**Charity Number: 1163562** ## **Trustees' Annual Report & Financial Statements** **for the Period 1[st] February 2024 to 31[st] January 2025** 15 July 2025 ## **Reference & Administration Details** **1** ## **Charity Details:** Name: Kehillah North London Number: 1163562 Address: PO Box 78956, London, N4 9LZ **Names of the Charity Trustees who Manage the Charity** |||| |---|---|---| |Name|Office|Re-appointed| |Imogen Resnick|Co-Chair (Chair)|25th July 2021| |Holly Kal-Weiss|Co-Chair|| |Susan Helen Maya Lukes|Vice-Chair|| |Elizabeth Reiner|Honorary Secretary|| |Laurence Livsey|Treasurer (Resigned
December 2024)|| |Natasha Thrale|Internal Engagement|| |Caroline Elton|Youth Education|| |Peter Myers|Co-Treasurer|| |Lipika Pelham|Comms (Resigned March
2025)|| |Dr Robert Aaron Brown
Freudenthal|Rituals and Practice|| **2** |||| |---|---|---| |Kayla Lean|Strategy|| |Saul Hyman|Governance|| ## **Names & Addresses of Advisors** Bank: Co-operative Bank, PO Box 250, Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT Independent Examiner: Brian Seaton, Small Charity Support,46 Farm Road, Edgware, HA8 9LT ## **Names of Senior Staff with Delegated Responsibilities** Rabbi Leah Jordan: Work closely with Chair, Management Committee and Administrator to: - develop and nurture relationships - develop vision and strategy - - plan and deliver programme - - be key point of contact and communicator - task-manage Administrator and sessional teachers ## **Structure, Governance & Management** ## **Description of the Charity's Trusts** Religious services, education, life-cycle ritual, pastoral care, befriending, social action. ## **Type of Governing Document** Constitution. ## **How the Charity is Constituted** Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered on 14[th] September 2015. ## **Trustee Selection Methods** Trustees are known as Management Committee members and are elected by the members of Kehillah North London at its Annual General Meeting, either by consent or show of hands if unopposed or otherwise by secret ballot, or are co-opted during the year. One-third of the Trustees must stand down each year (in a manner laid down in the Constitution) and are eligible for re-election. There must be a minimum number of three and a maximum number of twelve Trustees. Election to the Management Committee is open only to Full, voting Members. ## **How New Trustees are Inducted and Trained** **3** According to the Constitution, a copy of the Constitution (together with any amendments) and a copy of the latest Trustees' Annual Report are made available to new Trustees. Trustees learn their responsibilities and duties on the job. We continue to monitor and review this situation, and together with the Rabbi we are looking into what kinds of more formal training may be helpful. ## **Additional Governance Issues** None. ## **Object** The advancement of progressive Judaism. ## **Statutory Declaration on Public Benefit** The trustees declare that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties. Kehillah North London's activities are of benefit to Jewish adults, children and families who are interested in being part of a Liberal Jewish community in inner north London. Our activities are open to everyone (unless occasionally restricted to members only, for reasons of safety and security) including members and non-members of Kehillah North London, people who are Jewish and people who are not Jewish. We do not seek to convert people to Judaism. We do, however, provide a proselyte programme for those who approach us wishing to convert. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## **1. Co-Chair’s Report – Imogen Resnick and Holly Kal-Weiss** What another huge year for Kehillah! We are always so proud to see just how many simchas we had celebrated, how many members had stepped up into leadership roles, how many converts we welcomed, and how many events we hosted. From the perspective of the co-chairs and management, the day-to-day running of the shul is often taken up by administration and finances – and so it is wonderful to take a step back and refresh our memories on how much we achieved and rejoiced as a community, especially for one led largely by volunteers. This year has been the first year of a three-year internal strategy, developed by the Management Committee (MC), to guide Kehillah’s growth as a community and develop organisational robustness. Kehillah has grown hugely over the past four years, rendering many of our previous processes (designed for a much smaller community) no longer fit for purpose. We’ve been particularly focussed on re-designing our MC’s governance, organisational policies, and improving our financial processes and oversight (skilfully overseen by our Treasurer, Peter Myers). Doing this work, whilst not always ‘sexy’, is vital to ensure we have our house in order – making life easier for our volunteers and securing sustainability for years to come. Next year we plan to focus more on generating more income so we can continue growing and adequately resource our community’s ambitions. **4** We began the year by welcoming Leah back from her maternity leave. We are very grateful for her thoughtful, charismatic spiritual leadership. Leah led us through the year with a range of simchas including three weddings (in Croatia, Kent and Peckham), four baby blessings, and one b’nei mitzvah/bas misveh in Yiddish. We are truly blessed to have had so many opportunities for joyfully celebrating life. We also warmly welcomed 8 adults and children into our Kehillah and extended Jewish family, as they successfully completed their conversion process under Rabbi Leah’s guidance. Conversion to Judaism requires huge commitment and dedication to studying; mazel tov to all! In March, Claire Helman decided to bring our artists, writers and creative members together to form Kehillah Creatives, a space to ‘bring your creative soul’. ‘Come Shabbes with me’, a tradition where members host Friday night dinner at their home, also briefly returned. We would like to see this continue more regularly as an opportunity for members to socialise in a warm, informal setting – please do let us know if you would be happy to host a Shabbat dinner in the future. In September, Imogen and Rob ran a half marathon for Kehillah, fundraising over £1,600 for the community. Many thanks to everyone who donated - and do be in touch if you have an event in mind that can be used to fundraise for Kehillah. Our Adult Education series was as varied as ever, with joint learning alongside Westminster Synagogue, New Stoke Newington (Masorti) Shul and Queer Yeshiva. Topics ranged from the High Holidays, dabbling in Talmud, Teshuvah, and our administrator Matan’s PhD topic: "The making and unmaking of Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews as 'white' Israelis via urban planning". One of the most important groups at Kehillah is the Chesed group, who ensure our older, vulnerable, unwell or isolated members have contact and support. Chesed hosted an excellent talk by Lynne Segal about ‘Enriching our Language of Care’, giving members an opportunity to talk about the framework of care, our human interdependence and our shared vulnerability. We are grateful to Anna Ferris, who has played a key role in leading Chesed. This year has also seen members step up as service leaders. Ben Janoff and Lota Bantic enrolled in Liberal Judaism’s Ba’alei Tefillah course, a 15-month national service leading course led by inspiring Rabbis and lay leaders. Services are the core of Kehillah’s spiritual activities and have continued to grow in attendance; building a roster of confident leaders is essential to securing our ‘co-leadership’ model. Anyone can enrol on the Ba’alei Tefillah course, or if you can’t commit to the time but are interested in leading services (or aspects of it) you can be teamed up with any of our existing stalwart Ba’alei Tefillah team to learn the ropes: Claire Helman, Rob Freudenthal, Rebekka Wedell, Liz Reiner, Michael Lomotey & Robin Samson. In addition to service leading, volunteers have taken on a number of other key roles within the community. Viv Jackson and Tamara Micner have ably led the Racial Justice Group, along with Natasha Thrale and Hannah-Phoebe Bowen in coordinating Adult Education. Ensuring members are upskilled, confident to lead and take on responsibilities is critical to Kehillah’s sustainability: we are truly indebted to your leadership, along with the many, many other members who volunteer their time to keep our community going. From setting up chairs before services, buying challah and kiddush wine to supporting Cheder, wardening, washing-up after services and the multitude of other essential, hidden tasks that don’t get a public platform – thank you so much to everyone who has helped over the past year. We also want to give a special bravo to Ken Smith, our former Rosh Security and Rosh Warden, who has stepped down from these roles after over 10 years of service to enjoy a good break and finally participate in services as a congregant! Ken has been paramount to the safe, smooth running of **5** Kehillah, including by liaising with our local police on security issues, leading security from the doors, and ensuring service roles have been filled as warden. His expertise on all matters security and wardening has been invaluable: you are deeply missed. Lina, our assistant Cheder teacher who grew up in Kehillah, has been supporting our Head Teacher Rachel with leading Cheder this year. We are really pleased to see children of the community grow up to be Kehillah leaders and we hope to encourage more of our young people to take on leadership roles. We look forward to the continued commitment of our children and their families with supporting the ongoing development of our Cheder provision. This year, Liberal and Reform Judaism historically agreed to merge into one movement – so we are officially no longer part of Liberal Judaism, but Progressive Judaism. Kehillah hosted Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy several times to learn about their vision and ask questions; many thanks to Rachel Crasnow for her help in arranging these sessions. As a community, we supported this merger for the benefits of having greater unity between progressive Jews & having our perspectives more cohesively represented on the public stage. Practically, there won’t be any changes to Kehillah in the short-term, but we will keep the community updated on any changes. As we approach the second anniversary of October 7th, I must acknowledge the impact of the Gaza war and the Israel-Iran war on our community. The situation feels somewhat like a television being on in the background – we’re always paying half attention to it, gripping our attention again when something flares up. I can only be honest when I share that much of the past two years has to me been a black hole of despair, fear and anxiety. However, our community has found strength and comfort through collective commemoration. Kehillah participated in the live broadcast screening of the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony, an annual event that highlights the shared humanity of Israelis and Palestinians. We also held a moving ceremony to mark the anniversary of October 7th, listening to each other about some very personal losses and sharing in Jewish ritual to find comfort. I also cannot pretend that the war hasn’t brought inter-personal and wider political tension into Kehillah that remains challenging for us as Chairs to navigate. How do we, and Rabbi Leah, hold a community together when its members hold passionately different views on Israel and Zionism? Is the role of a synagogue to take what some would see as ‘political’ action or actually provide spiritual respite from it? Is it our responsibility as Jews to show moral leadership on Palestinians being starved and shot, with over 50,000 dead, whilst our own members have families and friends hiding in bomb shelters or risking their lives in IDF service? We have tried our best to strike a balance, hearing the concerns and urges of our members, and are grateful to Rabbi Leah for her bringing in IsraelPalestine education into our community through Adult Ed and the newly formed Israel-Palestine Working Group. There are no easy answers. We always invite feedback from members and are proud of Kehillahniks for having these difficult conversations with empathy and compassion. As part of our approach to building connection and empathy, over the past 18 months Kehillah has sought to build stronger ties with our Muslim neighbours. Kehillah members helped with the Finsbury Park Street Party Iftar in April and joined in with Eid in the Park in June. But the highlight of the year was the event in September co-lead with Muslim Welfare House – we learned together about our shared spiritual ancestor Moses/Mussa/Moshe and got to know each other through study, song, food and the exchange of ideas and friendship. Despite the pain of the world around us, we have committed to strengthening our communities’ ties and look forward to seeing our relationship go from strength to strength. The financial year came to an end with an announcement from Leah: the commencement of a period of 9-month sabbatical in Jerusalem with her family from September 2025 – June 2026. We will deeply miss Leah but anticipate welcoming her back on a part-time basis for some months during this period. **6** We look forward to welcoming Cantor Rachel Weston to cover for Leah in this time and ushering in a “year of music” for Kehillah. ## **Note from Imogen** I joined the Management Board in July 2021, becoming co-Chair with Rob in 2022. I remember taking my time to properly consider the request from Rob to become co-Chair: I was worried that I wouldn’t be taken seriously by some members because of my younger age (I was then 26), that it would interfere with my ambition to visit all of London’s nightclubs (ha!) and that I wouldn’t have the time to do a good job whilst working full-time (probably the only legitimate concern of this list). My advice on reflection to any member who may be considering joining the MC, or stepping up into co-Chair: just do it. Truly, it has been one of the honours of my life to serve as Kehillah’s co-chair, first with Rob, then with Holly – both brilliant in their own ways. I have learnt so much from both of them, Rabbi Leah, all the Management Committee members and many other leaders within the community – it is a blessing to volunteer alongside such warm, smart, thoughtful, funny, empathetic, visionary people with such a wide range of skills, experience, personal and professional backgrounds. Thank you so much to everyone for all your guidance and wisdom. I have also matured and grown hugely from navigating many first-time situations including holding plenty of difficult conversations with members, steering tricky safeguarding decisions, drafting our 3- year strategy, financial audits, liaising with police on security, giving announcements(!) – the list is honestly endless. I am grateful for all the life, personal, and professional opportunities being co-Chair has afforded me alongside the wonderful connections and friendships made along the way. The past three years have undoubtedly also been testing. The first 6 months of the Gaza war was one of the most challenging periods of my adult life. Looking back, I am so proud of how we kept the community together as best we could–with unforgettable support from Robin as lead of our listening circles–in a time of unprecedented turmoil, stress and uncertainty that I hope we never again have to experience. Kehillahniks offered great kindness to each other and to me personally; I will forever carry with me the lesson that we resist division not by retreating, but by doing more, loving more, and trying even harder to compassionately listen to one another. Serving, leading and representing Kehillah has been a unique opportunity to shape an inclusive, warm, multi-generational and diverse haven from a world that feels increasingly more isolated, more materialistic, and more individualistic. I am proud to be part of a community that embodies so much of what is good about humanity, Jewish values, and progressive Judaism. I wish Holly every best of luck in solo Chairing (you are and will be fantastic!) and safe travels to Rabbi Leah on her sabbatical adventure. ## **Note from Holly** : What an amazing year at Kehillah North London. It’s been a privilege to serve as co-chair alongside Imogen. I want to formally thank her for her guidance, intelligence and patience as I learned the ropes of being a chair. I will do my best to follow in her footsteps (if the community re-elects me), and those of Rob, Robin, Claire and Jackie before her. How lucky we are to still have most of our past chairs as active members! I am forever grateful to have Rabbi Leah as my spiritual leader; someone who I can work alongside to build community. The relationship between chair and rabbi must be one of trust and transparency, and I am very confident that despite being miles apart for the next nine months or so, Rabbi Leah and **7** I will work well together. I’m excited to get to know Cantor Rachel and to make the most of her time with us during Rabbi Leah’s sabbatical. Our management Committee, 12 volunteers who gave up their time and effort to keep Kehillah running smoothly this year, deserve our huge thanks and praise for all that they have done. We have already said goodbye to Laurence (who has now sadly left Kehillah) and Lipika, but at this AGM we also say farewell to Natasha and Caroline. We know that each of them will continue to work with us in their different ways but need to devote themselves to important and exciting new projects. Lastly, a huge thank you to Matan who kept our community humming and was such a personal support to me. I wish him and fiancé Yaron all the happiness in the world and best of luck with his post-doc studies. Kehillah offers a wide range of perspectives within Progressive Judaism, creating a space for those of us who may have struggled to find a home elsewhere. At the same time, Kehillah must remain a local Jewish home for those in the area, a progressive Jewish space for inner London. Sometimes, because of our differences, some conversations can be challenging - but I hope we can continue to foster a warm and welcoming atmosphere that encourages open dialogue. Whilst we need to develop and change, we also must remain true to our founding core values - in Rabbi Leah’s words, _we must embrace our individual diversity in the spirit of the Talmudic notion machloket l’shem shamayim (difference/divergence for the sake of heaven)._ We are a community that shows love for each other, for the Jewish community and wider society; we are dedicated to tikkun olam, repairing the world, and ‘doing justice’. I am deeply committed to building and strengthening our unique and vibrant community alongside all of our members and supportive friends. I look forward to working with everyone at Kehillah in the coming year. ## **Membership Analysis** ## **Membership numbers** Our current membership, including ‘supporting friends’ totals 231. This includes at least 46 children and young people in the 0-19 category, and 170 adults. (We are missing some members’ date of births, hence the small gap). Our membership last year totalled 225, representing a 2.7% increase. This is much smaller than previous years (where we have consistently seen growth of 10%+), but positive nonetheless. ## **Geographic breakdown of membership** The chart below outlines the top 5 geographic areas of households with the most Kehillah members (10 or more). NB we do not hold residency data on every household. **8** ## Number of members in each postcode **----- Start of picture text -----**
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
N16 N4 E17 E8 N15 E5
Number of members in each postcode
**----- End of picture text -----**
- N16, covering the areas of Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill, Shacklewell, Dalston and Newington Green, is by far the most concentrated area of Kehillahniks, with 47 Kehillah households. - N4 is our second largest postcode, with 25 households, covering Finsbury Park, Harringay, and Manor House. - E17 (Walthamstow) and E8 (Hackney Central, Dalston, London Fields) are close third and fourths, with 19 and 15 households respectively. - We also have 17 members who live in south London and around 11 who live in postcodes outside the N-, E- or S- postcodes. In conclusion, most of our members live locally to shul, but a small group make the special effort to travel further afield. We would love to revive regular Shabbat dinners and more social activities this year – our membership is well set-up for local activities. ## **Age demographics** **9** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Age profile of members
AGE 80+ 10
AGE 70-79 27
AGE 60-69 25
AGE 50-59 20
AGE 40-49 28
AGE 30-39 35
AGE 20-29 25
AGE 10-19 30
AGE 0-9 16
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
**----- End of picture text -----**
The graph above outlines the age profiles for most of Kehillah’s membership (we lack DOB data for some adult members & some children’s ages are still to the nearest year). - Our largest age demographic is 30-39 year olds, followed by young people aged 1019. We would love more of these young people to come along to our Cheder – parents, please do make yourselves known! - Our third largest demographic is 40-39 year olds (28 members) followed in fourth by 70-79 year olds (27 members). - Our fifth largest demographic is tied between 20-29 year olds (25 people) and 60-69 year olds (23 people). - Our youngest member is less than a year old and our oldest member is over 100! We have 3 members in their nineties. - Although we are clearly a wonderfully multi-generational community, with good representation in most age categories, Kehillah has an overall younger population than the average age of Jews in the UK and the average synagogue membership. - We also have a much younger leadership team than average, with about 1/3 of MC members under 40. **10** ## Financial Review ## Statement of the Charity's Policy on Reserves ## Designated Fund: Operational Reserve As a community charity, Kehillah North London has a duty of care to both its beneficiaries and the wider public to ensure that its beneficiaries are not left unsupported in the event that the charity has to cease operating. Ensuring that all beneficiaries have been appropriately relocated to other charities providing a comparable level of care can take a period of 6 months approx. i.e. potentially longer than the time it would take the charity to terminate its contractual obligations to staff and other service providers. The Trustees have therefore determined that the charity should hold an operational reserve equivalent to the normal costs of running the charity for up to 6 months, i.e. 50% of £83,000. This reserve meanwhile functions as a cushion against the possible effects of unforeseeable surges in running costs. ## Restricted Funds We operate a Burials Scheme, to which members voluntarily contribute. Their estates benefit from either a plot in a Jewish Cemetery or a cremation (via a central scheme administered by Liberal Judaism, for which the contributions are collected by us and passed to LJ) plus the cost of a basic funeral (paid for out of a fund accrued from an additional fixed contribution from its members). We have not yet identified an actuary, although we are confident the scheme is in good health, and we have a member who is able to carry out a more formal assessment. This restricted fund is not a source of income that can be used by Kehillah, beyond its designated purpose of covering the costs of running the burial scheme for its members. The costs of running this vary from year to year based on the activities the scheme carries out for its members. The accounts show a surplus for the burial fund for the year to 31 January 2025 of £2,178 and the balance carried forward to 2025/26 is £44,763. Details of Any Funds Materially in Deficit **11** There were no funds which were materially in deficit at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities. ## State of the Charity’s Finances During the period, there was a deficit of £10,480. There was a surplus of £6,787 for year ending January 31[st] 2024. This deficit was driven by unrestricted funds, which covers the majority of Kehillah’s regular activities. Income from donations and gift aid (included in voluntary Income) has fallen by approximately £15,000 compared to the previous year. Membership has grown marginally in year, but not at the rate of the past 2 years. Therefore, we are expecting a slightly reduced surplus in the following financial year. Expenses increased due to an increase in the cost of salaries. The Management Committee agreed to a salary increase when renewing Rabbi Leah Jordan’s contract due to her outstanding work building the community and raising Kehillah’s public profile. In addition, Kehillah recruited an Administrator (as an employee) during the year whereas in previous years this role had been outsourced to a freelancer. This has led to an increase in support costs. There have also been other Increases in the costs of rent for St. Marys Church, rental costs of external venues for High Holy Days and affiliation fees to Liberal Judaism. ## Budget Report Key Receipts & Payments Membership fees and donations made up the significant majority of receipts (unrestricted funds) Rabbi and administrator fees, rent for St. Marys Church, rental costs of external venues for High Holy Days and affiliation fees to Liberal Judaism made up the significant majority of the payments. Bookkeeping & Accounting Processes Adopting a bookkeeper has meant that the concerns flagged in the prior years’ report have been remedied. **12** The sole recommendation by JBC Accountants for the current year referring to processing of invoices/payments. _“We have also completed our independent examiners work. We have not identified any problems and will be issuing a clean report. Our main recommendation will be to ensure all invoices/paperwork are kept for payments made and passed to Amelia (bookkeeper) so that a copy can be kept on the software to support the payment made”._ Particulars of Any Outstanding Guarantee Given by the Charity The Trustees declare that the charity has given no guarantee where potential liability is outstanding at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities. ## Particulars of Any Outstanding Debt The Trustees declare that the charity has no outstanding debts which are secured by an express charge on any of the assets of the charity at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities. Declaration and Signature The Trustees declare that they have approved the above report and authorised that it be signed on their behalf. **13** Fw 2916 46.118 6S.342 111 121.WO 40.111 65.342 121,NO 35.J42 M 342 ))tVJ X C¢b) F¥ . guNI FL . trIMDAr 44.nJ 42.•JQ 6$.￿1 P•ns 425 14 ## **Kehillah North London (Charity No. 1163562)** ## **Receipts and Payments Account For the Period from 1st February 2024 to 31st January 2025** |**Receipts**
Voluntary Income
Income Generation
Investment Income
Charitable Income
Other Receipts
**Payments**
Generating funds
Charitable Activities
Support costs
Other payments
**Net Receipts**
Net of receipts/(payments)
Cash funds at 1st February
Cash funds at 31st January|**Restricted Unrestricted**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
-
55,880
55,880
75,146
-
9,909
9,909
586
-
-
-
-
3,908
3,156
7,064
9,139
-
-
-
-
3,908
68,945
72,853
84,871
-
159
159
2,990
1,730
39,435
41,165
49,092
-
42,009
42,009
26,002
-
-
-
-
1,730
81,603
83,333
78,084
2,178
(12,658)
(10,480)
6,787
43,940
78,000
121,940
115,153
46,118
65,342
111,460
121,940| |---|---| **15** **Charity Number: 1163562** ## **Trustees' Annual Report & Financial Statements** **for the Period 1[st] February 2024 to 31[st] January 2025** 15 July 2025 ## **Reference & Administration Details** **1** ## **Charity Details:** Name: Kehillah North London Number: 1163562 Address: PO Box 78956, London, N4 9LZ **Names of the Charity Trustees who Manage the Charity** |||| |---|---|---| |Name|Office|Re-appointed| |Imogen Resnick|Co-Chair (Chair)|25th July 2021| |Holly Kal-Weiss|Co-Chair|| |Susan Helen Maya Lukes|Vice-Chair|| |Elizabeth Reiner|Honorary Secretary|| |Laurence Livsey|Treasurer (Resigned
December 2024)|| |Natasha Thrale|Internal Engagement|| |Caroline Elton|Youth Education|| |Peter Myers|Co-Treasurer|| |Lipika Pelham|Comms (Resigned March
2025)|| |Dr Robert Aaron Brown
Freudenthal|Rituals and Practice|| **2** |||| |---|---|---| |Kayla Lean|Strategy|| |Saul Hyman|Governance|| ## **Names & Addresses of Advisors** Bank: Co-operative Bank, PO Box 250, Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT Independent Examiner: Brian Seaton, Small Charity Support,46 Farm Road, Edgware, HA8 9LT ## **Names of Senior Staff with Delegated Responsibilities** Rabbi Leah Jordan: Work closely with Chair, Management Committee and Administrator to: - develop and nurture relationships - develop vision and strategy - - plan and deliver programme - - be key point of contact and communicator - task-manage Administrator and sessional teachers ## **Structure, Governance & Management** ## **Description of the Charity's Trusts** Religious services, education, life-cycle ritual, pastoral care, befriending, social action. ## **Type of Governing Document** Constitution. ## **How the Charity is Constituted** Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered on 14[th] September 2015. ## **Trustee Selection Methods** Trustees are known as Management Committee members and are elected by the members of Kehillah North London at its Annual General Meeting, either by consent or show of hands if unopposed or otherwise by secret ballot, or are co-opted during the year. One-third of the Trustees must stand down each year (in a manner laid down in the Constitution) and are eligible for re-election. There must be a minimum number of three and a maximum number of twelve Trustees. Election to the Management Committee is open only to Full, voting Members. ## **How New Trustees are Inducted and Trained** **3** According to the Constitution, a copy of the Constitution (together with any amendments) and a copy of the latest Trustees' Annual Report are made available to new Trustees. Trustees learn their responsibilities and duties on the job. We continue to monitor and review this situation, and together with the Rabbi we are looking into what kinds of more formal training may be helpful. ## **Additional Governance Issues** None. ## **Object** The advancement of progressive Judaism. ## **Statutory Declaration on Public Benefit** The trustees declare that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties. Kehillah North London's activities are of benefit to Jewish adults, children and families who are interested in being part of a Liberal Jewish community in inner north London. Our activities are open to everyone (unless occasionally restricted to members only, for reasons of safety and security) including members and non-members of Kehillah North London, people who are Jewish and people who are not Jewish. We do not seek to convert people to Judaism. We do, however, provide a proselyte programme for those who approach us wishing to convert. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## **1. Co-Chair’s Report – Imogen Resnick and Holly Kal-Weiss** What another huge year for Kehillah! We are always so proud to see just how many simchas we had celebrated, how many members had stepped up into leadership roles, how many converts we welcomed, and how many events we hosted. From the perspective of the co-chairs and management, the day-to-day running of the shul is often taken up by administration and finances – and so it is wonderful to take a step back and refresh our memories on how much we achieved and rejoiced as a community, especially for one led largely by volunteers. This year has been the first year of a three-year internal strategy, developed by the Management Committee (MC), to guide Kehillah’s growth as a community and develop organisational robustness. Kehillah has grown hugely over the past four years, rendering many of our previous processes (designed for a much smaller community) no longer fit for purpose. We’ve been particularly focussed on re-designing our MC’s governance, organisational policies, and improving our financial processes and oversight (skilfully overseen by our Treasurer, Peter Myers). Doing this work, whilst not always ‘sexy’, is vital to ensure we have our house in order – making life easier for our volunteers and securing sustainability for years to come. Next year we plan to focus more on generating more income so we can continue growing and adequately resource our community’s ambitions. **4** We began the year by welcoming Leah back from her maternity leave. We are very grateful for her thoughtful, charismatic spiritual leadership. Leah led us through the year with a range of simchas including three weddings (in Croatia, Kent and Peckham), four baby blessings, and one b’nei mitzvah/bas misveh in Yiddish. We are truly blessed to have had so many opportunities for joyfully celebrating life. We also warmly welcomed 8 adults and children into our Kehillah and extended Jewish family, as they successfully completed their conversion process under Rabbi Leah’s guidance. Conversion to Judaism requires huge commitment and dedication to studying; mazel tov to all! In March, Claire Helman decided to bring our artists, writers and creative members together to form Kehillah Creatives, a space to ‘bring your creative soul’. ‘Come Shabbes with me’, a tradition where members host Friday night dinner at their home, also briefly returned. We would like to see this continue more regularly as an opportunity for members to socialise in a warm, informal setting – please do let us know if you would be happy to host a Shabbat dinner in the future. In September, Imogen and Rob ran a half marathon for Kehillah, fundraising over £1,600 for the community. Many thanks to everyone who donated - and do be in touch if you have an event in mind that can be used to fundraise for Kehillah. Our Adult Education series was as varied as ever, with joint learning alongside Westminster Synagogue, New Stoke Newington (Masorti) Shul and Queer Yeshiva. Topics ranged from the High Holidays, dabbling in Talmud, Teshuvah, and our administrator Matan’s PhD topic: "The making and unmaking of Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews as 'white' Israelis via urban planning". One of the most important groups at Kehillah is the Chesed group, who ensure our older, vulnerable, unwell or isolated members have contact and support. Chesed hosted an excellent talk by Lynne Segal about ‘Enriching our Language of Care’, giving members an opportunity to talk about the framework of care, our human interdependence and our shared vulnerability. We are grateful to Anna Ferris, who has played a key role in leading Chesed. This year has also seen members step up as service leaders. Ben Janoff and Lota Bantic enrolled in Liberal Judaism’s Ba’alei Tefillah course, a 15-month national service leading course led by inspiring Rabbis and lay leaders. Services are the core of Kehillah’s spiritual activities and have continued to grow in attendance; building a roster of confident leaders is essential to securing our ‘co-leadership’ model. Anyone can enrol on the Ba’alei Tefillah course, or if you can’t commit to the time but are interested in leading services (or aspects of it) you can be teamed up with any of our existing stalwart Ba’alei Tefillah team to learn the ropes: Claire Helman, Rob Freudenthal, Rebekka Wedell, Liz Reiner, Michael Lomotey & Robin Samson. In addition to service leading, volunteers have taken on a number of other key roles within the community. Viv Jackson and Tamara Micner have ably led the Racial Justice Group, along with Natasha Thrale and Hannah-Phoebe Bowen in coordinating Adult Education. Ensuring members are upskilled, confident to lead and take on responsibilities is critical to Kehillah’s sustainability: we are truly indebted to your leadership, along with the many, many other members who volunteer their time to keep our community going. From setting up chairs before services, buying challah and kiddush wine to supporting Cheder, wardening, washing-up after services and the multitude of other essential, hidden tasks that don’t get a public platform – thank you so much to everyone who has helped over the past year. We also want to give a special bravo to Ken Smith, our former Rosh Security and Rosh Warden, who has stepped down from these roles after over 10 years of service to enjoy a good break and finally participate in services as a congregant! Ken has been paramount to the safe, smooth running of **5** Kehillah, including by liaising with our local police on security issues, leading security from the doors, and ensuring service roles have been filled as warden. His expertise on all matters security and wardening has been invaluable: you are deeply missed. Lina, our assistant Cheder teacher who grew up in Kehillah, has been supporting our Head Teacher Rachel with leading Cheder this year. We are really pleased to see children of the community grow up to be Kehillah leaders and we hope to encourage more of our young people to take on leadership roles. We look forward to the continued commitment of our children and their families with supporting the ongoing development of our Cheder provision. This year, Liberal and Reform Judaism historically agreed to merge into one movement – so we are officially no longer part of Liberal Judaism, but Progressive Judaism. Kehillah hosted Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy several times to learn about their vision and ask questions; many thanks to Rachel Crasnow for her help in arranging these sessions. As a community, we supported this merger for the benefits of having greater unity between progressive Jews & having our perspectives more cohesively represented on the public stage. Practically, there won’t be any changes to Kehillah in the short-term, but we will keep the community updated on any changes. As we approach the second anniversary of October 7th, I must acknowledge the impact of the Gaza war and the Israel-Iran war on our community. The situation feels somewhat like a television being on in the background – we’re always paying half attention to it, gripping our attention again when something flares up. I can only be honest when I share that much of the past two years has to me been a black hole of despair, fear and anxiety. However, our community has found strength and comfort through collective commemoration. Kehillah participated in the live broadcast screening of the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony, an annual event that highlights the shared humanity of Israelis and Palestinians. We also held a moving ceremony to mark the anniversary of October 7th, listening to each other about some very personal losses and sharing in Jewish ritual to find comfort. I also cannot pretend that the war hasn’t brought inter-personal and wider political tension into Kehillah that remains challenging for us as Chairs to navigate. How do we, and Rabbi Leah, hold a community together when its members hold passionately different views on Israel and Zionism? Is the role of a synagogue to take what some would see as ‘political’ action or actually provide spiritual respite from it? Is it our responsibility as Jews to show moral leadership on Palestinians being starved and shot, with over 50,000 dead, whilst our own members have families and friends hiding in bomb shelters or risking their lives in IDF service? We have tried our best to strike a balance, hearing the concerns and urges of our members, and are grateful to Rabbi Leah for her bringing in IsraelPalestine education into our community through Adult Ed and the newly formed Israel-Palestine Working Group. There are no easy answers. We always invite feedback from members and are proud of Kehillahniks for having these difficult conversations with empathy and compassion. As part of our approach to building connection and empathy, over the past 18 months Kehillah has sought to build stronger ties with our Muslim neighbours. Kehillah members helped with the Finsbury Park Street Party Iftar in April and joined in with Eid in the Park in June. But the highlight of the year was the event in September co-lead with Muslim Welfare House – we learned together about our shared spiritual ancestor Moses/Mussa/Moshe and got to know each other through study, song, food and the exchange of ideas and friendship. Despite the pain of the world around us, we have committed to strengthening our communities’ ties and look forward to seeing our relationship go from strength to strength. The financial year came to an end with an announcement from Leah: the commencement of a period of 9-month sabbatical in Jerusalem with her family from September 2025 – June 2026. We will deeply miss Leah but anticipate welcoming her back on a part-time basis for some months during this period. **6** We look forward to welcoming Cantor Rachel Weston to cover for Leah in this time and ushering in a “year of music” for Kehillah. ## **Note from Imogen** I joined the Management Board in July 2021, becoming co-Chair with Rob in 2022. I remember taking my time to properly consider the request from Rob to become co-Chair: I was worried that I wouldn’t be taken seriously by some members because of my younger age (I was then 26), that it would interfere with my ambition to visit all of London’s nightclubs (ha!) and that I wouldn’t have the time to do a good job whilst working full-time (probably the only legitimate concern of this list). My advice on reflection to any member who may be considering joining the MC, or stepping up into co-Chair: just do it. Truly, it has been one of the honours of my life to serve as Kehillah’s co-chair, first with Rob, then with Holly – both brilliant in their own ways. I have learnt so much from both of them, Rabbi Leah, all the Management Committee members and many other leaders within the community – it is a blessing to volunteer alongside such warm, smart, thoughtful, funny, empathetic, visionary people with such a wide range of skills, experience, personal and professional backgrounds. Thank you so much to everyone for all your guidance and wisdom. I have also matured and grown hugely from navigating many first-time situations including holding plenty of difficult conversations with members, steering tricky safeguarding decisions, drafting our 3- year strategy, financial audits, liaising with police on security, giving announcements(!) – the list is honestly endless. I am grateful for all the life, personal, and professional opportunities being co-Chair has afforded me alongside the wonderful connections and friendships made along the way. The past three years have undoubtedly also been testing. The first 6 months of the Gaza war was one of the most challenging periods of my adult life. Looking back, I am so proud of how we kept the community together as best we could–with unforgettable support from Robin as lead of our listening circles–in a time of unprecedented turmoil, stress and uncertainty that I hope we never again have to experience. Kehillahniks offered great kindness to each other and to me personally; I will forever carry with me the lesson that we resist division not by retreating, but by doing more, loving more, and trying even harder to compassionately listen to one another. Serving, leading and representing Kehillah has been a unique opportunity to shape an inclusive, warm, multi-generational and diverse haven from a world that feels increasingly more isolated, more materialistic, and more individualistic. I am proud to be part of a community that embodies so much of what is good about humanity, Jewish values, and progressive Judaism. I wish Holly every best of luck in solo Chairing (you are and will be fantastic!) and safe travels to Rabbi Leah on her sabbatical adventure. ## **Note from Holly** : What an amazing year at Kehillah North London. It’s been a privilege to serve as co-chair alongside Imogen. I want to formally thank her for her guidance, intelligence and patience as I learned the ropes of being a chair. I will do my best to follow in her footsteps (if the community re-elects me), and those of Rob, Robin, Claire and Jackie before her. How lucky we are to still have most of our past chairs as active members! I am forever grateful to have Rabbi Leah as my spiritual leader; someone who I can work alongside to build community. The relationship between chair and rabbi must be one of trust and transparency, and I am very confident that despite being miles apart for the next nine months or so, Rabbi Leah and **7** I will work well together. I’m excited to get to know Cantor Rachel and to make the most of her time with us during Rabbi Leah’s sabbatical. Our management Committee, 12 volunteers who gave up their time and effort to keep Kehillah running smoothly this year, deserve our huge thanks and praise for all that they have done. We have already said goodbye to Laurence (who has now sadly left Kehillah) and Lipika, but at this AGM we also say farewell to Natasha and Caroline. We know that each of them will continue to work with us in their different ways but need to devote themselves to important and exciting new projects. Lastly, a huge thank you to Matan who kept our community humming and was such a personal support to me. I wish him and fiancé Yaron all the happiness in the world and best of luck with his post-doc studies. Kehillah offers a wide range of perspectives within Progressive Judaism, creating a space for those of us who may have struggled to find a home elsewhere. At the same time, Kehillah must remain a local Jewish home for those in the area, a progressive Jewish space for inner London. Sometimes, because of our differences, some conversations can be challenging - but I hope we can continue to foster a warm and welcoming atmosphere that encourages open dialogue. Whilst we need to develop and change, we also must remain true to our founding core values - in Rabbi Leah’s words, _we must embrace our individual diversity in the spirit of the Talmudic notion machloket l’shem shamayim (difference/divergence for the sake of heaven)._ We are a community that shows love for each other, for the Jewish community and wider society; we are dedicated to tikkun olam, repairing the world, and ‘doing justice’. I am deeply committed to building and strengthening our unique and vibrant community alongside all of our members and supportive friends. I look forward to working with everyone at Kehillah in the coming year. ## **Membership Analysis** ## **Membership numbers** Our current membership, including ‘supporting friends’ totals 231. This includes at least 46 children and young people in the 0-19 category, and 170 adults. (We are missing some members’ date of births, hence the small gap). Our membership last year totalled 225, representing a 2.7% increase. This is much smaller than previous years (where we have consistently seen growth of 10%+), but positive nonetheless. ## **Geographic breakdown of membership** The chart below outlines the top 5 geographic areas of households with the most Kehillah members (10 or more). NB we do not hold residency data on every household. **8** ## Number of members in each postcode **----- Start of picture text -----**
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
N16 N4 E17 E8 N15 E5
Number of members in each postcode
**----- End of picture text -----**
- N16, covering the areas of Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill, Shacklewell, Dalston and Newington Green, is by far the most concentrated area of Kehillahniks, with 47 Kehillah households. - N4 is our second largest postcode, with 25 households, covering Finsbury Park, Harringay, and Manor House. - E17 (Walthamstow) and E8 (Hackney Central, Dalston, London Fields) are close third and fourths, with 19 and 15 households respectively. - We also have 17 members who live in south London and around 11 who live in postcodes outside the N-, E- or S- postcodes. In conclusion, most of our members live locally to shul, but a small group make the special effort to travel further afield. We would love to revive regular Shabbat dinners and more social activities this year – our membership is well set-up for local activities. ## **Age demographics** **9** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Age profile of members
AGE 80+ 10
AGE 70-79 27
AGE 60-69 25
AGE 50-59 20
AGE 40-49 28
AGE 30-39 35
AGE 20-29 25
AGE 10-19 30
AGE 0-9 16
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
**----- End of picture text -----**
The graph above outlines the age profiles for most of Kehillah’s membership (we lack DOB data for some adult members & some children’s ages are still to the nearest year). - Our largest age demographic is 30-39 year olds, followed by young people aged 1019. We would love more of these young people to come along to our Cheder – parents, please do make yourselves known! - Our third largest demographic is 40-39 year olds (28 members) followed in fourth by 70-79 year olds (27 members). - Our fifth largest demographic is tied between 20-29 year olds (25 people) and 60-69 year olds (23 people). - Our youngest member is less than a year old and our oldest member is over 100! We have 3 members in their nineties. - Although we are clearly a wonderfully multi-generational community, with good representation in most age categories, Kehillah has an overall younger population than the average age of Jews in the UK and the average synagogue membership. - We also have a much younger leadership team than average, with about 1/3 of MC members under 40. **10** ## Financial Review ## Statement of the Charity's Policy on Reserves ## Designated Fund: Operational Reserve As a community charity, Kehillah North London has a duty of care to both its beneficiaries and the wider public to ensure that its beneficiaries are not left unsupported in the event that the charity has to cease operating. Ensuring that all beneficiaries have been appropriately relocated to other charities providing a comparable level of care can take a period of 6 months approx. i.e. potentially longer than the time it would take the charity to terminate its contractual obligations to staff and other service providers. The Trustees have therefore determined that the charity should hold an operational reserve equivalent to the normal costs of running the charity for up to 6 months, i.e. 50% of £83,000. This reserve meanwhile functions as a cushion against the possible effects of unforeseeable surges in running costs. ## Restricted Funds We operate a Burials Scheme, to which members voluntarily contribute. Their estates benefit from either a plot in a Jewish Cemetery or a cremation (via a central scheme administered by Liberal Judaism, for which the contributions are collected by us and passed to LJ) plus the cost of a basic funeral (paid for out of a fund accrued from an additional fixed contribution from its members). We have not yet identified an actuary, although we are confident the scheme is in good health, and we have a member who is able to carry out a more formal assessment. This restricted fund is not a source of income that can be used by Kehillah, beyond its designated purpose of covering the costs of running the burial scheme for its members. The costs of running this vary from year to year based on the activities the scheme carries out for its members. The accounts show a surplus for the burial fund for the year to 31 January 2025 of £2,178 and the balance carried forward to 2025/26 is £44,763. Details of Any Funds Materially in Deficit **11** There were no funds which were materially in deficit at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities. ## State of the Charity’s Finances During the period, there was a deficit of £10,480. There was a surplus of £6,787 for year ending January 31[st] 2024. This deficit was driven by unrestricted funds, which covers the majority of Kehillah’s regular activities. Income from donations and gift aid (included in voluntary Income) has fallen by approximately £15,000 compared to the previous year. Membership has grown marginally in year, but not at the rate of the past 2 years. Therefore, we are expecting a slightly reduced surplus in the following financial year. Expenses increased due to an increase in the cost of salaries. The Management Committee agreed to a salary increase when renewing Rabbi Leah Jordan’s contract due to her outstanding work building the community and raising Kehillah’s public profile. In addition, Kehillah recruited an Administrator (as an employee) during the year whereas in previous years this role had been outsourced to a freelancer. This has led to an increase in support costs. There have also been other Increases in the costs of rent for St. Marys Church, rental costs of external venues for High Holy Days and affiliation fees to Liberal Judaism. ## Budget Report Key Receipts & Payments Membership fees and donations made up the significant majority of receipts (unrestricted funds) Rabbi and administrator fees, rent for St. Marys Church, rental costs of external venues for High Holy Days and affiliation fees to Liberal Judaism made up the significant majority of the payments. Bookkeeping & Accounting Processes Adopting a bookkeeper has meant that the concerns flagged in the prior years’ report have been remedied. **12** The sole recommendation by JBC Accountants for the current year referring to processing of invoices/payments. _“We have also completed our independent examiners work. We have not identified any problems and will be issuing a clean report. Our main recommendation will be to ensure all invoices/paperwork are kept for payments made and passed to Amelia (bookkeeper) so that a copy can be kept on the software to support the payment made”._ Particulars of Any Outstanding Guarantee Given by the Charity The Trustees declare that the charity has given no guarantee where potential liability is outstanding at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities. ## Particulars of Any Outstanding Debt The Trustees declare that the charity has no outstanding debts which are secured by an express charge on any of the assets of the charity at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities. Declaration and Signature The Trustees declare that they have approved the above report and authorised that it be signed on their behalf. **13** Fw 2916 46.118 6S.342 111 121.WO 40.111 65.342 121,NO 35.J42 M 342 ))tVJ X C¢b) F¥ . guNI FL . trIMDAr 44.nJ 42.•JQ 6$.￿1 P•ns 425 14 ## **Kehillah North London (Charity No. 1163562)** ## **Receipts and Payments Account For the Period from 1st February 2024 to 31st January 2025** |**Receipts**
Voluntary Income
Income Generation
Investment Income
Charitable Income
Other Receipts
**Payments**
Generating funds
Charitable Activities
Support costs
Other payments
**Net Receipts**
Net of receipts/(payments)
Cash funds at 1st February
Cash funds at 31st January|**Restricted Unrestricted**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
-
55,880
55,880
75,146
-
9,909
9,909
586
-
-
-
-
3,908
3,156
7,064
9,139
-
-
-
-
3,908
68,945
72,853
84,871
-
159
159
2,990
1,730
39,435
41,165
49,092
-
42,009
42,009
26,002
-
-
-
-
1,730
81,603
83,333
78,084
2,178
(12,658)
(10,480)
6,787
43,940
78,000
121,940
115,153
46,118
65,342
111,460
121,940| |---|---| **15** Inde endent Examiner'5 Re hilla orth rt to the Trustees of Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Kehillah North London {Charlty no. 1163562) I r¢port to the trustees onmy examination of tlle a¢counls of the above charity forthe year ended 31 January 2025. Responsibilities and basis of report As the clwity trnstees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with th¢ requirements of thc Charities Act 2011 ('the Act.). I report in respect of my ekgmination of the charity's accounts canied out under S￿110￿ 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity CornrnissioD under section 145(5) (b) of the Act. Independent examiner'5 Statement I have cotnpleted my examination. I confjrni that no material matters have come to my attention iti omlection with th¢ examination which give me cause to believe that. in any n￿ttrIal respect: accounting rccoTds wer¢ not kept in a￿ordanCe with Section 130 of the Act or th¢ accounts do not accord with these records I have no Concerns and have come across no other matters in conrlection with the examination to whith attention should be drawn in order to ¢llabl¢ a pr¢)per understanding of the accounts to be ￿ached. Mrs Lynn¢ Dickson FCA JBC Accountants Limited Chartered Accountants 3B Lockheed Court Preston Fanll Siockton on Tees TS18 3SH Dale.. l.q..Wc.ki.¢3.03.I 16