Friends of Beis Chinuch Lebonos Trust
| Friends of Beis Chinuch Lebonos Trust | |
|---|---|
| Type | Unincorporated charitable trust |
| Logo | |
| Founded | Trust deed 19 May 2013; registered 1 August 2013 |
| Founder(s) | |
| Dissolved | |
| Registration ID | Charity number 1153187 |
| Status | Registered; statutory class inquiry opened May 2025 |
| Headquarters | |
| Location | Flat 9, Davis Court, Saw Mill Way, London N16 6AG |
| Area served | |
| Services | |
| Registration | |
| Key people | |
| Website | |
| Remarks | |
Friends of Beis Chinuch Lebonos Trust is an unincorporated charitable trust registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales as charity number 1153187 on 1 August 2013.[1] Find that Charity summarises its activity as support for Beis Chinuch Lebonos School and the relief of poverty and advancement of Orthodox Jewish education.[2] It was one of the first ten charities entered into the Commission’s statutory class inquiry in May 2025 after HM Revenue and Customs found that 105 charities had cashed cheques worth £22 million at a company in Hackney between December 2021 and March 2023.[3]
The organisation is a trust, not a company. It shares a registered address and the same trust-deed date (19 May 2013) as Friends of Beis Soroh Schneirer (1153647).[4]
Objects and activities
Governing document: trust deed dated 19 May 2013. Objects: (i) the advancement of the Orthodox Jewish faith; (ii) such other charitable purposes as the trustees may from time to time see fit as are for the benefit of the public according to the laws of England and Wales. Area of benefit: not defined.[5]
The register classifies it as grant-making, working in religious activities for people of a particular ethnic or racial origin, making grants to organisations, operating in Barnet, Brent and Hackney. It owns or leases no land and is not recognised by HMRC for Gift Aid. Address: Flat 9, Davis Court, Saw Mill Way, London N16 6AG; telephone 020 8211 0327.[6]
The name “Beis Chinuch Lebonos”
Several English institutions use the name. They are not the same legal person as this Friends trust:
- Beis Chinuch Lebonos Limited (charity 1049458; company 02831224), girls’ school at Woodberry Down Centre, London N4 2SH, itself carrying a Commission inquiry alert.[7]
- Edgware Jewish Girls – Beis Chinuch (URN 136014), independent Orthodox girls’ primary at 296 Hale Lane, Edgware HA8 8NP (and Fernhurst Gardens), proprietor Beis Chinuch Primary School Ltd / Edgware Jewish Girls – Beis Chinuch Ltd; Ofsted Good, July 2024.[8]
- Beis Chinuch Lebonos, Westcliff-on-Sea / Southend, a later Hasidic girls’ primary reported separately by the Jewish Chronicle.[9]
Local reporting on the 2025 inquiry treated this Friends trust as supporting “an Edgware school of the same name.”[10] Grant recipients are not named on the register summary.
Finances
Income is recorded as donations and legacies. Grants to institutions on the register were £1.18 million (year to 31 May 2020), £2.02 million (2021), £790,440 (2022), £0 (2023) and £60,320 (2024), while total charitable expenditure stayed in the £3–4.5 million range.[11]
| Year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 2014 | £3,249,964 | £2,997,965 |
| 31 May 2015 | £4,289,973 | £4,471,769 |
| 31 May 2016 | £4,309,311 | £4,276,520 |
| 31 May 2017 | £3,764,774 | £3,816,015 |
| 31 May 2018 | £3,764,948 | £3,761,763 |
| 31 May 2019 | £3,492,873 | £3,537,510 |
| 31 May 2020 | £3,526,272 | £3,470,981 |
| 31 May 2021 | £3,027,229 | £3,028,159 |
| 31 May 2022 | £3,592,281 | £3,515,670 |
| 31 May 2023 | £4,440,108 | £4,571,856 |
| 31 May 2024 | £4,441,247 | £4,366,554 |
Trustees
| Name | Role | Date of appointment | Other trusteeships (register) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yshaya Sprung | Trustee | 15 September 2025 | Mifal Hachesed Vehatzedokoh; Friends of Beis Soroh Schneirer; One Heart - Lev Echod; Pintam Limited |
| Esther Grunfeld | Trustee | 18 October 2015 | None on record |
| Chana Lieber | Trustee | 1 December 2014 | None on record |
Company officers
Not a company. No directors.
Alleged or apparent misdeed
On 14 May 2025 the Commission opened a statutory class inquiry under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 after an unannounced HMRC visit to a company in Hackney found that 105 charities had cashed cheques there worth £22 million between December 2021 and March 2023. Friends of Beis Chinuch Lebonos Trust was one of the first ten charities entered, prioritised by number and value of cheques. The Commission issued an immediate order temporarily stopping charities under inquiry from issuing cheques without its prior consent.[3]
A class inquiry is not a finding of guilt. As of 9 September 2026 four other charities in later tranches had been closed out of the inquiry; this charity was not among them. The live register still carries a regulatory alert that an inquiry is open.[12]
Relations to Jewish communal organisations, Israel lobby groups, and Israel and the occupied territories
The trust exists to support Orthodox girls’ schooling under the Beis Chinuch Lebonos name. Trustee Yshaya Sprung also sits on Mifal Hachesed Vehatzedokoh, Friends of Beis Soroh Schneirer and One Heart - Lev Echod, all in the same May 2025 inquiry tranche, and the Friends of Beis Soroh Schneirer trust uses the same N16 address and deed date.[13]
The register lists operations in Barnet, Brent and Hackney only, not Israel or the occupied territories.[6] No published inquiry statement retrieved for this profile records a grant to the Israeli government, to a named UK Israel-lobby organisation, or to a named organisation in Israel or the occupied territories. Institutional grant recipients are not named on the register summary.
See also
- British Jewish charities investigated by the Charity Commission
- Friends of Beis Soroh Schneirer
- One Heart - Lev Echod
- Mifal Hachesed Vehatzedokoh
- Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques
- Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator
External links
Notes
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Governance FRIENDS OF BEIS CHINUCH LEBONOS TRUST.
- ↑ Friends of Beis Chinuch Lebonos Trust, Find that Charity, GB-CHC-1153187.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Charity Commission for England and Wales, Serious concerns over use of £22 million, 14 May 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Contact information.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Governing document.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Charity Commission for England and Wales, What, who, how, where.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, BEIS CHINUCH LEBONOS LIMITED, 1049458.
- ↑ Ofsted, Inspection of Edgware Jewish Girls - Beis Chinuch, 2 to 4 July 2024, URN 136014.
- ↑ Simon Rocker, Inspectors praise Southend’s ‘happy’ Chasidic school, The Jewish Chronicle, 15 June 2026.
- ↑ Grace Howarth, Charity Commission probe into North London charities, Haringey Community Press, 13 June 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Financial history.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Regulator concludes investigation into 4 charities as class inquiry continues, 9 September 2026.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Trustees.