Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust

The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust (Reg no 1125035) was founded in 2008, and is controlled by the hugely wealthy Lewis family, best known as the owners of the River Island clothing stores. The family’s assets are held by the Lewis Trust Group, which is controlled by an offshore company registered in the Cayman Islands.

The Group also owns the investment company Cavendish Asset Management and has property holdings worth over £1 billion including 13 hotels in Israel and three in the United States.

Donations

Conservative Party

Recorded by the Electoral Commission:

Date	Name of donor	Amount	Donated to	Subsidiary (parties only)
11/03/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Lewis Trust Group Ltd	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Hove
31/03/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Chelsea House	£5,500.00	Conservative Party	Central Party
30/03/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Chelsea House	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Burton
27/03/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Lewis Trust Group Ltd	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Stroud
27/03/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Chelsea House	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Cheltenham
06/03/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Chelsea House	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Brighton Kemptown
03/03/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Lewis Trust Group Ltd	£3,500.00	Conservative Party	South Basildon and East Thurrock
20/04/2008	Lewis trust Group Ltd, Chelsea Houser	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Stourbridge
05/04/2008	Lewis trust Group Ltd, Lewis Trust Group Ltd	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	West Worcestershire
10/04/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Chelsea House	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Burton
09/04/2008	Lewis trust Group Ltd, Lewis Trust Group Ltd	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Staffordshire Moorlands
23/09/2008	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Chelsea House	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Northampton North
19/01/2010	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Lewis Trust Group Ltd	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Watford
31/03/2010	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Chelsea House	£19,000.00	Conservative Party	Central Party
26/01/2010	Lewis Trust Group Ltd, Lewis Trust Group Ltd	£2,000.00	Conservative Party	Northampton North

Bernard Lewis has personally donated £40,000, Lewis chairs the Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust, which according to its latest accounts controls funds just short of £5 million.

Think tanks

The Trust donated £25,000 to the Centre for Social Cohesion in 2009 as well as donating £15,000 to Policy Exchange.

Other

An affiliated family trust, the Catherine Lewis Foundation, which has funded Civitas, also donated £25,000 to the Traditional Alternatives Foundation in 2008/9.

Grants paid

Grant recipients of the Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust in £ sterling
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	Total (£)
2Simple Trust			1,000												1,000
Accord	15,000	15,000	15,000	15,000					35,000	20,000	20,000	20,000			155,000
Anxiety UK	1,300														1,300
Archer School for Girls				13,032											13,032
Art Room											100,000				100,000
Auditory Verbal UK	2,000														2,000
BAC-IN													30,000		30,000
Barbadian Synagogue										20,407					20,407
Bath Institute of Medical Engineering		5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000										20,000
Bowel & Cancer Research			3,000												3,000
Brain & Spine Foundation		5,000	5,000												10,000
Brain Circle												700			700
Brain Research					5,000										5,000
Brainwave		10,000	10,000		10,000				10,000						40,000
Bristol Sarcoma Ball					1,500										1,500
British Red Cross	100,000	100,000	50,000	150,000											400,000
Buckingham Trust					1,000										1,000
Camp Simcha															0
Care 4 Calais											16,000	3,002	2,514		21,516
Centre for Social Cohesion		25,000		25,000											50,000
Centre for Social Justice											50,000	50,000	50,000		150,000
Cerebra		5,000	5,000												10,000
Chickenshed Theatre Trust		50,000													50,000
Children Heard & Seen											5,856	90,000	6,075		101,931
Children's Hospice UK			5,000												5,000
Chris Toon										5,000					5,000
Clarence Adoo Trust		15,000		1,000											16,000
Coexistence Trust		10,000	10,000		10,000										30,000
Community Security Trust (CST)		15,000	15,000	15,000	15,000				25,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000		285,000
Compassion in Dying			55,000	100,000	115,000					150,000	150,000	150,000	250,000		970,000
Counselling & Psychotherapy Training Academy													2,300		2,300
Demand				5,000					5,000						10,000
Demos			23,500	56,656	3,700										83,856
Designability									5,000			25,000			30,000
Dignity in Dying		25,000													25,000
Disability Centre									5,000						5,000
Disability Foundation					5,000					5,000	5,000	5,000			20,000
Dog Trust									2,000						2,000
Donate4Refugees													15,000		15,000
Drugfam										3,000					3,000
E Labaan			1,027	1,062	2,881				853						5,823
Epilepsy Enterprises															0
Epilepsy Society				1,500	1,800								22,500		25,800
European Lawyers													15,000		15,000
Fight for Life			10,377												10,377
Foundation for Change											9,168				9,168
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity	1,000,000		500,000		52,000				205,408	30,000		10,000			1,797,408
Greenaway Foundation													25,000		25,000
Harrington Scheme													55,000		55,000
Headway		25,000	100,000						50,000			50,000			225,000
Healing Justice London													20,000		20,000
Help Refugees													45,000		45,000
Henry Jackson Society					35,000				25,000	25,000	25,000	85,789	65,455		261,244
ICAAD												2,400			2,400
Impact Foundation (India)	55,045														55,045
Imperial Health Charity													3,000		3,000
J.W. Philanthropy - Mission Motorsport										46,784	2,880				49,664
James Lewis Foundation				100,000											100,000
Jewish Blind & Disabled									10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000		50,000
Jewish Care		53,000	53,000	33,000	33,000				53,900	53,120	50,000	50,000	50,000		429,020
Jewish Deaf Association													10,000		10,000
Jewish Heritage									2,500						2,500
Jewish Leadership Council				25,000	27,500				30,000	30,000	30,000	75,000	25,000		242,500
Just for Kids Law													30,000		30,000
JustDifferent		3,000	10,000												13,000
Kidstime Foundation									60,000						60,000
Kings College															0
Loldia School Fund				5,000											5,000
London Jewish Forum					5,000										5,000
London Prisons Mission													28,800		28,800
Magen David Adom UK		10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000				10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000		90,000
Magic Bus	5,500	64,849	20,500	307,500	11,500				6,150	350,000		18,000			783,999
Maidenhead Synagogue Building Project									16,888						16,888
Maidenhead Synagogue Homeless Appeal			2,000												2,000
May Edwards													1,500		1,500
Meath Epilepsy													110,000		110,000
Medecins sans Frontieres UK												20,000			20,000
Miles Frost Fund - British Heart Foundation									6,000						6,000
MIND			10,000	10,000					10,000						30,000
More Smiles Appeal									25,000						25,000
Movement for Non-Mobile Children												150,000	24,600		174,600
MQ mental health										694,100					694,100
Multiple Sclerosis Society	2,000														2,000
Myasthenia Gravis Association / Myaware (MGA)	1,000			1,000	5,000				5,000	5,000		10,000	5,000		32,000
NAPICU									200,000		35,024				235,024
Narok University College									707						707
Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children		100,050	101,468						250,000	250,000	300,000	300,000	406,995		1,708,513
Nicholas Mills Foundation	5,000	10,000	10,000	10,500	10,000				10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000		95,500
Norwood		28,500	25,000	25,000	25,000				50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000		353,500
Off Ploy													30,000		30,000
One North East London											10,000	10,000			20,000
Open Charity t/a Foodshare Maidenhead											20,000				20,000
Our Children Foundation UK			25,000												25,000
Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies	5,000	10,000	25,000	5,000	5,000				5,000						55,000
PACE Centre		25,000	25,000	25,000	20,000										95,000
Pain Relief Foundation		105,000			20,000										125,000
Parliamentary Committee Against Anti-Semitism			20,000		20,000										40,000
Phyllis Akuru			1,486	3,109											4,595
Pimlico Opera													5,000		5,000
Place2Be									677,500			900,000			1,577,500
Policy Exchange		15,000													15,000
Pratham UK									33,500						33,500
Professional Teaching Institute													30,000		30,000
Project 57													103,732		103,732
Rainbow Trust				10,000					1,500						11,500
Ramadhan Kara Makarasa				1,138					538						1,676
Rehab UK		10,000	10,000		10,000				10,000						40,000
Resolution Property				1,000											1,000
Shalom Foundation of the Zionist Federation										10,000		10,000			20,000
Shelter										5,000	15,000	5,000			25,000
Sight Savers International	220,000			205,833	50,283				40,000	50,000					566,116
Smart Works											15,000				15,000
Social Investment Consultancy													19,600		19,600
Soham for Kids				10,000											10,000
South Bucks Hospice		5,000	5,000						10,000						20,000
Spark Inside											71,348		98,375		169,723
Speakability			5,000						10,000						15,000
St Pancras Amateur Boxing Club											1,500				1,500
Step2Recovery										20,009	1,400				21,409
Sudbury Neighbourhood Centre									1,000						1,000
Sue Ryder									10,000						10,000
Switch Back												105,000	5,000		110,000
UKCP												3,000			3,000
United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA)		50,000	50,000		25,000										125,000
University of Bedfordshire													100,000		100,000
Vallabhadas Dagra Indian Society for Mentally Retarded	25,000														25,000
Variety Club		5,000													5,000
Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust										50,000					50,000
We Belong													10,000		10,000
Well Child Trust	10,000														10,000
Westminster Synagogue		2,500	11,000						18,000	5,000	6,000	3,000	3,300		48,800
Wilderness Foundation UK										50,000	30,000				80,000
Will Houghton Foundation										5,000	5,250				10,250
William Wates Memorial Trust											5,000				5,000
Working Chance											15,000				15,000
Young Epilepsy									1,500				225,000		226,500
Zionist Federation													10,000		10,000

Data Sources:

• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2008.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2009.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2010.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2011.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2012.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2017.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019.
• The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Trustees

• Clive Lewis (businessman)
• Bernard Lewis
• Caroline Grainge
• Leonard Lewis

See also

• David & Ruth Lewis Family Charitable Trust | Catherine Lewis Foundation

Contact

Clive Lewis

River island Clothing Co

Chelsea House

West Gate

London

W5 1DR

Tel: 020 8991 4500