The Welfare Association, 9 Dallington Street, London, EC1V 0LN
Area served Israel, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Website www.welfareassociation.org.uk


The Welfare Association, trading as Taawon UK, is a charitable company (02809950) established in 1993 and registered on 26 April 1993, with its office at 9 Dallington Street, London EC1V 0LN; register areas are Israel, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.[1][2] Its primary partner is Taawon (the Welfare Association of Geneva), with field offices in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Gaza, Beirut and Amman; its stated aim is "to empower Palestinians". In 2025 income was £1,182,293 (2024: £2,186,640), expenditure £1,423,283 and grants payable £1,073,668 (2024: £1,797,759).[2] In 2003 its website described it as supporting "humanitarian and development projects in Palestine and in Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon".[3]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION, THE RELIEF OF SICKNESS AND THE PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF HEALTH AND THE RELIEF OF POVERTY FOR THE BENEFIT OF INHABITANTS OF PALESTINE, ISRAEL, LEBANON AND JORDON (AND IN PARTICULAR THE COMMUNITIES IN THE WESTBANK AND GAZA AREAS) WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF SEX, RACE, RELIGION OR POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS OR SUCH OPINIONS. IN THIS CLAUSE THE RELIEF OF POVERTY MAY INCLUDE THE PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE IN SETTING UP IN BUSINESS TO POOR PERSONS WHO SUFFER INVOLUNTARY UNEMPLOYMENT."[1]

The register describes its activities as: "HEALTH: PROVISIONS FOR DISABLED CHILDREN, GAZA CBR PROGRAMME, MATERNAL, MENTAL & ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, WATSAN. EDUCATION: CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, CORE SKILLS, ECD, SKILLS TRAINING, PALESTINIAN MUSEUM. OTHER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: LIVELIHOODS PROJECTS, E.G. FOOD SECURITY, MICROLOANS, SUPPORT FOR FISHING COMMUNITIES, HOME REHABILITATION. EMERGENCY RELIEF IN TIMES OF CRISIS."[1]

Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, Education/training, The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives, Disability, The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty, Overseas Aid/famine Relief, Accommodation/housing, Arts/culture/heritage/science, Environment/conservation/heritage, Economic/community Development/employment.[1]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territories.[1]

Trustees

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

Trustees of The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
Michael Andrew Kenny 2021-07-27 —
Hatem Waddah Kamal 2024-07-23 —
Manal Yacoub Elias Mitri 2025-07-03 —
Sara Leila Husseini 2025-07-03 —
Tamara Amer BenHalim 2025-07-21 Makan Rights (1169254)
Saleem S S Lubbad 2025-07-27 —
Dr Nabih Basel Nabih Hanbali 2025-11-18 —

Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)

Trustees shown in archived register pages
Capture date Trustees listed Source
2010-07-17 David Freeman; Hanan Al-afifi; Julia Helou; Mazin Munib Rashid Elmasri; Omar Abdel Muhsen Al-qattan; Tonge; Robin Kealy Cmg; Christopher Elias Valerie Yorke [4]
2012-01-25 Hanan Al-afifi; Julia Helou; Mazin Munib Rashid Elmasri; Tonge; Christopher Elias Valerie Yorke Clare Short Mona Elisa Mona Mohtasseb; David Freeman [5]
2018-01-04 Hanan Al-afifi; Julia Helou; Tonge Clare Short; John Mchugo; Louise Arimatsu; Shrenik Davda [6]
2021-01-16 Dr Louise Arimatsu (from 21 July 2015); Julia Helou (from 12 May 2002); Andrew Karney (from 02 October 2018); Hanan Al-afifi; Martin Linton (from 20 February 2018); John Mchugo (from 01 August 2013) [7]
2021-07-06 Dr Louise Arimatsu (from 21 July 2015); Julia Helou (from 12 May 2002); Sarkis Nehme (from 25 May 2021); Andrew Karney (from 02 October 2018); Baroness Jennifer Louise Tonge (from 11 June 2021); Martin Linton (from 20 February 2018); Hanan Al-afifi [8]

Companies House officers

Companies House lists 42 current and former officers of the charitable company (02809950), 8 of them active.[9] Officers recorded as resident outside the UK: Tamara Amer Benhalim (Spain, active); Michael Andrew Kenny (France, active); Sarkis Nehme (France, resigned).[9]

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 £2,562,769 £2,475,560
2022-12-31 £1,077,974 £1,131,136
2023-12-31 £2,161,188 £2,171,440
2024-12-31 £2,186,640 £2,017,301
2025-12-31 £1,182,293 £1,423,283

Source: register annual-return history.[1]

Historical finances (UK Government Web Archive)

Income and spending shown on archived register pages
Financial year end Income (£) Spending (£) Source
31 Dec 2005 492,710 541,716 [11]
31 Dec 2006 1,311,078 944,412 [11]
31 Dec 2007 601,824 703,103 [11]
31 Dec 2008 435,011 467,537 [11]
31 Dec 2009 1,055,181 839,551 [11]
31 Dec 2010 819,649 937,220 [12]
31 Dec 2012 885,640 834,404 [13]
31 Dec 2013 1,307,562 1,276,217 [13]
31 Dec 2014 1,272,929 1,314,934 [13]
31 Dec 2015 1,760,919 1,696,480 [13]
31 Dec 2016 1,266,082 1,270,976 [13]

Archived accounts

Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:

  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2006[14]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2007[15]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2008[16]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2009[17]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2010[18]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2014[19]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2015[20]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2016[21]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2017[22]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2018[23]

Funding in Israel

Entrance to the Makassed Hospital grounds, Jerusalem (2021). The charity's 2025 grants included £13,130 for the Makassed Hospital, Jerusalem, through IDRF
Birzeit University campus (2013). The charity's financial review cites about £45,000 for Birzeit University students
  • 2025 grants included "IR – Childcare, West Bank" £553,079; WA UK – orphans, Gaza £297,467; Amos Trust – Gaza food parcels £80,517; FOBZU education £43,956; IDRF Ramadan, Lebanon £36,656; IDRF – Makassed Hospital, Jerusalem £13,130; "ALIPH – OCJ Restoration" £10,321; "IR – Emergency Services Support, Jenin" £7,925. "All grants were paid to Welfare Association offices in Palestine, Geneva and Lebanon."[2]
  • The financial review cites about £553k for orphans in the West Bank, about £45k for Birzeit University students, about £80k for Gaza food parcels and about £263k for the Noor programme.[2]

Israeli partners

Taawon (Welfare Association, Geneva) with field offices in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Gaza, Beirut and Amman; grant lines also name Amos Trust, IDRF, FOBZU, ALIPH and "IR" (not expanded in the accounts).[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
Funding is for Palestinian communities in the West Bank (including Jenin), Gaza and Jerusalem (Makassed Hospital). This is activity in the occupied territories, not settlement support.[2] High – Palestinian projects in the OPT, not settlements

Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding; the charity funds Palestinian welfare and education.[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;[24] 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.[25][26][27][28] 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.[29]
  • Lebanese bank balances written off; employment dispute. Note 18 of the 2025 accounts records £52,601 held in Lebanese banks written off, and note 19 discloses a legal case brought by a former employee.[2]
  • Parliament. Hansard searches for "Welfare Association" returned two written statements (2003 Golden Jubilee Awards and 2005 Queen's Award for Voluntary Service lists); it was not established that either refers to this charity, and a search for "Taawon" found nothing.[30]

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).[31] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[32]

The Gazette

Searches of The Gazette for "Welfare Association" return several thousand notices, overwhelmingly filing lists and notices about other bodies with that phrase in their names (for example Chinese, Muslim and Bangladeshi welfare associations); a search for "Taawon" found no notice. No insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice for company 02809950 was identified.[33]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

Grants received (360Giving data)
Date Funder Amount (£) Purpose
2008-08-11 The National Lottery Community Fund 487,295 This project will work in the Tripoli region of Lebanon to address the needs of vulnerable refugee families who have been displaced from the
2012-06-21 The National Lottery Community Fund 533,000 This project based in Tyre, Lebanon, aims to strengthen the capacity of Palestinian refugees living in three refugee camps and nine gatherin
2025-08-28 Sharegift 15,000 Unrestricted one-off grant

No grants made by the charity are published in 360Giving data, so flows between linked charities could not be traced there.[34] 2 further records returned under this charity's identifiers (Department for Work and Pensions, 2021–22) name the recipient as Somali Bravanese Welfare Association in Barnet; this appears to be an identifier error in the source data and they are excluded.[34]

Sanctions screening

The charity's name, its current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages and (for charitable companies) its Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match was found.[35]

Land and property

The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased.[36]

US counterparts (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer)

Organisation EIN Latest filing year Revenue (US$) Expenses (US$)
Friends Of Taawon Inc[37] 332503311 no filings data — —

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

Parliament

Hansard searches for 'Welfare Association', 'Taawon' returned 2 contributions in total; those not listed above were not established to concern this charity.[30]

Web archive

  • welfareassociation.org.uk: 22 yearly captures, first 2003-09-10, last 2025-01-08.[38]

The UK Government Web Archive holds 5 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".[7]

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 2.6 2.7 Charity Commission, The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) (1020238): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 14 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
  3. ↑ The Welfare Association (UK), Home page (capture of 10 September 2003) Wayback Machine ("supports humanitarian and development projects in Palestine and in Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon").
  4. ↑ Register entry 1020238, contact and trustees (capture of 20100717) UK Government Web Archive.
  5. ↑ Register entry 1020238, contact and trustees (capture of 20120125) UK Government Web Archive.
  6. ↑ Register entry 1020238, contact and trustees (capture of 20180104) UK Government Web Archive.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Register entry 1020238, full print (capture of 20210116) UK Government Web Archive.
  8. ↑ Register entry 1020238, full print (capture of 20210706) UK Government Web Archive.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Company 02809950: officers Companies House, viewed 14 October 2026.
  10. ↑ ANABTAWI, Sari Maher: appointments Companies House, viewed 14 October 2026.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Register entry 1020238, financial history (capture of 20110127) UK Government Web Archive.
  12. ↑ Register entry 1020238, financial history (capture of 20120125) UK Government Web Archive.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Register entry 1020238, financial history (capture of 20180104) UK Government Web Archive.
  14. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2006-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110925).
  15. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2007-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110925).
  16. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2008-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110925).
  17. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2009-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110925).
  18. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2010-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20120127).
  19. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2014-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  20. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2015-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  21. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2016-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  22. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2017-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  23. ↑ The Welfare Association (Taawon UK) accounts, year ended 2018-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200107).
  24. ↑ 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).
  25. ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
  26. ↑ 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).
  27. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025 (re-fetched 14 October 2026).
  28. ↑ 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.
  29. ↑ 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").
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching 'Welfare Association' Hansard, queried 14 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).
  31. ↑ 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-4 charities found no matching Scottish registration.
  32. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 14 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch-4 charity name returned zero results).
  33. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Welfare Association' The Gazette, searched 14 October 2026.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1020238 360Giving, queried 14 October 2026.
  35. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-4 screening covered 354 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) and Companies House officers of the 8 charitable companies; matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually (all candidate hits were surname-only coincidences or generic company-word overlaps); lists downloaded October 2026.
  36. ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK, accessed 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.
  37. ↑ Friends Of Taawon Inc – Nonprofit Explorer ProPublica, viewed 14 October 2026.
  38. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for welfareassociation.org.uk Wayback Machine, queried 14 October 2026.
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