The West London Synagogue of British Jews
Historic Reform synagogue charity with Israel among its areas of operation
| The West London Synagogue of British Jews
| |
|---|---|
| Logo | 
|
| Type | Charitable company |
| Founded | 2014-02-17 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1155821; company 08578248 |
| Headquarters | The West London Synagogue of, British Jews, 33 Seymour Place, London, W1H 5AU |
| Area served | Israel, Throughout London |
| Website | www.wls.org.uk |
The West London Synagogue of British Jews is a charitable company maintaining the West London Synagogue and related communal activities. Objects include fostering the Jewish religion and benefit of Jewish people in the UK, Israel or elsewhere.[1] The FY2025 trustees' report discusses communal responses to events in Israel and Gaza and states the community is "grieving for all innocent victims".[2]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "The objects of the charity ("Objects") are:I. to promote and foster the Jewish religion by the provision and maintenance of a public place of worship consistent with the principles, practices, values and traditions of reform Judaism;II. to promote and co-ordinate the education and religious instruction of Jews; andIII. such other charitable purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the benefit of the Jewish people in the UK, in Israel or elsewhere in the world, which are charitable according to the laws of England and Wales."[1]
The register describes its activities as: "To promote and foster Judaism by the provision and maintenance of a public place of worshipTo promote and co-ordinate the religious instruction of JewsTo provide such other charitable purposes for the public benefitTo promote educational, cultural, charitable and communal activitiesTo provide burial and funeral facilities"[1]
Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, Education/training, Religious Activities.[1]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel, Throughout London.[1]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wendy Flora Pollecoff | 2021-01-01 | The Taurus Foundation (1128441) | |
| Antony Pierre | 2023-08-31 | — | |
| Matthew Rosedale | 2023-10-09 | — | |
| Alina Weismann | 2023-12-12 | — | |
| Oliver Kurer | 2024-06-25 | — | |
| Amanda Warner | 2024-06-25 | — | |
| Clarissa Datnow | 2024-07-16 | — | |
| Marie Sarah van der Zyl OBE | 2025-06-24 | — | |
| Suzanne Henrietta Korel OBE | 2025-06-24 | — | |
| Emma India More Nisbett | 2026-07-07 | — | |
| Giorgios Mourtzilas | 2026-07-07 | — | |
| Sir Jonathan Cohen KC | 2026-07-07 | — | |
| Naomi Goode | 2026-07-07 | — | |
| Sarah Griffin | 2026-07-07 | — |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
Companies House officers
Companies House lists 89 current and former officers of the charitable company (08578248), 16 of them active.[6]
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-12-31 | £3,403,000 | £3,138,000 |
| 2021-12-31 | £3,059,000 | £2,690,000 |
| 2022-12-31 | £3,577,000 | £3,099,000 |
| 2023-12-31 | £3,980,000 | £3,714,000 |
| 2025-02-28 | £4,070,000 | £4,688,000 |
Source: register annual-return history.[1]
Historical finances (UK Government Web Archive)
| Financial year end | Income (£) | Spending (£) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Dec 2014 | 2,989,000 | 2,436,000 | [7] |
| 31 Dec 2015 | 2,932,000 | 2,564,000 | [7] |
| 31 Dec 2016 | 3,131,000 | 3,215,000 | [7] |
Archived accounts
Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2014[8]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2015[9]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2016[10]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2017[11]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2018[12]
Funding in Israel
- Synagogue and communal expenditure in London; Israel listed as an area of operation. No major Israel grant programme itemised in the FY2025 accounts extract reviewed.[2]
Israeli partners
West London Synagogue community; pastoral engagement with Israel/Gaza events.[2]
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 settlement funding identified. | none |
Support for the IDF: No IDF funding is stated. The accounts' Israel/Gaza passage is pastoral rather than a grants programme to the IDF.[2][2]
Controversies and regulatory action
- No Commission inquiry was found. Hansard includes historic debate on the synagogue's status under marriage law (1959). CCOD lists freehold titles at Seymour Place / Upper Berkeley Street for the company and related trustee titles.
Other registers and records
Scotland and Northern Ireland
No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (full register download of 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; results were limited to Companies House filing lists.[15]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
| Date | Funder | Amount (£) | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-09-28 | The Rayne Foundation | 150,000 | Towards Interfaith and Social care programmes. |
| 2017-10-03 | Pears Foundation | 20,000 | Asylum Seekers Drop-In Centre |
| 2018-06-21 | The Rayne Foundation | 5,000 | Towards the Wall of Memory at West London Synagogue |
| 2019-12-02 | The Rayne Foundation | 128,000 | Towards Interfaith and Social Care Programmes, including the Asylum drop-in |
| 2020-01-31 | Pears Foundation | 20,000 | Asylum Seeker Drop-In Centre |
| 2021-11-17 | Rothschild Foundation | 100,000 | Funding for the continuation of the synagogue’s outreach programmes for asylum seekers and rough sleepers to 2023. |
| 2022-06-13 | Pears Foundation | 10,000 | Asylum Seeker Drop-In Centre |
| 2023-03-01 | Rothschild Foundation | 500 | Cost of living supplementary grant |
| 2023-06-08 | Pears Foundation | 20,000 | Asylum seeker drop-in centre |
| 2025-01-27 | Rothschild Foundation | 500,000 | Funding for West London Synagogue's sanctuary restoration project and wider development plans |
No grants made by the charity are published in 360Giving data, so flows between linked charities could not be traced there.[16]
Sanctions screening
The names of current and archived trustees and Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match on full name was found; only coincidental surname matches.[17]
Land and property
The register records that the charity owns and/or leases land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased.[18] Candidate titles and addresses (CCOD dataset and register/accounts data):[19]
- Seymour Place / Upper Berkeley Street, London W1 (titles 415685, 412233, 412228, 412023 registered 14-01-2016; related titles 412231, 412232, 412229 held as "Trustees of the West London Synagogue") – Synagogue premises; register records land ownership (source: register + [19])
Parliament
| Date | House | Member | Debate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959-02-12 | Lords | LORD COHEN | Marriage (Secretaries Of Synagogues) Bill[20] |
A search of Hansard for 'West London Synagogue' returned 10 contributions in total; most are general references rather than discussion of the UK charity.[20]
Web archive
- wls.org.uk: 26 yearly captures, first 2001-03-02, last 2026-02-16.[21]
The UK Government Web Archive holds 3 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".[4]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 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), extract dated 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Charity Commission, The West London Synagogue of British Jews (1155821): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 14 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ Register entry 1155821, contact and trustees (capture of 20180104) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Register entry 1155821, full print (capture of 20210108) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1155821, full print (capture of 20210704) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Company 08578248: officers Companies House, viewed 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Register entry 1155821, financial history (capture of 20180104) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ The West London Synagogue of British Jews accounts, year ended 2014-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ The West London Synagogue of British Jews accounts, year ended 2015-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ The West London Synagogue of British Jews accounts, year ended 2016-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ The West London Synagogue of British Jews accounts, year ended 2017-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ The West London Synagogue of British Jews accounts, year ended 2018-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200105).
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, CharityExport-14-Oct-2026.csv, downloaded 14 October 2026; keyword search of charity names for the batch found no matching Scottish registration (the only hit for "breakthrough" was Breakthrough Breast Cancer SC039058, unrelated).
- ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 14 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch charity name returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'West London Synagogue' The Gazette, searched 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1155821 360Giving, queried 14 October 2026.
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV, version of 12 October 2026); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv, last updated 3 June 2026). Screening of 405 names (current and archived trustees and Companies House officers of the 25 batch-1 charities) carried out 14 October 2026.
- ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK, accessed 14 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.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 HM Land Registry, UK companies that own property in England and Wales (CCOD) full extract, October 2026 release, matched on charitable company numbers and registered names; title numbers listed are candidates only – no title registers were purchased.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching 'West London Synagogue' Hansard, queried 14 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).
- ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for wls.org.uk Wayback Machine, queried 14 October 2026.