Focus on Israel
Redditch-based Christian CIO, successor to an older charity whose history its website traces to the British Mandate period, which aims to educate the church to witness "to the Jew first" and whose largest cost in 2025 was £32,496 of unexplained consultancy
| Focus on Israel
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  The Oasis Christian Centre, Redditch (2019), the charity's registered office |
| Type | CIO |
| Founded | 2023-12-15 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1206240 |
| Headquarters | Oasis Christian Centre, Redditch B97 |
| Area served | Throughout England And Wales, Israel |
| Key people | Reverend Robin Derek Baker (chair) |
| Website | www.foiuk.org |
Focus on Israel is a charitable incorporated organisation (foundation model) registered on 15 December 2023; its registered office is at the Oasis Christian Centre, Redditch B97.[1][2] The 2025 accounts say that in 2024 "a new charity constitution was formally agreed upon and adopted", which "required the establishment of a new legal entity", and that this is "the first formal submission for the new charity" (PDF p.7).[2] Trustee Nigel Tween is also a register trustee of an earlier charity named Focus on Israel (803140).[3] Its purpose is "To advance the Christian religion by promoting the Gospel and extending Christian faith especially to the Jewish people both in the United Kingdom and in Israel. To arouse and educate the Church of God in the United Kingdom to their responsibility to witness 'to the Jew first' according to Romans 1" (PDF p.4).[2] Its website describes "Ministering in Israel for nearly 100 years" and working "with both Messianic and Arab ministries throughout the land"; a 2019 copy called it "one of the longest-standing Gentile Christian ministries in the Land of Israel", whose history "goes back to the British Mandate period". Its history page says the name Focus on Israel "was introduced in 1987 replacing Pentecostal Jewish Mission".[4][5][6] The trustees are Rev. Robin Baker (chair), Rev. Tim Coles, Mrs Jane Deane, Rev. David Langton, Rev. Stephen Mizzi, Rev. Nigel Tween and Mr Michael Tyllyer (secretary); Rev. Mark Baker is its "National Director (non-trustee)", and the former chair, Rev. Mervyn Tilley, died in early 2025 (PDF p.2, 4, 6).[2] In 2025 it received £51,056, including donations of £49,768, of which £25,000 is shown as "Grants" from an unnamed source; it spent £50,593, of which £32,496 was "Consultancy cost" (PDF p.8, 10, 12).[2] In Israel, "tours, community work and general charitable pursuits have all had to be put on hold" (PDF p.5).[2]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "THE OBJECTS OF THE CIO, TO BE CARRIED OUT FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT IN ACCORDANCE WITH CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES, PRIMARILY IN ISRAEL, THE UK AND ELSEWHERE AS THE TRUSTEES SEE FIT, ARE:1) THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH MAINLY, BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY, BY MEANS OF EDUCATING THE WIDER CHURCH BODY ON THE TEACHINGS OF THE BIBLE AND GOD’S CONTINUED LOVE AND PURPOSES FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE."[3]
Register classifications: Religious Activities.[3]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout England And Wales, Israel.[3]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[3]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Stephen Tyllyer | 1984-04-01 | — | |
| Nigel Charles Tween | 2020-04-06 | Focus on Israel (803140) | |
| David Charles Langton | 2023-03-07 | Teen Challenge London (1069777) | |
| Stephen Vincent Mizzi | 2024-02-07 | — | |
| Jane Elizabeth Deane | 2024-06-01 | — | |
| Reverend Robin Derek Baker | 2024-07-10 | Yes | Acts of Kindness (1157916) |
| Tim Coles | 2024-11-24 | — |
On the register, Robin Derek Baker is also a trustee of Acts of Kindness (1157916), David Charles Langton of Teen Challenge London (1069777) and Nigel Charles Tween of Focus on Israel (803140). The register's appointment dates for several trustees (such as Michael Stephen Tyllyer, 1 April 1984) are earlier than the CIO's registration and appear to be carried over from the predecessor charity.[3]
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-12-31 | £0 | £0 |
| 2025-12-31 | £51,056 | £50,593 |
Source: register annual-return history.[3]
Funding in Israel
- 2025: charitable spending of £11,024 and "Consultancy cost" of £32,496; activities in Israel were "on hold", and no payment to an Israeli body is identified (PDF p.5, 8, 12).[2]
Israeli partners
Not named in the 2025 accounts. The charity's history page says Rev. Mark Baker chaired "the Israeli Charity 'St. Paul's'", described as "a partner Charity in Israel", from 2014, before becoming its first International Director in 2019.[2][6]
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.
| Finding | Confidence |
|---|---|
| The charity's history page says it has "a worship/study centre in the heart of Jerusalem" and that the St. Paul's Centre, run by its Israeli partner, was refurbished as "a small Study/worship facility"; the 2025 accounts say activities in Israel were on hold and name no payment to it.[6][2] | Medium (city named by the charity's own website) |
Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[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;[7] 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.[8][9][10][11] 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.[12]
- Unexplained consultancy. The largest cost, "Consultancy cost" of £32,496 (2024: £32,787), is not explained and the payee is not named (PDF p.12).[2]
- Unnamed grant income. Income includes "Grants" of £25,000 (2024: £30,000) without naming the funder (PDF p.10).[2]
- Predecessor figures. The accounts show 2024 and 2023 comparative figures (2024 income £42,588), but the register records nil income and spending for 2024 for the new CIO (PDF p.8).[2][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).[13] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[14]
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.[15]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[16]
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.[17]
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).[3] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[18]
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Focus on Israel" returned 19 contributions in total; those not listed above were not established to concern this charity.[19]
Web archive
- foiuk.org: 8 yearly captures, first 2019-10-14, last 2026-01-14.[20]
The UK Government Web Archive holds 0 archived Charity Commission register pages used in this profile; none were found for this charity number.
External links
Notes
- ↑ Charity Commission, Focus on Israel (1206240): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 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, Focus on Israel (1206240): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 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.
- ↑ Focus on Israel, Home page foiuk.org, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Internet Archive, foiuk.org, capture of 14 October 2019 Wayback Machine, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Focus on Israel, History foiuk.org, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 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-22 charities, all retrieved on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" notice; none was shown.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ 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").
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-22 charity names found no matching Scottish registration.
- ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 16 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-22 charity names returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Focus on Israel' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1206240 360Giving, queried 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-22 screening covered 196 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees, officers and staff 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 in charity names (such as "Charitable Foundation", "Trust", "Fund" and "Association") matching listed entities, which were rejected; no person matched. Screened 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "Focus on Israel" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).
- ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for foiuk.org Wayback Machine, queried 16 October 2026.