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Melton & District Furniture Project Annual report 2024/2025

Registered charity number: 1086010 Company Registration Number: 4105094

Location & Contact Information

Address

The warehouse 3B Park Road Melton Mowbray Leicestershire LE13 1TT

Telephone number 01664 410380

E-mail address melton@meltonfurnitureproject.co.uk

Website address

www.meltonfurnitureproject.co.uk

Facebook page website address www.facebook.com/mdfp1987

Contents
Chairmans Report	Page 4
Company Report	Page 5
Achievements & Performances	Page 6
Structure, Governance & Management	Page 7
Trustees And Staff	Page 8
Statement Of Intent	Page 9
Training	Page 10
People Involved	Page 12
Statistics	Page 13
Main Objectives	Page14
Statement Of The Financial Year	Page 16
Balance Sheet	Page 17

Chairman’s Report.

The project has been very busy this year and we have helped many families and individuals who are in need and we fulfilled our referral system requirements, also to people who drop in to access items they require.

Our new volunteers and long term volunteers have done very, very well and we could not operate without them. Also we must thank our hard working staff. They have been very proactive and have steered the project into a healthy position, we thank the board for their valued input. They welcomed two new members.

A big thank you to the communities of Melton, Melton District and Rutland for their continued donations and support. Their continued donations of many assorted items helps us do our much needed work. This also gives preloved furniture, household goods and small electrical items a new home to many who may not have resources to purchase new items.

We had to replace our fuel storage tank which took some reserves but unfortunately it had to be done. We look forward to 2025/2026 and we hope we will continue to be an asset to the Melton Borough and Rutland County Council who continue to support us in our work.

I hope you find this annual report interesting and a window into what we do.

Mr Ivor Ruddle Chairman

Company Report

Project Report on Behalf Of The Directors

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statement of the charity for the year ended 31st March 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective January 2015).

Objectives & Activities

Objectivities & Aims

The company is a charity and its objectives are to assist, either generally or individually, persons resident in the borough of Melton District and Rutland County Council who are in conditions of need, hardship and distress:

the provision of furniture and other household accessories calculated to reduce the need, hardship of such persons; and
the relief of unemployment by provision of training, advice and support.

To achieve these objectives, the company operates a furniture recycling project utilising the services of volunteers and trainees on placement schemes. Furniture and household items are collected from all over the Melton Borough and County of Rutland, cleaned and restored as necessary and re-distributed to qualifying people in the area. At the same time volunteers and trainees receive experience and instruction in dealing with the public, handling goods and warehouse duties and office responsibilities.

The directors have taken due account of the guidelines laid down by the Charity Commission in meeting the requirements as described in principles 1 and 2 regarding identifiable public benefits and feel that this Project meets with them. This Project additionally assists the donating public to make a significant contribution to the local authority targets in its area of benefit to meet their “waste stream” obligations.

Achievements & Performances

Charitable activities

Total incoming resources for the year amounted to £95,163 with total resources expended of £89,252 resulting in net incoming resources of £5,911 (2021: net incoming resources of £19,101). The total value of services provided by volunteers and work experience placements has not been included, but is calculated to be in the region of £42,960 for the year. General reserves stood at £61,643 at 31 March 2024.

The Rutland Project showed net outgoing resources for the year with no balance brought forward therefore gave rise to the transfer from the general fund to support it. The directors are looking at ways to improve the position of the Rutland Project including grants available and improving awareness in the area.

Financial Review

Investment Policy & Objectives

The directors have considered the most appropriate policy for investing funds and maintain high interest bank accounts for this purpose.

Reserves Policy

The directors have established a policy whereby reserves are set aside for capital asset replacement for staff costs in case emergency cover is required, and for redundancies. A current account is used for online banking.

Structure, Governance & Management

Governing Document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by Companies Act 2006.

Recruitment & Appointment of New Trustees

The methods adopted for the recruitment of new directors are by seeking from the volunteer pool persons with interest, expertise and / or time to give for this purpose and to actively encourage their participation as directors of the Project.

Members

Members of the charitable company guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £10 to the assets of the charitable company in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees on 31 March 2023 was 5.

Induction & Training of New Trustees

New directors are given written guidance on trustee duties and responsibilities.

Approved by order of the board of trustees and signed on its behalf by:

Mr I Ruddle Chairman

Trustees and Staff Melton and District Furniture Project

Volunteer voting board members of the board

Chairman

Ivor Ruddle

Directors

Merelyn Greaves Leanda Smalley Gloria Blaney Graham Greaves – Volunteer Representative Fran Hearn Scott Cooper

Bookkeeper

Sarah Amos Foxwise Accountancy limited 22a Burton Street Melton Mowbray Leicestershire LE13 1AF

Staff

Project Manager – 22 hours Driver Assistant – 22 hours Personal Assistant – 8 hours Cleaner – 4 hours

Melton Borough Council Representative member

Councillor – Pat Cumbers

Statement of intent on equal opportunities

The Melton & District Furniture Project recognises that everyone has a contribution to make to our society and a right to equality. We aim to ensure that no job applicant, staff member, volunteer, organisation or individual to whom we provide services will be discriminated against, by us on the grounds of: -

Age;
Class;
Disability;
Employment status;
• Political belief, religion;
Race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins;
Sex, marital status, childcare responsibilities; or
Sexuality.

Introduction

The project was established in 1987, at a time when the idea of giving preloved furniture, household and small electrical items to a second home was sweeping the county. We have gone on to provide thousands of items every year to low income families/individuals, reducing items no longer wanted from going to landfill. We established a referral system, to allow us to work with other charities and help those in dire need who have nothing.

Our project has grown over the last three decades, from one person with a van, to a community that welcomes volunteers of varying ages and skills. The Melton Borough Council has funded our project since its conception. We are very grateful that they understand our purpose and values.

The Volunteers

Volunteers are at the heart of our project. Without their support we would not be able to function as we do. Our volunteers have varied backgrounds. We have volunteers with learning challenges, mental health issues, drug and alcohol dependency and other disabilities.

We are able to provide training for our valued volunteers to aid them in getting back into paid employment or offer them a place of sanctuary and a chance to

excel in a safe environment with a friendly team of colleagues. For some this is their only social interaction and we pride ourselves on forming a community where everyone is welcome and feel part of the team.

It is an honour to welcome those who wish to give their time from wherever they are in life. Our aim will always be to encourage and give opportunity to those who need it.

Training

Many of the long-standing volunteers ‘buddy train’ our new starters in the roles they wish to do at the project. We always encourage them to try every department.

We offer training and experience in:-

Warehouse

Retail / sales / using tills / filling in forms / interacting with customers / locating and selling items / answering enquiries / marking items that are sold (these are coloured coded for anyone facing any challenges.)

Bric a brac department

Bric a brac shop sales / calculating totals / wrapping items / answering enquiries / pricing items / sorting out items for sale / cash handling.

Reception

Taking money from customers (cash handling) / arranging delivery dates / using a Barclaycard machine / some village delivery/ colour coordinated red/blue delivery data base usage.

Telephone answering / using phones for arranging collections / taught how to speak to customers / using collection data base / 4 weekly wipe delivery board for vehicle and volunteers to use to arrange routes.

Office duties

Photocopying / composing letters on a laptop / filing paper work / designing forms.

Volunteers can also assist with helping with petty cash book / testing electrical items / sorting and pricing bric a brac items / sweeping and polishing / tidying the unit.

Vehicle

Driving the vehicle / assisting / introducing themselves to the public / interacting with the public / ensuring correct trained manual handling / following polices.

The project will help with: -

Building confidence
Offer support
Reduce isolation
Improve skills
Offer learning opportunities
Offer help and advice with access to work and references
Increase help in the community
Provide more opportunities for people to socialise
Above all a reason to get up and go out where they are valued as a
person.

Job centre

We work very closely with the Job Centre and have a good working relationship with their job coaches. Sometimes we receive referrals for those who are unemployed to experience volunteering as a starting point to gaining paid employment. We can provide training for this as well as an opportunity to learn new skills or develop current skills further. We also help with references if they need one. Many of our volunteers have been successful in finding work with our help and our partners

Statistics

If volunteers were paid £12.21 an hour, they have saved the funding stream £107,850.93 in unpaid work and given their skills and commitment over the April 1st 2024 to 31st March 2025 period. Our volunteers gave every hour for free. They work hard and endure stress at times but they all believe in, ‘Working for a common goal-The community’.

Those involved with the Melton & district furniture Project During 2023/2024 Current volunteers

Darren Mclean Ivor Ruddle Neil Close Merelyn Greaves Scott Cooper Gloria Blaney Leanda Smalley Fran Hearn Darren Hazelwood Barbara Mortimer Anne Cheeseman Aaron Jackson Christine Scott Dennis Stanley Sharon Jackson Selina Peake Luke Wayne Alan Sleath Volunteers who joined us Volunteers who moved on Micheal Matts Outcomes We have 3 first aiders, 2 health and safety, 2 fire marshals and 1 volunteer representative.

Statstcs	Statstcs	Statstcs	Statstcs	Statstcs	Statstcs
month	Volunteer hours	Items collected	total deliveries	Rutland millage	Melton mileage
April 2024	818	281	36	193	392
May 2024	876	241	41	118	696
June 2024	848	829	31	115	504
July 2024	770	272	29	132	635
August 2024	884	273	36	188	580
September 2024	645	227	28	151	335
October 2024	726	204	44	179	450
November 2024	676	320	30	261	430
December 2024	504	139	15	168	243
January 2025	774	269	25	42	537
February 2025	604	165	28	91	434
March 2025	708	228	46	190	491
Total	8833	3448	389	1828	5718

Unable to produce tonnage of items saved from landfill due to new form used for recycling credits, it goes by how many items now. From 01/04/24 to 31/03/25 we sold a total of 3874 items.

Main objectives of the organisation

To relieve either generally or individually, persons who reside in the Borough of Melton and the County of Rutland (areas of benefit) who are in need, due to hardship or distress, by : -

Providing furniture and other household accessories, including electrical appliances, which in turn reduce landfill and offer the residents of both an alternative to tipping thus reducing potential pollution and waste.
Relieving the needs of hardship or distress of such persons in need by providing furniture, household accessories and bric-a-brac. A referral scheme which is linked into local social service and charity providers. It ensures help is available for the neediest to access this as an emergency service.
The relief of unemployment by the provision of work experience, training, support, guidance and help back into work.
To provide a supportive educational environment for special needs, mental health and other groups who for any reason have a temporary or permanent inability to maintain an effective role in mainstream employment.

Current Services

Re-use and testing of electrical goods.
Re-use of furniture and household accessories and furnishings.
Bric-a-brac shop
Volunteer opportunities
Training of volunteers and preparation for work

Anticipated Developments

Build on our training and record keeping
More training for staff and volunteers
To keep updating the warehouse members of staff
Continue to apply for further funding for Project running costs
Encourage more Re-use donations

• To continue to develop the relationship with Melton Borough Council and Rutland County Council to try to meet their waste stream policy targets Families and individuals can come in and purchase our items that start at £5 for small furniture items, i.e. coffee tables. We aim to provide a service in which our clients are able to experience a shop/retail environment. Many people on benefits or low income lose the ability to choose. We ensure that when they enter, they are feeling like they are entering a furniture shop, but the prices are within their range.

To better advertise our referral systems we emailed our supporters and also sent leaflets and posters.

Brand-new three-piece suites can be too much for some individuals/families to afford and due to the amazing support we receive, we are able to offer them with prices starting from £50. In order to maintain this we do not make profit at the end of each year.

Our prices reflect what we are able to budget for each year and by doing so our Committee insist we are following our core aims. We have been able to help 2,769 individuals and families to access low cost items, reducing waste and offering an alternative for those on low income.

Melton and District Furniture Project Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended

31 MARCH 2025

Incoming Resources Incoming and endowments from Donatons and Legacies 1 Other trading actvites 2 Investment Income 3 Resources Expended Costs of Generatng Funds Establishment expenses Staf costs Vehicle running costs Volunteer / placement costs Administraton Cost of goods sold Total Resources Expended Net Income/(Expenditure) Reconciliaton of Funds Total funds brought forward	2025 2024 Unrestricted Restricted Total Total Funds Funds Funds Funds £ £ £ £ 4705 9,310 14,015 12805 77624 13,175 90,799 96904 1409 0 1,409 28
	83738 22485 106223 109737
	23062 4070 27132 29822 30201 4,874 35075 59971 4098 2,204 6302 7475 1,266 223 1490 2625 7,131 1,258 8389 6976 0 0 0 0
	65,758 12,629 78,388 106,869

	17,980 9,855 27,835 2,869
	25,047 40,335 65,382 62,512 16

Total funds carried forward

43,027

50,190 93,217 65,382

Melton and District Furniture Project Balance Sheet as at 31[st] March 2025

Fixed Assets Notes Tangible Assets 8 Current Assets Debtors 9 Cash at bank and in hand Current Liabilites Creditors - amounts falling due within one year Net Current Assets Total Net Assets Funds Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds	Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds 15843 0	2025 2024 Total Total Funds Funds 15843 4447
	165 0 56608 20356	165 0 76964 61717
	56773 20356	77129 61717
	1161 0	1161 781
	55612 20356	75968 60935

	71454 20356	91808 65382
		71,454 45,028 20,356 20,356
		91808 65,382

2025-03-31-accounts