attendance of 5 or more current and former members of the (ultra-
orthodox) Haredi community, for whom Yiddish is their mother-tongue.
With regard to the Yiddish theatre activities. the Open Rehearsal was
attended by some 40-50 people. and the Director used the opportunity to
experiment with ways of making the performances accessible to non-
Yiddish speakers (i.e. not simply using surtitles).
Through these various activities we continue to explore the Yiddish
language in the context of Jewish culture and history, and include music,
poetry, song and theatre, where possible, thus building on, and sharing,
cultural knowledge and awareness.
THE FUTURE
We continue to try to gradually increase the range of activtties that come
under our umbrella, but this is a slow, organic process. In this regard, it
is particularly pleasing to see the gradual development of the Yiddish
theatre activities.
CONCLUSION
The twelve-month period covered by this report has been a successful
time for the Trust. We grow in confidence and in financial stabilty. We
look forward to 2025126.
Steve ogin (Chair)
Phil Tomlinson (Treasurer)

5, including the Chair and Vice£hair of the Trust, organises the Theatre
troupe activrties.
STRUCTURE:
The Trust is set up as a CIO, and has its full complement of ten
Trustees. At this point, the Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary and Treasurer
are the same as when the Trust was set up. The Trustees meet on-line
exclusively, being located widely across the country, and are all actively
involved in the discussions to manage the Trust. There are separate
Committees, each meeting on a regular basis, which manage the Sof-
Vokh, the YOMC, and the Yiddish Theatre troupe activities.
FINANCE:
The Sof-vokh 8ookings process is managed each year by a Trustee
working closely with the Treasurer. Tid(et transactions are processed
through Ticket Tailor, with payments going through PayPal and thence
to the Charity's Bank Account. As a result, all financial transactions have
a simple trail, and at the same time personal data is kept secure within
these systems.
The Annual turnover is under £25,000 per year. We aim to operate at
cost, except that we build in a contingency factor to either absorb any
unexpected expenses or allow us to slowly grow our reserves. We aim
to have sufficient reserves to prevent any financial risk and, as we have
no employees or physical assets, the main financial risk is of any
Can￿lIations, or other booking problems, that are not covered in our
arrangements with the venue. Our current reserve target is a quarter of
the hotel costs for the Sof-vokh. Following the success of the Sof-vokh
in the summers of 2023, 2024 and 2025, we managed a small increase
in reserves. The Yiddish Theatre activities are earmarked as a separate
activity within the YCT accounting.
PUBLIC BENEFIT:
The YOMC continues to provide a real opportunity for participation
whether as performer or audience, a fluent Yiddish speaker, or a
beginner. For Sof-vokh 2024 and 2025, we were able to provide about
15 bursaries out of the approximately 60 places. The programme is
always designed to support the attendan￿ of families with children. An
interesting development over the past two years has been the

theme is suggested for the Open Mic presentations, and a
Special Guest, either from the UK, or from around the world, is
given a longer "guest-slot" to present something related to the
theme, or from their wider interests in the Yiddish wodd. There
are typically 6 to 8 presentstions, with an audience of 20-30
people, with many regulars and also new faces. Currently there
is no income or expenditure involved in the YOMC, other than
using the website which is financially supported by the Trust.
2) The Annual Yiddish Sof-vokh is a residential weekend where
only Yiddish is spoken. The Sof-vokh accounts for most of the
incorne and expenditure of the organisation. We receive some
money in donations mostly through the website and booking
processes, and this is eamarked for the provision of bursaries to
promote access, especially for under 35s (most beneficiaries are
actually under 25). The Yiddish Sof-vokh events in summer 2024
and 2025 were again at capacity (in summer 2025: 60 attendees,
including 3 children under 10). The bursaries for summer 2025
were (as in 2024) also supported by the proceeds from a benefit.
Hillscourt has again been booked for summer 2026 (261h_28t
June 2026), and a team of some 12 people are on the
Organising Committee.
Yiddish Theatre troupe - In line wtth our aim to promote the use of the
Yiddish language, we are helping to facilitate the establishment of a
Yiddish Theatre troupe, Following the success of the 'Season of Yiddish
Theatre" at JW3 in spring 2024, the Trust collaborated with the Yiddish
writerlactor Tamara Micner in obtaining small grants from the Shoresh
Trust to support building a Yiddish Theatre troupe (grants of just under
£2000 in 2024, and just under £3000 in 2025, have been re￿IVed).
Using this funding, Yiddish-theatre workshopslrehearsals have been
held regularly, under the direction of David Schneider, the
writerldirectorlactor whose family played a very active role as theatre
professionals in the Yiddish theatre in London in the mid-20 century.
The troupe, currently about 20 people, consists of both professionals
and amateurs, fluent Yiddish speakers and those with little Yiddish. An
Open Rehearsal for friends and family was held in summer 2024 and the
plan is to hold two full-scale performances in summer 2025. A group of

TRUSTEES REPORT for YIDDISH CAFÉ TRUST for the PERIOD
15th August 2024 to 14th August 2025
Charity Number. 1200053.
INTRODUCTION:
This report covers the period August 2024 to August 2025. During this
period, in addition to the monthly Yiddish Open Mic Café and the annual
Yiddish Sof-vokh, the Trust has been actively involved in continuing to
help foster a Yiddish Theatre troupe.
AIM of the YIDDISH CAFÉ TRUST:
Before discussing these various activities, it is appropriate to recap the
aim of the Trust. The Trust exists solely in the UK for the public benefit,
to advance the education of the public in the subject of the Yiddish
language and its associated history. We therefore take an active role in
promoting Yiddish culture and tradition in the fields of literature, poetry,
theatre, art and music. This is achieved by, in particular but not
exclusively, the provision of opportunities for Yiddish speakers of all
abilities, and those who wish to leam Yiddish, to practice and hone their
skills, to creatively engage with the Yiddish language and to speak,
listen and perform publicly in that language.
ACTIVITIES
The Yiddish Café Trust continues to be a charity which focusses its
energies into three main activities: the Yiddish Open Mic Café; the
Yiddish Sof-vokh; the Yiddish Theatre troupe.
1) The Yiddish Open Mic Café (YOMC), which began in April 2018,
is historically our longest running activty and predates the official
founding of the charty. The Open Mic is organised currently by a
team of seven, including one intemational member. The YOMC
continues to provide opportunities for people to practice their use
of Yiddish before a supportive audience, through short
performances of reading poems or prose in Yiddish, enacting a
brief drama, or singing Yiddish songs. The YOMC started as an
activity in various locations in London (initially in the Poetry Café,
Covent Garden). but Sin￿ the Covid pandemic, is now usually
online, enabling participation from around the UK, and also from
abroad. A varied online (Zoom) programme takes place every
month, wrth a short break over the summer. Each month, a

attendance of 5 or more current and former members of the (ultra-
orthodox) Haredi community, for whom Yiddish is their mother-tongue.
With regard to the Yiddish theatre activities. the Open Rehearsal was
attended by some 40-50 people. and the Director used the opportunity to
experiment with ways of making the performances accessible to non-
Yiddish speakers (i.e. not simply using surtitles).
Through these various activities we continue to explore the Yiddish
language in the context of Jewish culture and history, and include music,
poetry, song and theatre, where possible, thus building on, and sharing,
cultural knowledge and awareness.
THE FUTURE
We continue to try to gradually increase the range of activtties that come
under our umbrella, but this is a slow, organic process. In this regard, it
is particularly pleasing to see the gradual development of the Yiddish
theatre activities.
CONCLUSION
The twelve-month period covered by this report has been a successful
time for the Trust. We grow in confidence and in financial stabilty. We
look forward to 2025126.
Steve ogin (Chair)
Phil Tomlinson (Treasurer)

5, including the Chair and Vice£hair of the Trust, organises the Theatre
troupe activrties.
STRUCTURE:
The Trust is set up as a CIO, and has its full complement of ten
Trustees. At this point, the Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary and Treasurer
are the same as when the Trust was set up. The Trustees meet on-line
exclusively, being located widely across the country, and are all actively
involved in the discussions to manage the Trust. There are separate
Committees, each meeting on a regular basis, which manage the Sof-
Vokh, the YOMC, and the Yiddish Theatre troupe activities.
FINANCE:
The Sof-vokh 8ookings process is managed each year by a Trustee
working closely with the Treasurer. Tid(et transactions are processed
through Ticket Tailor, with payments going through PayPal and thence
to the Charity's Bank Account. As a result, all financial transactions have
a simple trail, and at the same time personal data is kept secure within
these systems.
The Annual turnover is under £25,000 per year. We aim to operate at
cost, except that we build in a contingency factor to either absorb any
unexpected expenses or allow us to slowly grow our reserves. We aim
to have sufficient reserves to prevent any financial risk and, as we have
no employees or physical assets, the main financial risk is of any
Can￿lIations, or other booking problems, that are not covered in our
arrangements with the venue. Our current reserve target is a quarter of
the hotel costs for the Sof-vokh. Following the success of the Sof-vokh
in the summers of 2023, 2024 and 2025, we managed a small increase
in reserves. The Yiddish Theatre activities are earmarked as a separate
activity within the YCT accounting.
PUBLIC BENEFIT:
The YOMC continues to provide a real opportunity for participation
whether as performer or audience, a fluent Yiddish speaker, or a
beginner. For Sof-vokh 2024 and 2025, we were able to provide about
15 bursaries out of the approximately 60 places. The programme is
always designed to support the attendan￿ of families with children. An
interesting development over the past two years has been the

theme is suggested for the Open Mic presentations, and a
Special Guest, either from the UK, or from around the world, is
given a longer "guest-slot" to present something related to the
theme, or from their wider interests in the Yiddish wodd. There
are typically 6 to 8 presentstions, with an audience of 20-30
people, with many regulars and also new faces. Currently there
is no income or expenditure involved in the YOMC, other than
using the website which is financially supported by the Trust.
2) The Annual Yiddish Sof-vokh is a residential weekend where
only Yiddish is spoken. The Sof-vokh accounts for most of the
incorne and expenditure of the organisation. We receive some
money in donations mostly through the website and booking
processes, and this is eamarked for the provision of bursaries to
promote access, especially for under 35s (most beneficiaries are
actually under 25). The Yiddish Sof-vokh events in summer 2024
and 2025 were again at capacity (in summer 2025: 60 attendees,
including 3 children under 10). The bursaries for summer 2025
were (as in 2024) also supported by the proceeds from a benefit.
Hillscourt has again been booked for summer 2026 (261h_28t
June 2026), and a team of some 12 people are on the
Organising Committee.
Yiddish Theatre troupe - In line wtth our aim to promote the use of the
Yiddish language, we are helping to facilitate the establishment of a
Yiddish Theatre troupe, Following the success of the 'Season of Yiddish
Theatre" at JW3 in spring 2024, the Trust collaborated with the Yiddish
writerlactor Tamara Micner in obtaining small grants from the Shoresh
Trust to support building a Yiddish Theatre troupe (grants of just under
£2000 in 2024, and just under £3000 in 2025, have been re￿IVed).
Using this funding, Yiddish-theatre workshopslrehearsals have been
held regularly, under the direction of David Schneider, the
writerldirectorlactor whose family played a very active role as theatre
professionals in the Yiddish theatre in London in the mid-20 century.
The troupe, currently about 20 people, consists of both professionals
and amateurs, fluent Yiddish speakers and those with little Yiddish. An
Open Rehearsal for friends and family was held in summer 2024 and the
plan is to hold two full-scale performances in summer 2025. A group of

TRUSTEES REPORT for YIDDISH CAFÉ TRUST for the PERIOD
15th August 2024 to 14th August 2025
Charity Number. 1200053.
INTRODUCTION:
This report covers the period August 2024 to August 2025. During this
period, in addition to the monthly Yiddish Open Mic Café and the annual
Yiddish Sof-vokh, the Trust has been actively involved in continuing to
help foster a Yiddish Theatre troupe.
AIM of the YIDDISH CAFÉ TRUST:
Before discussing these various activities, it is appropriate to recap the
aim of the Trust. The Trust exists solely in the UK for the public benefit,
to advance the education of the public in the subject of the Yiddish
language and its associated history. We therefore take an active role in
promoting Yiddish culture and tradition in the fields of literature, poetry,
theatre, art and music. This is achieved by, in particular but not
exclusively, the provision of opportunities for Yiddish speakers of all
abilities, and those who wish to leam Yiddish, to practice and hone their
skills, to creatively engage with the Yiddish language and to speak,
listen and perform publicly in that language.
ACTIVITIES
The Yiddish Café Trust continues to be a charity which focusses its
energies into three main activities: the Yiddish Open Mic Café; the
Yiddish Sof-vokh; the Yiddish Theatre troupe.
1) The Yiddish Open Mic Café (YOMC), which began in April 2018,
is historically our longest running activty and predates the official
founding of the charty. The Open Mic is organised currently by a
team of seven, including one intemational member. The YOMC
continues to provide opportunities for people to practice their use
of Yiddish before a supportive audience, through short
performances of reading poems or prose in Yiddish, enacting a
brief drama, or singing Yiddish songs. The YOMC started as an
activity in various locations in London (initially in the Poetry Café,
Covent Garden). but Sin￿ the Covid pandemic, is now usually
online, enabling participation from around the UK, and also from
abroad. A varied online (Zoom) programme takes place every
month, wrth a short break over the summer. Each month, a