Shemtov Charitable Trust

The Shemtov Charitable Trust is a family-led grant-making charity, founded by the Halpern family and managed by trustees Samuel, Gita, and Isiah Halpern, with a longstanding mission to strengthen Jewish religious, educational, and communal life across the UK. Registered with the Charity Commission (regid 291318), it channels investment income and Gift Aid donations into supporting synagogues, schools, community centres, and allied institutions that promote Jewish values, heritage, observance, and welfare. Its discreet, high-trust governance emphasises enduring communal sustenance over time-limited projects, with consistent annual distributions of £300,000 to over £900,000, prioritising public benefit and capital preservation.

The Trust funds core costs, capital projects, and programmes for established Jewish organisations, focusing on religious practice, education, and welfare activities that directly benefit the Jewish community UK-wide, without geographic sub-restrictions.

Eligibility is strictly limited to UK-registered charities within the Jewish community; it shows preference for medium-to-large, well-established entities like synagogues and schools, with no formal income thresholds but a bias towards proven communal pillars. Unsolicited applications are not accepted—grants are awarded at trustees' ad hoc discretion to known network organisations, with no public process, forms, deadlines, or open calls.

Distinctively, the Trust excludes non-Jewish causes, grassroots startups, emergency relief, seed funding, or capacity building, differentiating itself through its exclusive Jewish focus, family oversight, and selective, non-competitive model that sustains core Jewish infrastructure without publicity or broad discretion.