2024-12-31-accounts - Hamakom

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Charity Number 1183019 CIO No CE017238

A Space for Wellbeing, Wisdom & Awakening

A Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Report and Unaudited Receipts and Payments Accounts Period ended 31 December 2024

Trustees' Annual Report for the year

Year start date Year end date 1 January 2024 31 December 2024 From To

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name HAMAKOM

Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1183019

Charity's principal address 101A Theobald Street Borehamwood Hertfordshire Postcode WD6 4PT

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany)
Sara Gina Bensusan		FoundingTrustee
Roland Oliver Brandman	Chair	Founding Trustee
Edward John Gold		FoundingTrustee
Suzanne Emilia Freed		FoundingTrustee

Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole period

Names and addresses of advisers

Names and addresses of advisers	Names and addresses of advisers	Names and addresses of advisers
Type of adviser Name Address
Independent Examiner	Monika Hazelton, Winston Hazelton & Co Ltd	34 Arlington Road, NW1 7HU, London

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members

Zac H. Newman – Operations Manager

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Type of governing document Constitution adopted on 21 March 2019

How the charity is constituted A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Foundation

Trustee selection methods

Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at properly convened meeting of the charity Trustees.

Additional governance issues

HAMAKOM is under the overall control of the Trustees, who conduct the affairs of the charity. The Trustees meet regularly to set the policies and overall direction of the charity, to review its plans and to discuss the management of the charity. The number of Trustees shall not be less than three but there is no maximum number of the trustees that may be appointed.

The Trustees consider the board of Trustees to be the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling the charity.

The Charity has an open recruitment procedure for new Trustees who have the appropriate skills and experience to meet the needs of the organisation, and has procedures for the induction of new Trustees.

If the charity is wound up, the members of the charity have no liability to contribute to its assets and no personal responsibility for settling its debts and liabilities.

Each trustee is also automatically a charity member.

All Trustees give their time freely and no trustee received remuneration during the year.

During the year the Charity’s operations, administration, marketing and development was looked after by Zac H. Newman who was contracted to devote an average of at least 69 hours per calendar month to perform his duties. The fees paid to Zac H. Newman amounted to £25,200 (previous year: £20,300).

The fees have been benchmarked against similar positions in other nonprofit organisations. This is kept under review.

All duties are carried out in pursuance of HAMAKOM charitable objectives.

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (including the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)	To advance the Jewish religion in England and Wales for the benefit of the public mainly but not exclusively by: • Providing Meditation retreats, contemplative groups, religious workshops, sacred spaces and worship services, seminars, meetings, conferences, teaching, and prayer meetings, all within a Jewish setting and context; • Contributing to good mental and physical health and spiritual wellbeing; and • Promoting the study of spiritual and religious teachings, scriptures, practices, meditation and mindfulness. https://www.hamakom.community/
	The Trustees have had due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission regarding public benefit. They consider the work done by HAMAKOM to be for the public benefit as the services supplied are promoting mental and spiritual well-being, creating a community and connection between participants and offering alternative modes of prayer and religious practice which participants can take into their everyday lives. Such services are bringing people together from of all parts of the Jewish Community and beyond. The flowing main activities are undertaken by HAMAKOM for the public benefit: ●Meditation retreats of varying lengths; • Teaching and prayer meetings; • Workshops, seminars, talks, meetings; • Provision of religious instruction and supervision; • Provision of religious material via the internet and email. . The Trustees are also satisfied that the objectives of the CIO will be met through the various activities being undertaken. HAMAKOM receives general donations which are used for general purposes of the Charity, and specifically restricted donations (Terumah) for teachers who lead the meditation during the retreats. When applicable, the participants are required to cover the external costs of the retreats, such as food and accommodation costs.

Summary of the objects of
the charity set out in its
governing document
Summary of the main
activities undertaken for the
public benefit in relation to
these objects (including the
statutory declaration that
trustees have had regard to
the guidance issued by the
Charity Commission on
public benefit)

To advance the Jewish religion in England and Wales for the benefit
of the public mainly but not exclusively by:
•
Providing Meditation retreats, contemplative groups, religious
workshops, sacred spaces and worship services, seminars,
meetings, conferences, teaching, and prayer meetings, all
within a Jewish setting and context;
•
Contributing to good mental and physical health and spiritual
wellbeing; and
•
Promoting the study of spiritual and religious teachings,
scriptures, practices, meditation and mindfulness.
https://www.hamakom.community/

The Trustees have had due regard to the guidance issued by the
Charity Commission regarding public benefit. They consider the work
done by HAMAKOM to be for the public benefit as the services
supplied are promoting mental and spiritual well-being, creating a
community and connection between participants and offering
alternative modes of prayer and religious practice which participants
can take into their everyday lives. Such services are bringing people
together from of all parts of the Jewish Community and beyond.
The flowing main activities are undertaken by HAMAKOM for the
public benefit:
●Meditation retreats of varying lengths;
•
Teaching and prayer meetings;
•
Workshops, seminars, talks, meetings;
•
Provision of religious instruction and supervision;
•
Provision of religious material via the internet and email.
.
The Trustees are also satisfied that the objectives of the CIO will be
met through the various activities being undertaken.
HAMAKOM receives general donations which are used for general
purposes of the Charity, and specifically restricted donations
(Terumah) for teachers who lead the meditation during the retreats.
When applicable, the participants are required to cover the external
costs of the retreats, such as food and accommodation costs.

Section C Objectives and activities, cont.

Furthering the Charity objectives and providing the activities would not be possible without the charity’s benefactors. The Trustees wish to record their gratitude to all the individuals and organisations who donated their money and time to support HAMAKOM.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we have been able to continue to offer subsidised places and some free places to our events to those that need them.

Additional details of objectives and activities

Section D Achievements and performance

The Charity continued to host monthly online gatherings, with between 6 and 20 attendees until May when it was decided to concentrate on other offers.

The Charity continued to offer regular series of online weekly meditation groups. Participants commit to join a weekly 50-minute meeting for 8 weeks. One group meets weekly in the morning, another weekly in the evening. The groups combine teaching, meditation and hearing from each other. These have become one of the cornerstones of our offering and have proved to be particularly popular with 69 people participating in the January to March session and 50 in the June to July session.

In January 2024 the Charity held events with Mosaic attended by 40 people and Moishe House attended by 8 people.

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

Following on from the successful events in Oxford last year, another Shabbat event was held in January attended by 100 people.

In March 2024 the Charity held SMJPS refresher sessions attended by 50 people. It also held a Mindfulness course at Brampton College attended by 6 people.

The Charity was the primary organiser of the second International Symposium on Jewish Meditation, which took place in April 2024. 470 people participated, with representatives from 10 different Jewish spiritual organisations spanning a wide range of practices, viewpoints, and positions on the spectrum of religiosity. It was a great success.

The Charity held sessions for young adults at the JW3 community centre in April, May, June, July and September.

Section D Achievements and performance, cont.

In May 2024 the Charity held its annual spring residential retreat, with 37 participants including staff across 4 days.

It also ran a session at a Jewish Muslim Interfaith event attended by 25 people.

It then ran a Tikkun Leils at SAMS attended by 15 people and Mill Hill attended by 10 people.

In August 2024 the Charity held its second summer 5-night retreat residential retreat. There were 24 participants. This was very much a community retreat being led by our in-house teachers - Zac and Miri and otherwise managed by volunteers. These retreats help us to build a community of meditators which feeds back into our shorter retreats as these more experienced participants then help us to create the container within which new people can come in and feel safe and held in the silence.

In September 2024 the Charity held a virtual retreat for 2.5 days, in partnership with another Jewish spirituality organisation, Or HaLev. This was well attended and successful. It was the fifth year that this co-sponsored virtual retreat took place and was attended by 60 people.

In October 2024 the Charity held a Sukkot Meditation Journey with Or HaLev for the festival of Sukkot. 50 participants received a recorded meditation video by email each day, before gathering on the penultimate day of the festival for a collective reflection.

In October 2024 the Charity held an online gathering to commemorate the events of October 7th, in order to support our community and others to find safety, stability and compassion in a very painful period. 96 people registered; 58 attended and 48 people viewed the recording.

The Charity held its annual winter retreat in December 2024 for 38 attendees including staff.

Later in December 2024 the Charity held an online meditation event for the festival of Chanukah in partnership with Or HaLev. 100 participants received a recorded meditation video by email each day, before gathering on the penultimate day of the festival for a collective reflection.

Section E	Financial review	Financial review
Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves Details of any funds materially in deficit	In order to provide sufficient funds to cover ongoing management and administration costs the Trustees have decided that the charity’s unrestricted reserves should be kept equal to a total of no less than six months of management costs, general office costs and bank charges. This amount was calculated to be circa £14,000. At 31 December 2024 the unrestricted reserves stand at a surplus of £26,968. The Trustees are committed to reviewing the major risks which the Charity faces on a regular basis and believe that maintaining reserves no lower than the levels set in the board's policy, combined with a regular review of the controls over the key financial systems, will provide sufficient resources in the event of unforeseen and/or adverse circumstances arising.
	None
Further financial review details	The Charity’s principal sources of funds are public donations, donations received from trusts and foundations, members’ donations and fees charged to participants for events to cover the costs of running the events. During the year, HAMAKOM received £74,284 income and expended £68,074. The Charity registered a surplus of £6,210. The cash fund at the end of the year was £29,591 and comprised £26,968 in the unrestricted funds and £2,623 in the restricted funds. The Trustees are aware of a legal duty to act only in the best interests of the Charity. The Trustees expect to consider any conditions attached to donations to ensure that they meet the aims and objectives of HAMAKOM and do not conflict with these. The Trustees take a prudent view regarding the investment of surplus funds. The Trustees have considered the most appropriate policy for investing funds and have decided funds invested in CAF bank accounts currently meet their requirements. Zac H Newman stopped working for the Charity at the end of March 2025. Danny Newman, who used to work for the Charity, is now (at the time of report submission) retained by the Charity again, organising the operations, administration, marketing and development. Since Zac H Newman's retainer stopped, there has also been more organisational/operational time input from particularly Marc Frank and the trustees, especially in the interim period when Danny Newman was not working for the Charity at his current hours.
	The Charity’s principal sources of funds are public donations, donations received from trusts and foundations, members’ donations and fees charged to participants for events to cover the costs of running the events. During the year, HAMAKOM received £74,284 income and expended £68,074. The Charity registered a surplus of £6,210. The cash fund at the end of the year was £29,591 and comprised £26,968 in the unrestricted funds and £2,623 in the restricted funds. The Trustees are aware of a legal duty to act only in the best interests of the Charity. The Trustees expect to consider any conditions attached to donations to ensure that they meet the aims and objectives of HAMAKOM and do not conflict with these. The Trustees take a prudent view regarding the investment of surplus funds. The Trustees have considered the most appropriate policy for investing funds and have decided funds invested in CAF bank accounts currently meet their requirements. Zac H Newman stopped working for the Charity at the end of March 2025. Danny Newman, who used to work for the Charity, is now (at the time of report submission) retained by the Charity again, organising the operations, administration, marketing and development. Since Zac H Newman's retainer stopped, there has also been more organisational/operational time input from particularly Marc Frank and the trustees, especially in the interim period when Danny Newman was not working for the Charity at his current hours.

Section E Financial review, cont.

Further financial review details, cont.

The Trustees consider that there, are no material uncertainties related to events or conditions that cast significant doubt upon the Charity's ability to continue as a going concern. The Trustees have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the accounts. In particular, the trustees considered the Charity's budget projection. The Trustees made enquiries and have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources, support and knowledge to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Taking into consideration staffing changes and the future of the charity we have recently (i.e. at the time of submission) sourced an additional person to provide an administrative focussed function on an ad hoc basis.

Section F Other optional information

Plans for the future:

HAMAKOM short- and long-term plans are:

to grow our staff;
to run a fundraising campaign with the intention of expanding our activities;
to continue to hold residential retreats in the winter, spring and summer;
to continue our range of online opportunities for meditation, learning, spirituality and connection;
to develop the work we have done in schools, in order to support the wellbeing of children;
to work again with the Jewish Association for Mental Illness to provide meditation sessions to their community;
to continue offering classes in individual Jewish communities;
to run a family spirituality retreat with activities suitable for children;
to increase our reach across the world, especially in Europe and South Africa;
to continue to develop our relationships with similar organisations around the world, including: Institute for Jewish Spirituality (based in the US); Awakened Heart Project (based in the US); Or HaLev (based in Israel); Applied Jewish Spirituality (based in Israel).
to build and open a residential meditation/spirituality retreat centre, intentional community and organic farm in the countryside, within an hour's drive of London.

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Roland Oliver Brandman Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Chairman

Date 25 March 2026

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

HAMAKOM	HAMAKOM	HAMAKOM

31 December 2024	Charity no	1183019

9 and 10

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Charity, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Date: March 2026 25 Name: Monika Hazelton FCCA Relevant professional Winston Hazelton & Co Ltd qualification(s) or body Chartered Certified Accountants (if any): Address: 34 Arlington Road London NW1 7HU

Section B Disclosure

None

Receipts and Payments Accounts

Receipts and Payments Accounts	Receipts and Payments Accounts	Receipts and Payments Accounts	Receipts and Payments Accounts
For the year	01 January 2024	To	31 December 2024
Charity name		HAMAKOM
Registered Charity No		1183019

Section A Receipts and payments

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total funds Last year funds funds funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £

A1 Receipts

A1 Receipts
Dana	-	7,117	-	7,117	13,887
Donations	31,403	-	-	31,403	33,949
External organisations	631	-	-	631	3,800
Retreats	31,184	-	-	31,184	31,267
Online courses	3,502	-	-	3,502	2,362
Gift aid claims	63			63	-
Interest received	382	2	-	384	51
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)	67,165	7,119	-	74,284	85,316

A2 Asset and investment sales

	-	-	-	-	-
*Sub total*	-	-	-	-	-
*Total receipts*
	67,165		-	74,284	85,316

A3 Payments

					15,352
					29,426
					20,300
					3,710
					1,459
					740
					570
					2,400
					73,957

	-	-	-	-	-
*Sub total*	-	-	-	-	-
*Total payments* *Net of receipts* */(payments)* A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end *Cash funds this* *period end*
					73,957

	6,979			6,210	11,359
	(904)			-	-
	20,893			23,381	12,022
	26,968			29,591	23,381

Receipts and Payments Accounts

Receipts and Payments Accounts	Receipts and Payments Accounts	Receipts and Payments Accounts	Receipts and Payments Accounts
For the year	01 January 2024	To	31 December 2024
Charity name		HAMAKOM
Registered Charity No		1183019

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

			Total funds 12	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment
Categories	Details		months	funds	funds	funds
			to nearest £	to nearest £	to nearest £	to nearest £
B1 Cash funds	Bank current account		4,751	4,501	250	-
	Gold deposit account		22,389	22,389	-	-
	Teachers current account		2,373	-	2,373	-
	Stripe account		78	78	-	-
	*Total cash* *funds*		29,591	26,968	2,623	-
	(agree balances	with receipts and payments
			account(s))	OK	OK	OK
				Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment
				funds	funds	funds
	Details			to nearest £	to nearest £	to nearest £
B2 Other monetary				-	-	-
assets
	Details			Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
B3 Investment					-	-
assets
	Details			Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
B4 Assets retained					-	-
for the charity’s own
use
				Fund to which	Amount due	When due
	Details			liability relates	(optional)	(optional)
B5 Liabilities	Winston Hazelton &	Co - Independent		Unrestricted	1,620	12.4.26
	Examination
	Zac H. Newman -December 2024 fee			Unrestricted	2,100	6.1.25
	Zac H. Newman -Mira Terumah			Restricted	2,784	9.1.25
	Marc Frank - Decemeber 2024			Unrestricted	420	3.1.25

Signed on behalf of all the trustees

Signature

25 March 2026 Roland Oliver Brandman

Date of approval

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