Friends of Ohr-Torah Limited
Charitable company that raises money for "the Ohr-Torah institutions of Israel", granting £25,000 in 2024/25; its register trustee list and accounts still name officers who resigned in 2023
| Friends of Ohr-Torah Limited
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Charitable company |
| Founded | 1998-05-27 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1069747; company 03448028 |
| Headquarters | London W1U |
| Area served | Israel |
Friends of Ohr-Torah Limited is a charitable company (Companies House 03448028) whose memorandum and articles were adopted on 7 October 1997 and amended on 12 May 1998; it was registered as a charity on 27 May 1998.[1][2] Its register address is in London W1U and its only recorded area of operation is Israel.[3] Its object is the "provision of assistance to the Ohr-Torah institutions of Israel", and the register describes its activity as "Raising money for religious schools".[3][1] The register lists Yinon Yeruham Ahimon and Zvika Keningbuch as trustees; the accounts name Mr Y Ahimon and Mr Paul Winter as directors and Mr Steven Bernstein as secretary.[3][4] Companies House records Yinon Yeruham Ahimon (Israeli) as a director since 1 September 2003, Paul Joseph Winter as director and secretary since 29 January 2023 and Menucha Wolf as secretary since 2 July 2006; Zvika Keningbuch resigned as a director on 24 January 2023 and Steven Heston Bernstein as secretary on 29 January 2023.[2] In the year to 31 October 2025 donations were £25,909 (2024: £5,046) and interest £37; charitable spending was £26,397 (2024: £1,370), of which £25,000 was grants to unnamed "Other" institutions; funds fell to £8,676 (2024: £9,127).[4] The accounts were compiled by Taylor Associates on 21 July 2026.[4]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "THE CHARITY IS ESTABLISHED TO ADVANCE EDUCATION AND THE JEWISH FAITH BY THE PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE TO THE OHR-TORAH INSTITUTIONS OF ISRAEL."[3]
The register describes its activities as: "Raising money for religious schools"[3]
Register classifications: Education/training.[3]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel.[3]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[3]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yinon Yeruham Ahimon | not recorded | — | |
| Zvika Keningbuch | not recorded | — |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-13 | Zvika Keningbuch; Yinon Yeruham Ahimon | [5] |
Companies House officers
Companies House lists 13 current and former officers of the charitable company (03448028), 4 of them active.[6]
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-10-31 | £48,631 | £50,249 |
| 2022-10-31 | £16,788 | £1,721 |
| 2023-10-31 | £52,517 | £72,841 |
| 2024-10-31 | £5,084 | £1,370 |
| 2025-10-31 | £25,946 | £26,397 |
Source: register annual-return history.[3]
Archived accounts
Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:
- Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2016[7]
Funding in Israel
- Year to 31 October 2025: grants to institutions ("Other") £25,000 (2024: nil); the accounts refer to "various religious schools" and name none.[4]
Israeli partners
"the Ohr-Torah institutions of Israel" (objects); no institution is named, and this profile does not establish whether they are connected with Ohr Torah Stone.[3][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.
| Finding | Confidence |
|---|---|
| No institution or place is named.[4] | Not established |
Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[4]
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;[8] 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.[9][10][11][12] 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.[13]
- Out-of-date officer records. The register still lists Zvika Keningbuch as a trustee, although Companies House records his resignation as a director on 24 January 2023; the accounts name Steven Bernstein as secretary, although Companies House records his resignation on 29 January 2023.[3][2][4]
- No independent examination. With income of £25,946, the accounts contain only an accountants' compilation report, which says the trustees consider the company "is not required to obtain an independent examiner's report".[4]
- Stale and template text. The report says "During the year, the charity received donations of £5,046 (2023: 52,502)" – the previous year's figure; note 1 reads "The registered office is ."; template text on revaluing freehold properties is left in square brackets; and a paragraph on supplier payments is printed twice.[4]
- Late filing. The register records the latest submission as received 39 days late.[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).[14] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[15]
The Gazette
Searches of The Gazette for the charity's name returned only Companies House filing lists; no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice naming the charity was found.[16]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[17]
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.[18]
Land and property
The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[3] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[19]
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Friends of Ohr-Torah Limited", "Friends of Ohr Torah" returned 0 contributions in total.[20]
Web archive
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
- No current official website.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Charity Commission, Friends of Ohr-Torah Limited (1069747): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Companies House, FRIENDS OF OHR-TORAH LIMITED (03448028) Find and update company information, overview and officers, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 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.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Charity Commission, Friends of Ohr-Torah Limited (1069747): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Register entry 1069747, full print (capture of 20210113) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Company 03448028: officers Companies House, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Friends of Ohr-Torah Limited accounts, year ended 2016-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
- ↑ 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-26 charities, all retrieved on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" notice; none showed one.
- ↑ 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-26 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-26 charity names returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Friends of Ohr Torah' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1069747 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-26 screening covered 224 name strings: the 25 charity names and their other names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees, officers, examiners and other people and organisations 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 company names (such as "Company Directors Limited") and surname-only matches, 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 "Friends of Ohr Torah" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).