UK Friends of Machon Yaakov

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North-west London trust that funds Machon Yaakov, a Jerusalem outreach programme for English-speaking graduates whose website gives its address as Har Nof, Jerusalem, and runs retreats in the UK

UK Friends of Machon Yaakov

Logo Har Nof Jerusalem 2023.jpg
Har Nof, Jerusalem (2023); the website of Machon Yaakov, which the charity's objects name as its beneficiary, gives its address in this neighbourhood
Type Trust
Founded 2009-12-30 (registered)
Registration ID Registered charity 1133401
Headquarters London NW11
Area served Israel, United States
Key people Jacob David Greenberg (chair)
Website www.machonyaakov.org


UK Friends of Machon Yaakov is a charitable trust established by a trust deed of 7 December 2009 and registered on 30 December 2009; its register address is in London NW11.[1][2] Its first object is "THE PROVISION OF FUNDING AND ASSISTANCE TO MACHON YAAKOV, A JERUSALEM BASED JEWISH OUTREACH PROGRAMME WHICH CATERS TO POST UNIVERSITY ENGLISH SPEAKING STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE"; the others concern education and outreach in the UK.[2] The trustees are Jacob David Greenberg (chair), Gary Bloch (from 1 March 2017) and Andrew Gertner (from 24 March 2025).[2][3] The trustees report activities "including educational retreats and funding of outreach programmes" and say they "Raised and a significant sum for the direct benefit of Jewish education for English speakers around the globe by offering a retreat in the British countryside".[3] In the year to 30 April 2025 voluntary income was £39,566 (unrestricted £37,688, restricted £1,878) and interest £58, a total of £39,624 (2024: £41,223); charitable payments were £37,395 and governance £2,545, a total of £39,940, and cash fell from £50,610 to £50,294.[3] The accounts were examined by Gordon Levy FCA of Manchester M12 and signed by Jacob David Greenberg on 26 February 2026.[3] The Machon Yaakov website, as archived in January 2026, gives an address in "Har Nof, Jerusalem" and describes Machon Yaakov as "The Dr. David Robinson Institute for Jewish Heritage".[4]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY BY:A THE PROVISION OF FUNDING AND ASSISTANCE TO MACHON YAAKOV, A JERUSALEM BASED JEWISH OUTREACH PROGRAMME WHICH CATERS TO POST UNIVERSITY ENGLISH SPEAKING STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE.B THE OFFERING OF EDUCATION CASES IN THE UK FOR JEWISH EDUCATION/HERITAGE FOR STUDENTS AND WORKING INDIVIDUALS.C THE PROVISION OF ACTIVITIES AND OUTREACH PROGRAMMES TO ENHANCE JEWISH OBSERVANCE IN THE UK."[2]

The register describes its activities as: "The charity provides funding to students studying jewish religious education in the United Kingdom and Israel"[2]

Register classifications: Education/training, The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives, Accommodation/housing, Religious Activities.[2]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel, United States.[2]

Trustees

Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[2]

Trustees of UK Friends of Machon Yaakov (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
Jacob David Greenberg not recorded Yes —
Gary Bloch 2017-03-01 —
Andrew Gertner 2025-03-24 Beis Hamedrash Nishmas Yisroel Limited (1136805)

Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)

Trustees shown in archived register pages
Capture date Trustees listed Source
2021-01-12 Peter Sugarman (chair); Jacob David Greenberg; Gary Bloch (from 01 March 2017) [5]

Andrew Gertner is also a register trustee of Beis Hamedrash Nishmas Yisroel Ltd (1136805).[2]

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2021-04-30 £30,848 £5,027
2022-04-30 £22,304 £22,495
2023-04-30 £9,941 £35,061
2024-04-30 £41,223 £32,690
2025-04-30 £39,624 £39,940

Source: register annual-return history.[2]

Funding in Israel

Har Nof, Jerusalem, seen from Yad Vashem (2019). The website of Machon Yaakov, the programme this charity was set up to fund, gives its address in Har Nof
  • Year to 30 April 2025: charitable payments of £37,395; the accounts do not split them between the UK retreats and Machon Yaakov in Jerusalem.[3]

Israeli partners

Machon Yaakov, named in the objects as "A JERUSALEM BASED JEWISH OUTREACH PROGRAMME"; its website gives an address in Har Nof, Jerusalem.[2][4]

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 objects name Machon Yaakov in Jerusalem, and its website (archived January 2026) gives its address as "Har Nof, Jerusalem". No source read for this profile places Har Nof in relation to the 1949 armistice line.[2][4] High (beneficiary and neighbourhood named, per the beneficiary's website; amounts sent not stated)

Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[3]

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;[6] 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.[7][8][9][10] 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.[11]
  • Form errors. The accounts answer "How the charity is constituted" with "Elected by committee".[3]

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).[12] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[13]

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.[14]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[15]

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.[16]

Land and property

The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[2] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[17]

Parliament

Hansard exact-phrase searches for "UK Friends of Machon Yaakov", "Machon Yaakov" returned 0 contributions in total.[18]

Web archive

  • machonyaakov.org: 20 yearly captures, first 2007-05-03, last 2026-01-01.[19]

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".[5]

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ Charity Commission, UK Friends of Machon Yaakov (1133401): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 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.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Charity Commission, UK Friends of Machon Yaakov (1133401): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Machon Yaakov, Home page machonyaakov.org, Internet Archive Wayback Machine capture of 01/01/2026, viewed 16 October 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Register entry 1133401, full print (capture of 20210112) UK Government Web Archive.
  6. ↑ 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 each of the 25 batch-24 charities, all retrieved on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" notice; only Dalaid (1064655) showed one.
  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. ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 2026 (a fact-finding statutory class inquiry initially involving 8 charities which "are not being publicly named at this time").
  12. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-24 charity names found no matching Scottish registration.
  13. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 16 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-24 charity names returned zero results).
  14. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Machon Yaakov' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
  15. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1133401 360Giving, queried 16 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-24 screening covered 264 name strings: the 25 charity names and their other names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees, officers and other people named in the accounts and websites read for this batch, and the Companies House officers of the charitable companies; the only hits were generic words (such as "Trust", "Foundation", "Company Limited" in the names of corporate formation agents) and surname-only matches, which were rejected; no person matched. Screened 16 October 2026.
  17. ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK – the service returned HTTP 403 (bot protection) to automated access in 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.
  18. ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "Machon Yaakov" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).
  19. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for machonyaakov.org Wayback Machine, queried 16 October 2026.
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