## Michael Roberts Charitable Trust Developing lives, enriching community **----- Start of picture text -----**
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A year like no other...
Faith, hope and love in the global lock down
Our response - thanks to your help!
Maybury Open Door
offers COVID
Support Groups
Harlow
shares the
love with
neighbours,
Big Time!
Joining
forces with
others
across the
town
New collaborations,
New projects,
New hope
keeps the
The Bounty Club
Foodbank fresh
The Store
House
overflows
(and needs
fixing)
Huge support for
hit by the virus
those economically
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|Our Vision Statement|2| |---|---| |Introduction by Chief Executive Officer|3| |Maybury Open Door|4| |Feeding Harlow during the Pandemic -|| |Foodbank and Bounty Club|5- 7| |Inspiring acts of kindness in an exceptional year|8-9| |Tackling Hardship in Harlow—what is coming next?|10-11| |Bump-to-Five & the Store House fix|12| |MRCT Staff and Volunteers|13| |Our Community Partnerships|14-15| |Acknowledgements|16| Our vision is that everyone can belong and participate in their communities, knowing that they are significant, valued, included and wanted. Our vision is that no one should go hungry, or without the means to bring up their children, heat their homes or live in dignity. Anyone in that position should know that they are supported by those around them until things are good again. Our vision is fuelled by the belief that nobody is excluded, unwanted or overlooked by God, whose love is revealed through Jesus. 2 ## Last year gave “2020 vision” a whole new meaning… Who could have foreseen it? This report summarises ‘business not as usual’ as we took our place amongst the many agencies and individuals whose heroic work tackled the impact of the coronavirus in and around Harlow. innovative and resilient. I can’t thank our staff, volunteers and trustees enough for the way they expended themselves in service. demand; some had to close for months, others went into overdrive. I arrived halfway through the year as we improvised in response to the fast-changing landscape. It was sadly a year of great tragedy for so many people. Lives snatched away too soon by the virus. Families in crisis through the pressures of lockdown. Financial pressures lead to the highest ever demand on Foodbanks. Research found that more than 1 in 20 households in theUK accessed Foodbank support. That figure is the same for us in Harlow: 5% of householdshave been to the Foodbank one or more times. Alongside this we also saw the best of human nature. Spontaneous generosity andthoughtfulness; the wonders of our welfare systems in action: NHS, caring services, and the government’s financial rescue packages redistributing our common wealth for common In this review you will see so many examples ofthis generosity emanating from MRCT’s work. came into vivid perspective as we all experienced the effects of social isolation. We could clearly see why Maybury Open Doorattendees have valued its life-changing support for over 20 years! In 2020 -21 the economic response to the virusshowed the enormous difference that a £20 a week boost can make to millions on Universal Credit; and what a shock it would be to nowremove it. At the end of the year I was left considering how we as a nation are applying that ‘golden rule’ of all faiths: treating others as we would like to be treated. If we did we wouldcreate a national insurance system (UC) that offers each of us what we could live on if disaster struck us in the way it has so many this year. Right now that doesn’t seem to be in place. This report reflects on why this matters to us as Trussell Trust associates. Trussell Foodbanks don't exist to give food away, but to end hunger. We would prefer to not exist! That is part of ourvision as we tackle the effects and the causes of poverty together. Through the generosity of individuals, churchesand other faith groups, businesses, charities, through well-placed social interventions and supportive social policy we look for a better world. For that we work, pray, thank God, and withhuge gratitude - we thank you! More than ever we served as a conduit for the good will of neighbour to neighbour. We received an incredible amount of fooddonations, financial donations and heartwarming encouragement for being part of a town wide army of volunteers who joined forces to meet others’ needs. When trouble struck, MRCT was ready - and for that we again thank our Founders, Gary andTeresa Knott, for their ‘2020 vision’: building MRCT on a strong foundation of faith rooted in the love of God for those on the margins. This **Andy Thornton** Chief Executive Officer June 2021 3 ## Maybury Open Door is our drop in centre which operates z[\] 5 3 days a week in two church venues in the town. Maybury supports a wide range of adults including elderly, people with a disability, homeless, isolated people and others who just need to venture out and meet new friends. For over 20 years Maybury has been a valuable remedy for those needing friendship and support. In April 2020 the whole population began to get a taste of what it is like to be isolated. Lockdown was tough! Sadly, at that same moment the infectiousness of COVID meant that groups like Maybury OpenDoor had to close their doors. All of our staff team were put on furlough. You can imagine the sadness and helplessnessof the situation. By October we were desperate to restart the service and discovered that we could change its format to become a ‘Support Group’: a government – approved way of giving up to 15 people more intensive and structured support in a COVID safe environment. **“** Our team had been keeping in touch with Maybury regulars by phone to check that theywere OK. Now a Support Group would offer them the chance to return to Maybury. So we brought the team back from furlough! Then the rules changed, again and again… andit wasn’t until March that we could schedule restarting fully. However over that period we were in touch with our regulars by phone, andthat familiar listening ear made a big difference. Thankfully the Support Group format got a great boost when we received funding from the CAF Resilience Fund, enabling us to develop the service as a tailor made response to theisolation experienced through COVID. By the end of the year the Support Groupmembers were reporting a significant boost in their well-being. Maybury was their ‘family’ and they had been able to come home. ## Special thanks... who have made Maybury such a special place for old friends and new, every week. one place I now come and socialise... 4 ## The story of the year- in one graph… Until 2020 Harlow Foodbank gave out nearly all the ‘emergency food’ across the town. By April 2020 a number of supportive charities alongside the government-funded CommunityHub were supporting those shielding from the virus. Thousands of the most vulnerable were told to stay at home and wait for food to be brought to them. A number of charities started to collect short shelf-life items from supermarkets and deliver to neighbours across the town the next day. By contrast Harlow Foodbank specialises instoring and distributing longer life food. We realised we could help other food donors and take advantage of their capacity to deliver. We supplied longer shelf-life food to add to their parcels. As more people asked them for help we continued, supplying the food equivalent of over 100,000 meals in partnership with others. As a result our statistics for last year look They can be split into 2: the food we gave away through our own Foodbank (blue on graph), and that which we gave away through others (orange). ## ## We want to give specialthanks and recognition to our awesome staff, volunteers and those amazing charities and organisers who stepped up to distribute food to theircommunities during the pandemic. In particular our partners at: l Community Embrace l Changing Lives l Safer Places l Streets 2 Homes ## 169,077 kg 8,441 153% Total food given out 2020—21 individuals fed via 3,620 packages food given this year compared to last 15,156 kg 3,466 fresh food to Harlow schools & charities children getting 4 days’ food portions to other charities (101,000 meals) 42,694 kg 28,733 meals to Harlow Permitted Developments **!** Unbelievable but true… If all the food we gave out last year was sugar, the bags could stretch from Harlow to Chelmsford ! 5 ## Record breaking donations On page 5 we summarised the incredible amount of food that went through the Store House and Foodbank in 2020-21. There really has never been a year like it. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Universal Credit Claims made across the UK
(thousands) Source DWP
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This graph from the government’s web site tells the back story: a huge rise in claimants reaching out for Universal Credit support when other elements of government support didn’t apply to them. Below that national picture is our graph of stock coming in to the Foodbank. In comparison to the previous year’s pattern we saw a huge rise in donations (yellow line) soon after the lockdown. This was a combination of the increase in local individuals giving generously through the 25000 supermarkets, plus many local businesses who, when forced to 20000 close, cleared their shelves and sent 15000 the stock our way. Thanks everyone! ## **Harlow Foodbank food donated 2017—20 calendar year (by kg weight)** ## A Harvest for Harlow When schools returned in September they werethinking about catching up with lost time. Few were thinking about business as usual,such as Harvest Festivals (our second busiest time of year for donations aside from Christmas). We were delighted to have support from Harlow-based CBBC actress Hannah-Jane Fox to make a short video that shows schools whathappens to food donated to us. You can still **https://youtu.be/uc-wMFvB_C8.** watch it on our Facebook site or through In our enthusiasm to help the town we just stacked it all up! On page 12 we tell the story of when the Store House started to buckle under the pressure... ways to do COVID-safe food collections for us.Thankfully many schools and churches found Most schools sent a willing teacher with theirdonations, and some churches held donations days when the buildings were closed. Thanks so much to all those who gave at Harvest! 6 ## Free School Meal Children get our help Over the 2020 summer holidays the government stepped in with funds for parents whose children were on Free School Meals. By the October half-term there was controversy as this was not going to be sustained. Footballer Marcus Rashford stole the headlines with a powerful voiceadvocating for children in poverty. Harlow Council asked us to help and funded us to give food parcels to children on Free School Meals. Within a day we had got the word out to 60,000 people through ourFacebook network, notifying them that this support was available. During that week we supported 515 children in 209 families, and thankfully the government changed their policy for the rest of the year, ensuring that all families got holiday meal support. ## Christmas goes crazy By Christmas our Store House was bulging. Trevor joined forces adding the Bounty Club van to ourpick-up fleet. This ensured that we could pick up the huge quantities of food being donated through supermarkets (see image below) and hundreds joined our 12 days of Christmas appeal to givemore food and thousands of pounds in donations. We gave parcels to 1,900 in this period. ## Special thanks... In order to over come problems reaching those inneed we set up relationships with Harlow Schools, placing our food parcels on their premises ready to hand to those in need. We are grateful to the 20 schools who took up the . ## Door service only Sadly our team at St Paul’s and the Salvation Army were constrained to giving food to clients by the front door. We want to give special thanks and credit to allthose who still showed up despite the health risks and gave out a record number of food parcels in an extraordinary year’s service. 7 ## APRIL 30 _Supporters recognise that we are becomin g ‘the 4th Emergency Service’, supporting those confined to their homes._ ## MAY 16 **—** ——— ~~a~~ _Bobby McGlinchyy McGlinchy McGlinchyGlinchylinchyy_ _Bobby McGlinchyy McGlinchy McGlinchyGlinchylinchyy (aged 7) made his first deliver . He went on y to collect 1836.5 kg of food from neighbours over the next year!_ ## MAY 18 _Volunteers offer to hel us deliver to p eo le’s homes - We p p had reviousl onl p y y been able to give out through our church._ ## MAY 23 _Elite Direct ex eriments with an p online Pilates and Yoga class, raising £614 for us in the process._ ## MAY 23 _TEAMS at Princess Alexandra Hospital kindly decide to support the Foodbank, encouraging colleagues to donate cans for vulnerable local families. The first 500 are given!_ ## JUNE 1 _British Gas deliver food to us for Trussell Trust... two volunteer drivers, Gavin and Andy met up after losing contact 25 years ago by chance on our forecourt!!_ ## JUNE 4 _The first of hundreds of boxes inscribed with an uplifting message of support arrives…this one rom f friends at PAH._ ## SEPTEMBER 12 ~~a~~ _2 consignments of eggs arrive from Poundland. In the next 2 days 20,000 eggs were distributed across Harlow Schools, charities, family support, permitted developments!_ ## SEPTEMBER 15/ 16 _ITS interactive donate 3,500 Matteson sausages and an anonymous donor drops 1000 bags of Doritos via our Lok’nStore drop off._ ## OCTOBER 1 _We put out a Facebook request for 200 sanitizers and within 48 hours we had over 3,000._ In a year when many of life’s options were not available to us, so many people became mindful of ## OCTOBER 23 _Kelloggs respond to Robert Halfon MP’s request to support us after he meets them to discuss child poverty. Andy meets his old friend, the Pop Tarts._ ## OCTOBER 26 _Our Facebook news informing Harlow parents that Free School Meal kids can get support from us is shared 868 times, reaching 57,537 people._ ## NOVEMBER 4 _Rough Creed motorcycle club hold a fundraiser and arrive with 2 car loads of food for us (but the bikes looked so much better for the photo!)._ ## NOVEMBER 24 _Food continues to pour into our Store House - this van load of 340 kg came from Lewis Landscapes and their wonderful clients._ ## DECEMBER 9 _SES Group sponsor a Christmas Presents event for us, providing tailor made presents to 57 children from different care settings._ ## DECEMBER 14 _The Land Sherriffs sponsor beautiful Body Shop perfume bags for Mums coming to the Foodbank at Christmasno one overlooked!_ ## JANUARY 8 hee ~~a~~ _Young Adiyat Kabir raises £300 within an hour after a speech at the Harlow Mosque. Adi arrived with 270 kg of food... And more a few weeks later!_ ## FEBRUARY 4 _Local book manufacturers Colette and Jonathan Holland from I-read bring a second pile of books for us to redistribute across the town - we have given away thousands!_ ## MARCH 18 ~~Oh~~ _Income from government support via the Essex_ m _Alliance of Local Authorities keeps coming in, supporting us to buy additional food to top up low stock items and help families._ ## MARCH 29 ~~sss~~ _Our neighbouring business offers us beautiful boxes of natural cosmetics to pass on to Mums at Bump-to-Five. What a treat!_ These snapshots of moments are literally the tip of the iceberg. They do not include the thousands ## Why the need? There are now more Foodbanks in the UK than there are McDonald’s[1] . **Current Sources of Household income among people referred to Trussell Trust Foodbanks** This growth has happened in the last 12 years. Why? ‘because they are there’, suggesting there is anSome think that people now use Foodbanks illusion of more poverty as Foodbank supply has created demand. Recent research has debunked that vieweveryone finds it harsh to go to a Foodbank for[2] . Nearly help when you’d rather afford your own choice of food. 2021 Trussell Trust researchlong-term low rate of benefit support with more[3] clearly connects a widespread hardship. levels are, and also the way it is administered. The key design features of the social security system **“** affecting people referred to Foodbanks: l having to wait five weeks for the first Universal Credit (UC) payment, - l very low rate of UC standard allowance, deductions from UC to repay UC advances and other debts, l low Local Housing Allowance rates and caps.... Trussell Trust State of Hunger Report 2021 Lets put that into numbers, the situation is shocking... - l The average household in the UK has £2,000left per month after housing costs. - l The average household fully dependent on . - [5] - l The average person coming into a Trussell Trust Foodbank is in a household living on £215 – just over 1/10 of average[3] . - l 7 / 10 Foodbank recipients had at least one challenging life experience such asrelationship breakdown/divorce/job loss/ bereavement in the past year[3] . - . - l It doesn’t take much to go wrong and tip you from poverty into destitution when you are This graph above shows how the real value ofbenefits went up as our standards of living rose, . Compared to others, benefit recipients receivebut pretty much levelled off in the 1990s[4] very little. And now, because of COVID many have a drop in income with high outgoings. It’s not long to crisis point. References: 1) House of Commons Library Statistics 2) Trussell Trust: State of Hunger Report 2019 & 3) 2021, 4) Resolution Foundation: Living Standards Outlook 2021, 5) Institute for Fiscal Studies: Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2020, 6) Essex County Council Countywide Report 2019, 7) Harlow Poverty Partnership. 10 What does next year look like for Harlow? If you look at many statistics for Harlow and then compare them to UK the numbers are very similar (see right) You could say that we are the UK on a smallscale (with some exceptions). probably happen similarly here. UK / Harlow Predictions for 2021 –22 UK unemployment is predicted to rise by 900,000 - so in Harlow around 1,152 (approx. 30% more than before COVID). If the £20 uplift in Universal Credit is taken away 1,546 more of our 88,500 population will go into poverty. 512 of them will be children: increasing Harlow child poverty rate from 1 in 5 to 1 in 4. This level is predicted to rise over the course of the current parliament. Meanwhile Council rental and tax levels are expected to rise 2 -5 %. |**Issue**|**Harlow %6**|**Harlow %6**|**UK %6**| |---|---|---|---| |Aged 0-15
Aged 16 - 64||22.4
62.2|19.2
62.6| |Aged 65+
White British
White non-British
Mixed/Multiple Ethnic
Asian British
Black British||15.3
84
5.2
2.1
4.6
3.8|18.2
80
5.7
2.3
7.8
3.5| |Other ethnic groups||0.5|1| |One Person household||30.6|30.2| |One person 65+||13.4|12.4| |One family 2 parent household||32|33| |One family Lone parent||13.1|10.6| |Households solely aged 65+
Learning disability
Free School Meal eligibility
Child Tax Credit receipt||20
2.36
12.6
16.6|21
2.36
13.3
16.6| |Early Years Good Level Devept||72|71.5| |GCSE Ave Attainment 8 score||42.8|44.5| |Obesity||32.8|31.9| |Smoker||14.8|14.9| |Alcohol related hospital adm
Drug related deaths
Under 20 conceptions
Out of work benefit claimants
Child poverty rate: relative
Child poverty rate: absolute
Households using Foodbanks||2.36
0.0055
16.2
3.5
19
15
5|2.22
0.0043
13.5
2.6
19
16
5| These are worrying trends - for many it will feel like the pandemic is over - for others the economic impact will be long and painful. Already the supportagencies in Harlow are reporting many people reaching financial crisis for the first time in their lives[7] . l Please get behind Trussell Trust’s request to contact your MP and ask thatthe £20 uplift on Universal Credit (a gamechanger for millions during COVID) can be retained after September 2021. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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l Recognise that the COVID crisis isn’t over for thousands who rely on our support—and PLEASE keep giving food to the Foodbank! l Tell people about our new project, Bump-to-Five! It will offer essential items to parents of young children—working in partnership with Harlow agencies and bringing further support to those who might need help for a while. l Follow our new 2-year project interviewing users of our services, hearing their stories of reaching crisis point. We will highlight how best to understand - l Pray for / cheer on the Harlow Poverty Partnership—helping all agencies toshare their information, work together, innovate and destigmatise poverty. The sooner people access help and address any mounting problem, the better. 11 ## Baby & Toddler Bank For years MRCT has been planning to expand our range of services to the town by providing the baby/toddler equivalent of a Foodbank. Items for children will be collected, sorted, stored and redistributed to parents who otherwise might We now have our Project Manager in place service in close consultation with those who(Fernanda) and we will plot the next level of support parents in need. We are so thrilled to get this project going!! depth consultation of all of the services who help parents of young children. The message was very clear: unanimous support and belief that MRCT were the right people to lead on this. Our respondents advised us that there is also a need for more social support, not just items like clothes, nappies or pushchairs. We have pushed ahead with a plan, testing out **“** the full scope as we go along. We have been hugely blessed with support from HTS who have given us space in their premises to store items before packing them to go out. We will launch the project for donations in July, and then invite our partner agencies to startwriting vouchers for their clients in September. Kind, warm, approachable – carry on with the way the foodbank is doing it. **...follow the foodbank’s lead, as it already operates with great levels of empathy and is non-judgmental.** ## Lighten the load Our Store House in Matching Tye is the beating heart of our operations. Last year we told of how generous donation of Lawsons Builders to us,this barn was transformed by an unbelievably creating our offices on the mezzanine floor and upscaling our capacity hugely. Without it we could have never tackled the demands of the pandemic. Then... wonder of wonders, Lawsons oursponsoring building firm gave us all the steel we breathtakingly generous offer has future-proofedneeded to replace the current beams. This our operations and as we go to press with this report the whole place is now done: 10 times stronger and ready for anything! Hallelujah!! However… about half way through the year wenoticed that the mezzanine really wasn’t built to handle the tonnage we were taking in: the upperfloor was buckling under the strain. We had to quickly lighten the load! HarlowCouncil helped us find an overflow storage space at HTS, and later the Trussell Trust funded another at Lok’nStore. Then Wincanton,Edinburgh Way offered us free space and the Land Sherriff's free use of a van to move everything. 12 ## Head Office Andy Thornton– Chief Executive Officer, Company Secretary (commenced Sept 2020) David Evans – Director of Community Services Margaret O’Donovan – Director of Operations **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## Harlow Foodbank Belinda Glanfield – Manager, St Paul’s Satellite Adrian Smith—Assistant Manager (Bank), St Paul’s Satellite ## Store House Patrick Coppeard – Store House Manage ## Bounty Club Trevor Stanesby – Bounty Club Coordinator ## Maybury Open Door Clair Forway – Community Worker Suzie Raraty – Community Worker Karolina Sadowska – Community Worker Michael Raven – Assistant Community Worker Liz Bellworthy – Bank Worker Moira Luff – Bank Worker Bump-to-Five Fernanda Champness —Bump to Five Project Manager ## MRCT Trustees Jeanette Ehlers (Chair) Pat Balkwill Gary Pattimore David Norkett Teresa Knott (Co-Founder and Trustee) ## Honorary **----- Start of picture text -----**
Fernanda
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Robert Carrington – Honorary Treasurer MRCT achieves so much because of our amazingvolunteers! We have ten times more volunteers than staff. In the past year our volunteers have been extra-flexible: some have had to shield and others have doubled the amount of time they could offer. We can’t thank them enough!! Our volunteers help with all the projects that you have read about, and we are always looking for more as we expand. From sorting food or baby’s items to picking up, working at Maybury, helping with a Supermarket day for a few hours every 6 months to being involved in a project or campaign group, there are so many ways to help us help others! Check out the new volunteers page on our web site for full details of how, where and when you might get involved! **mrct.org.uk/getinvolved/volunteer/** 13 This report has catalogued so many exceptional partnerships and donations that characterised the past year. We could never have been ready for any of these if it were not for many years of strong community relations, giving us the capacity to respond to people in and around Harlow. Many of the partnerships below have been the mainstay of years of our work and we want to thank them hugely for maintaining this in 20 - 21. **The Bounty Club operates a refrigerated van picking up three days a week from food wholesalers in order to get fresh food to individuals and organisations who support communities in need. This also enables us to give fresh food to recipients at our Foodbank. Picking up this food also avoids thousands of kgs of fresh food going to landfills every year, redirecting it to those who otherwise could not afford it.** Bidfood provide a wide variety of surplus, short dated, soft drinks and fresh food for us to redistribute across the town. Through doing this they help schools, disadvantaged people and local agencies. Brakes provide a wide range of surplus, short dated fresh food and meat, allowing us to access their stock and choose what we can distribute to partners, schools, individuals and the Foodbank. **Harlow Foodbank stops people going hungry by acting as a resource for frontline professionals who are supporting people in need across the town. Over 200 professionals and organisations can write vouchers which authorise their clients to pick up enough food for at least four days. Individuals can also ask the Foodbank for help, and they will always be helped and at the same time referred to a supportive agency to address the causes of their lack of money for food.** St. Paul’s Church in the town centre hosts our foodbank for four days a week. We thank them for their huge support for us and for the people of Harlow. They are true allies and show constant flexibility and cooperation in our mission. Thanks so much! The Salvation Army in Harlow our second wonderful delivery partner. They operate the Foodbank on the day that Saint Paul’s church is not open, deploying their team member and resources as true partners in our mission to support those in need. We are so grateful to them! UK Salads have provided an assortment of fresh salad items each week which we can then distribute to clients at the foodbank. their consistent support has helped thousands this year. High Trees Packers’ consistent generosity has enabled us to provide a supply of fresh potatoes through the Foodbank year on year. This is a hugely valuable resource to people in need. Greenways Eggs continue to provide our Foodbank in Harlow town centre with a supply of fresh eggs each week which helps to complement the range of non-perishable food we give to all our Foodbank referrals. Thanks again to Jenny Fish for her great support. Special thanks again to Tescos who have not only allowed us to pick up a huge amount of food from all the supermarkets around the town but they also top up the amount given by donors in the store with a further 20% of financial contribution to help without running costs. They, and their customers have been phenomenal this year. Thanks too to Sainsbury's for faithfully providing a place for their customers to contribute donations of food to our Foodbank, day in and day out. Thanks for keeping them safe when they overflowed many times this year! Many thanks to Asda in the water gardens for such warm cooperation in providing a receptacle for donations from their customers. Again, this year these overflowed and fresh ones were provided when full. Lok’nStore have supported our work since we opened in 2009 come up currently providing a drop off point for food donations throughout the year. This has been a consistent and fantastic resource, thanks so much! Poundland have been an invaluable community partner since 2017. Providing a wide range of nonperishable foods, toiletries, household items, sweets and drinks, these add important extras to local people in crisis. Not to mention 21,000 eggs! SES Group provided a hugely generous party for Harlow children who might not have had a present last Christmas. We acted as a go-between with local agencies who knew who they might be, and the staff team at SAS group went chose, bought, wrapped and gave out presents (and more) at a special event. 14 Land Sherriff’s approached us at Christmas to support families in need. They ended up buying beautiful Body Shop cosmetic gifts for mums (often the most overlooked) who came to the Foodbank. This was a very thoughtful treat… they also lend us their big vans for special occasions! Thanks so much! Thanks to iRead books for donating thousands of childrens, puzzle and colouring in books as bonus items for the FoodBank and also to other agencies we partner with across the town. **Maybury Open Door operates their drop in in two centres across the town. We thanks our hosts St Paul’s and Harefield Churches who so warmly and committedly partner with us to provide this enduring safe space for attendees.** **Based on the edge of town, the store house hosts our offices as well as a copious two storey storage space for food and other items that are donated to us.** We cannot thank our partners, Lawson's builders, enough for sponsoring our vans, for renovating our store house by installing office spaces for the whole organisation, and this year by donating 72 steel girders that now underpin the 1st floor making it strong enough for the kind of quantities of food we are now storing and redistributing. Lawson’s have given us a free van and forklift and service the forklift for us. This family-run business exemplify generosity and social responsibility and have inconspicuously changed so many lives in our town. HTS saved our skin this year by offering us overflow space for our stock when the storehouse got full. They have continued to be supportive this year by allowing us to keep using that space as the store for children’s items that will be given out in the bump to five project. Their flexibility has been fantastic and enabled us to grow our services to the town. Thanks too to Wincancton distribution centre for offering us free shelf space for our food when we were otherwise full at the Store House! We are deeply grateful to Harlow Council and also to the Mulberry Trust for underpinning the costs of running the store house. We would like to thank Bristol Street Motors who diligently support us by offering free services and cost price repairs to our fleet of 3 vans. They keep us on the road! Nictors ~~ee~~ **The Michael Roberts Charitable Trust is the parent organisation that runs the projects operated above. Founded in 1998 by Teresa and Gary Knott, the Trust has flexibility to respond to a wide range of needs in Harlow and the surrounding areas.** We would like to thank the Trussell Trust, our associates in running the Foodbank. The Trussell trust runs a national network of Foodbanks offering guidance through regional staff, materials, partnerships, data management, additional grants, networking, statistical analysis, national campaigning advice and solidarity. We want to thank our colleagues at the Bishop Stortford Foodbank for our ongoing close working partnership. This allows us both to get the best out of working in neighbouring towns, sharing ideas and resources to the full. We would like to thank all organisations in Harlow who partner with us by referring those in need to the Foodbank. These partnerships go much deeper than writing vouchers: we are in constant touch with frontline staff who advise us on the best way to respond and collaborate in addressing the needs of those facing poverty in Harlow. In particular we would like to thank Rainbow Services, Harlow’s central support charity for the other charities and agencies in the town. We thank them and Harlow Council for the amazing response they facilitated to the coronavirus through the Community Hub. 15 All Churches Hope Beyond Fund (funding support) ASDA (food collection point) Bidfood, Harlow (surplus fresh food supplies) Bishop’s Stortford Foodbank (foodbank partner) Brakes, Harlow (surplus fresh food supplies) Bristol Street Motors (van servicing and repair) Burnt Mill Academy (student supermarket collections) CAF Resilience Fund (funding support) Church and School partners (general and harvest food donations) Church Langley Church (funding partner)) Church of Holy innocents, High Beach (funding partner) Country Food Trust (high protein game food pouches) Create Identitee (MRCT clothing) Essex Alliance of Local Councils (funding support) Essex Community Foundation (funding support) Free Cakes for Kids (celebration cakes for foodbank client’s children) Freshwaters Church (funding partner) From a Mother to Another (children’s clothing donations) Front-Line Professional Agencies (community partners) Gateway Freedom Church (funding partner) Greenways Eggs (egg donations) Halifax (foodbank delivery point and cash collection boxes) Harefield Church, Harlow (free use of building) Harlow Council (Store House funding support) Harlow Health Centres Trust (funding support) Heart4Harlow (community partner) High Beach Church, Epping Forest (regular funding partner) High Trees Packers (potato donations) HTS Group, Harlow (storage space and waste disposal) Land Sherriff’s (Christmas gifts for mums) Lawsons (Whetstone) Ltd (vehicle and equipment donations, office rebuild) Local Giving Foundation Community Match Challenge (funding support) LoknStore (foodbank delivery point) Mayfield Farm Bakery (bread and rolls donations) Mulberry Trust, Harlow (significant funding support) Passmores Academy (student supermarket collections) Poundland Distribution Centre Harlow (food, toiletry and household donations) Rainbow Services (community partner) Robert Halfon MP Rodect Pest Control (pest control partner) Rotary Club of Harlow Tye (funding support) Sainsbury’s, Harlow and Bishop’s Stortford (foodbank collection point) Salvation Army, Harlow (foodbank satellite centre on Wednesdays) Santander (foodbank delivery point) SES Group (Christmas gifts for children) Sobell Charitable Trust (funding partner) St Paul’s Church, Harlow (discounted use of building) Stansted Airport (London) (food, toiletry and gift donations) Stuart & Kathryn Tinney, Housham Hall Farm (landlords) Swithenbank, Hoddesdon (surplus fresh food supplies) Tesco, Harlow and Bishop’s Stortford (foodbank collection point and cash top-up) Trussell Trust Foodbank Network (foodbank partner) UK Salads (salad donations) Waitrose, Bishop’s Stortford (foodbank collection point) ## **Michael Roberts Charitable Trust** Store House, Unit 8, Housham Hall Farm, Harlow Road, Matching Tye, Harlow CM17 0PB Tel: 01279 724515 Email: enquiries@mrct.org.uk **www.mrct.org.uk** Registered Charity No: 1065006 Registered Company No: 3439299 REGISTERED NUMBER- 03439299 (ETrgla￿d & Wxles) CHARITY NUMBER: 1065006 of the Trustees snd UD3udited Financial Sta ements f r the Year Ended 31" March 2021 The Micha Roberts haritable Tryst Limited Gu#rnnt The Michael Roberts Charitable Trnst Limiied h Guarantee Contents of the FinaNcial.¢iiatemertts for th nded 31. March 2021 Charity Infi)rn)ation Report of the Trnstee5 Stat¢ment of Financial Activities Balance Sheet Trnstee Statement Notes io the Financial Statements Income and Expenditur¢ Account Annual Review Stsiement 10 The Michael Roberf8 Charitable Trust LI￿lted bi Guarantee Charih. Information for the 'car ended 31. March 2021 TRUSTEES: J Ehlers (Chair of Trustee5) P Balkwill TAKnott D C Norkett J R Wo(K1￿.ard (resigned September ?020) G Izzard {resigned 18, Augusi 2020) G Pattimore NB: Trustees art also Director5 of the Company REGISTERED OFFICE: Unil 8 Housham Hall Fami Harlo￿ Road Matching Tye Harlo CM170PB REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 3439?99 (England and Wales) ACCOUNTANTS: Pigram & Co Unit 5 Hatfield Regis Gtan8e Business Units Hatfield Broad Oak Bishop s Stortford Hcrtfordshi CM22 7JZ REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1065006 BANK: Barclays Bank PIC 14 The Water Gardens Centre Harlo Essex CM20 1 AN Page I ael Roberts Charit#ble Trust ranttt Limite ort of th¢ Trust or the ea rch 202 The TThstec$. who are also Directors of the Charity for the purpose of the Comp￿1¢$ Act 2006. prKent th¢ir report tO8Cth¢i with the f&nancial sraiements of the C¢)mpODy forthe year ending 31$1 Mar¢h 2021. PRINCIPAL ACTivrrY The principal activity of the Company iti the y¢ar ll[￿er review was that of a Christiin Charity, working in the ¢ommunity with a wide rang¢ of people, including p¢ople with a leamith8 1 physical dis8bility, peopl¢ vulttcrabl¢ and I or isol#t¢d through homelessne&% or being vulncTrbly hou5cd and people in Crisis with emergency food. The Company also worked with loc81 fresh food tompaDies assisting them to reduc¢ thetr surplus fo(Ml by picking it UP and redistribu(ing it into th¢ lo¢al ￿r￿M￿nity to froni-line prof¢ssional car¢ agencies. The governing do¢ument is th¢ Memoranthlln Ènd Arti¢l¢s of Association of the Company. All Tnt$ie¢s offerthems¢lves for electi(th at the forthcomiD8 Annual Gener21 Meetin& This r¢port has ￿¢￿ prepared in accgrdancc with th¢ sp￿181 ptDViSiODS of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 r¢]atittg to small compani¢s. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD . Andrew Thomton Dat¢d- Pagt 2 The Miehael Roberts Charitable Trust Limited b Guarantee Balance Sheet A5 at 31. Mar¢h 2021 31° Msrch 2021 313t March 2020 Notes FIXED ASSETS Fixture5 & Firtin¥s Cost Less.. Depreciation 6.?4? 26 34 Motor vehicles Bounty Club Van Cosi Foodbank Van Cost Less.. Depreciation 13.500 13.431 26.931 13.500 13.431 ?6 34 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors Cash at bank and in hand 4.466 ?42 759 5.471 144.559 246.725 150,030 CURRENT LIABILITIES Atnounts falling due within one yrar 11.638 ?1.884 NET CURRENT ASSETS 235,087 128,146 NET ASSETS 23S.113 12&180 FUNDS UNRESTRICTED FUNDS General 137.011 101.626 RESTRICTED FUNDS Foodbank StOT¢house Upkeep Stor¢house Renb'utiliiies Bountv Club Redundanoy Reserve Maybury Open D(K>r 62.470 5.776 1.574 1.723 26.554 26.554 235 113 128,180 Page 4 Th¢ Mieh# l Roberts Cb ritable Trttrt Limlted Guarantee Trustees Statem¢nÉ For the ¢ar ended 31° Mareh 2021 The chwity is entitled to ¢xemption from audit under Section 477 of the Compatiies Act 2006 f¢x th¢ ye8r ended 31# March 2W21. The m¢mbers have not required the Company to obtsith ao audit of its fJnffj¢ial 5tstements for the y¢ar ended 31° March 2￿21 in a¢cordan¢e with Section 476 of the Companies A¢t 2006. The Trustees a¢knowledge their responsibilities frpr. (a) ensuring that th¢ Cornpany keeps xcouniing rEcords Yhich comply with Sectio￿$ 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and (b) pr¢paring f￿ancial ststements which give a true alld fair vfftew of the st&te of affatrs of the Company as ai the ¢nd of ¢ach fjnancial year and of its profit or 105$ for each fJnan¢ial y¢ar tn 8ecordan¢e with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which othrrwise comply with th¢ requir¢m¢nts of the Companies A¢t 2006 reiating to ruJan¢ial statem¢Dts. so far &$ app]icabl¢ to tht CompaDy. These financial ststernents havt been prepared in 8eeordan¢e with the spccial provisRoThs of Part 15 of th¢ Companie5 Act 2006 relating to small companies. The financial stattm¢nts were approved by the Twste¢s on Weth¢sday P Juty 2021 alld w¢r¢ 5i8lled on their behalf by.. Jeanett hl¢r5 This p8ge fomy port of these financial statanents Page 5 The Michael Roberts Charitable Trust Limited bv Cu#rantee Notes to the Financial Statement$ for the ear ended 31 %t March 2021 STATUTORY INFORMATION The Michael Roberts Charitable Trnsi is a private company. lirniied by guardntee. registered in England and Wal¢s. The company's registered number and regiAered office address can ￿ found on the Charity Infonnacion page. ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of preparing the financial statements These financial statements ha￿'t been prepared in aeeordance with the provisions of Section l A "Small Entities" of Financial Reporting Siandard 10? -The Finan¢ial RerM)ning Stsndard applicable in thc UK and Republic of Ireland. and the Compani¢5 Act ?006. The financial sweTnents have b¢¢n prcpared under ih¢ historical cosi eonvention. Turnoi'er Turnover represents donations and gift% as analysed in ihe Stat¢meni of Financial Activitie& measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable. excluding dI￿oun1s. rebate5, value added tax and other sale5 taxes. Tangible fixed assets Depreciation is provided ￿ the following annual rates in ord¢r to write off each ass¢t over its estimated u%ful Fixiures and fittinos Compuier equipment Molor vehicles on reductng balance ?50/0 on redu¢in(p balan¢e 33.30/* on cosi Taxation The Compan) is a registered charity ￿ defined by the Chartii¢s Act 1960 and &s such no taxation has been provided for in these accounts. Hir¢ ptsrehase and leasing etsmmitments Rentals paid under operdiing leases are charged to profit or loss ¢)n a straight-line b&sis over the period Of the lease. EMPLOYEES AND DIRECTORS The average number of etnplo)'ees during the y¢ar was 5. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS ixtures & Fittin Moior Vthicles Total COST: At I, April ?020 Additions At31"March ?021 6.242 26.931 615 33,788 ?6.931 615 33.788 DEPRECIATION.. At l 4 April ?020 Charge for Year At31, Mar¢h2021 6.208 26.931 615 33.754 6.216 ?6,931 615 33,762 NET BOOK VALUE At 31°March 2021 26 ?6 At 31" MaTch 2020 34 34 These notes forni part ofthese fmancial ststements Page 6 contÈnued... The Michael Roberts Ch Limited bi, Cuarantee rita le Trust Noteg to the Financial Statements for the ear ended 31, March 2021 DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 315¢ March 21 31° March 20 Tax recoverable Rent deposil 716 3.750 1,7?] 3,750 4.466 5.471 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DVE WITHIN ONE YEAR 3151 March 21 31" March 20 Orher creditors and accruals Garfield Wesion Grani 1.638 10.000 1.884 20.000 11.638 21.884 RESTRICTED FUNDS A full description of the restricted ￿nd$ is contsined in the Report of the Trustees. Financial detAils are ¢ontained in the Statement of Financial Aaiviiies on page i. HARLOW FOODBANK Harlow Foodbank received non-perishabl¢ f(bod donations i(Aalling 192,413 Kg. During the year 169,077 Kg of non-perishable f(KKi was distributed to people in crisis and froni-line prof¢s5ional agenci￿ and ai the Balanee Sheet da￿ 23.336 Kg of nOn-￿rIShabl¢ fo￿ w&$ held for dimrit￿l]0n in 202 Ir22. BOUNTY CLUB The Bount> Club received and distribuied 15.156 Kg of fresh chilled surplus fiMKI to front-line professional agencie& Organi￿lon$. foodbank clients and charities in Harlow during the finoncial year. io. RECYCLIIYG PROJECT MRCT has continued to develop tN)siiive partnership relaiionships in ?0)0121 with Stsnsied Airport (London) and Poundland Disiribuiion Centre (Harlow). The fomier was heavily affect¢d by the COVID lockdown. During ihis financial year ihe charity has received the following from thes¢ two pathers which has been distributed back into the ¢ommunity= Stanst¢d Airport= 687 Kg Poundland Distribuiion Centre (Harlow)= 3.009 Kg liems being recycled include non-perishable fo(KL toiletries. household pr￿UCts. soft drinks. perfumes sweets and other &8sorted miscellaneous produ¢ts H'hieh have been distributed to front-line professional agencies, charilie& foodbank clients and oiher local organisations. MAYBURY OPEN DOOR £21.175 was received from the CAF Resilien¢e Fund for Maybury Open tkn>r. These notes forni part of these financial statements Page 7 The Miebael Roberts Ch3ritable Trust Limited b Guarantee Income F.x nditure Account for the ear ended I" March 2021 315t March 2021 319¢ Mar¢h 2020 IrEcome VOLUNTARY SOURCES General Donaiion5 Majbury Open Door Bount}. Club Harlow. Foodbank Harlow Foodbank Storehouse Upkeep Harlow Foodbank Storehouse Utilities Sales 50.448 46.973 24.•75 164,89) 9,0¢)0 26.500 85,540 11,650 79 GROSS PROFIT 276,998 175,109 Other iDcorne Bank Interest 3?5 549 549 277,323 175,658 Exp¢n5e5 DIRECT CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE Salary 114.998 116.083 COMMUNITY SERVICES PROJECTS Ma}'bury Open Door Harlow Foodbank Storehouse- new equipment, renewal& refuTbishm¢ 1,431 6.000 3,)94 129.044 127.159 PROFITIILOSS) CARRIED FORWARD 148279 48.499 This page does not forni part of these finon¢ial statements Page 8 The Michael Roberts Charit ble Tru Lirnited b . Guarantee Income and Ex nditure Aceoun for the ear ended 31" March 2021 314 Mareh 2021 31" March 2020 Brought foTward 148.279 48.499 OTHER EXPENDITURE Rent Tel¢phone & Internet Printing. Postage & Siaiionery Motoring COSLS Training Accountancy Donations Publicity & Income Generatio Insurance & Professional Bank Charges Trdv¢lling ?2.517 2.398 18.420 2.loi 3.74? 663 4.657 636 1,500 1,132 1,51)0 2.333 5.118 101 364 .153 41.338 39,073 106,941 9.4?6 Depreeiation Fixtures & Fittings Motor Vehicles 12 12 NET SURPLUSI{DEFICIT) 106.933 This page does noi form part of these financial slatements Page 9 The Mieh#el Roberts Charita Limited b Cuarantee le Trust Annual Review Statemefjt The attached Accounts for the year ended )1* March ?O?I have been prepared from infomiation. records and cxplanations supplied and in accordance with ￿Tren1 guidelines. No issues wotthy of being r¢p)rted ro the Treasurer have arisen during the year. l am saiisfied thai ihe surplus of Income over Expendiiure of£106.933 represents the charit> s aciiviiies for the period and that ihe caTried foNard monetar). balances agree ￿'1th the bank and building socieij accounts of the charity. Signed= die.. 12 Jvcy %£ I Pigram & Co Unit 5 Hatfield Regis Grange Business Units Hatfield Broad Oak Bishop s Stortford Hcrtfordshire CM?? 7JZ This page does not fonn port of the statutory rtnancial statements Pag¢ 10 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Cvs On accounts for the year ended 31" n4Qrf Charlty no (if any) /olSoO Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination o charity (Ihe Trusf) for the year ended 3 1 the counts of the above 2•21. Responsibilities and basis of report As th8 charit￿S trustees. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordan￿ with the requirements of the Charities A￿ 2011 {Ihe A￿). I report in resFeCt of my examination of the Trust's a¢￿Unts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the aP￿iCable Direth'ons gtven by the Charity Commission under sectton 145(5Xb} of the Act. Independent IThe chariisvs gross income exceeded £250,000 and l am qualthed to examlner's statement undertake the examination by being a qualtFied member of linsert nam8 of applicable listed bodyll. Delele [ l rfnot applicable. I have completed my examination. I confim that no material matters have come to my attention in connection Trmth the examination (other than that disclosed below I vthich gives me cause to believe that in. any matérial respect. the accounting records V￿re not kept in accordan￿ with section 130 of the Chartties Act: or the accounts did not accord V￿th the accounting records; or the accounts did not compty with the applicable requirements ¢onceming the fom and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fairf view which is not a matter considered a$ part of an independent examination. I have no COn￿mS and have come across no other matters in connection wrth the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a rrfoper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. . Plaa l&te the words in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Slgned: Name: Relevant professional qualification{s) or b_ody IER Oct 2018 Ilf any): Address: Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of con￿rn (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018