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← School Food Matters

2025-08-31-accounts

Annual Report and Accounts For the year ended 31 August 2025

Registered Company Number: 06657048 • Registered Charity Number: 1134094

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

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Contents

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||| |---|---| |A word from our Chair of Trustees|3| |Impact of our programmes|4| |Report of the Trustees|6| |Independent auditors’ report|22| |Statement of financial activities|27| |Balance sheet|28| |Cash flow statement|29| |Notes to the financial statements|30|

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A word from our Chair of Trustees

This year is my last as Chair of Trustees and what a wonderful year of celebration it’s been, with two significant campaign victories and recognition for our Chief Executive. And 2025 was the year we published our ambitious strategy for 2025– 2030 with a focus on scaling our impact across the country.

School Food Matters (SFM) knows that food is fundamental to children’s health, happiness and their ability to learn, and schools have the power to nurture positive relationships with food that can last a lifetime. That’s why the team at SFM works hard to ensure that each of the 2,660 lunches served to a child during their time at school, from reception to Year 13, is delicious and nutritious. Our Nourish programme has now reached 214 schools in eight local authorities, getting the very best out of the school meal service through targeted engagement with children, young people, school staff, senior leaders, governors and parents. This evidence–based intervention, which started life in two London boroughs, has been commissioned in new regions across the country including Birmingham, Cumberland and Hertfordshire.

Our experience working in schools also informs our advocacy, bringing the voices of teaching staff, children and families to the policy table. This year we saw two major campaign wins: the extension of free school meals to an additional 500,000 children from families receiving Universal Credit, and a commitment to review the school food standards so that all food at school supports children’s health and happiness. These hard–won policy commitments represent years of collaborative campaigning through the School Food Review, a coalition founded by School Food Matters in 2021, supported by Impact on Urban Health.

Team SFM has grown this year with 22 core staff in London and a further 25 freelancers supporting our projects around the country. We’ve embraced opportunities to bring the whole team together for training workshops and strategy sessions in London and Birmingham, living our values of equity, openness, partnership and, of course, joy and optimism.

And, last but not least, this was the year our Founder and Chief Executive, Stephanie Slater, was recognised for her tireless efforts to improve the lives of children and young people through good school food. In January she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Roehampton for achievements and contributions to children’s health and school food. In June she received an MBE for services to children and young people. These honours rightly highlight and celebrate Stephanie’s inspirational leadership on school food transformation at the school, local authority and national policy levels. As trustees we are immensely proud of these significant honours and the impact she and SFM have achieved this year.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve as a trustee since 2019, and as Chair of SFM. Food matters to children and young people not only because it provides fuel for growth and development, but because it influences how they express themselves and connect with others. Recent government investment recognises that school food is a vital resource but further work is needed to ensure the potential of the school food system is realised. I wish the incoming Chair – Katrina Bowles – the board, and Stephanie and the SFM team every success in continuing their important work to ensure schools can meet every child’s right to nutritious food.

Professor Rebecca O’Connell

Chair of Trustees

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

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IMPACT OF OUR PROGRAMMES

350,000

Since 2012, more than 350,000 children and young people across England have benefitted from our projects in schools*

£7,000

58,756

This year, an incredible Through Young 58,756 children Marketeers, Know Your and young people Onions and Schools to took part in our Market, children didn’t programmes across just grow produce, they 410 primary and sold it too. Together, secondary schools – they raised over £7,000 the highest number in for charities including the history of School FareShare, Plan Zheroes Food Matters. and local foodbanks.

Through Young Marketeers, Know Your Onions and Schools to Market, children didn’t just grow produce, they sold it too. Together, they raised over £7,000 for charities including FareShare, Plan Zheroes

Supporting schools across London to transform their food environment

Alongside our education programmes, we delivered Nourish in more areas across London, supporting schools in Ealing, Southwark, Lambeth and Hillingdon .

We also launched the Nourish programme in Westminster for the first time.

Through these programmes, we worked with 127 schools and reached more than 10,000 children and young people , supporting schools to implement a whole– school approach to food.

*The figure reflects cumulative programme data since 2012. School Food Matters collects both qualitative and quantitative data from each and every programme in order to ensure that we are on track, making an impact and delivering our mission.

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

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IMPACT OF OUR PROGRAMMES

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14
cities
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Young Marketeers our furthest reach ever

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13,000
children
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Young Marketeers, our flagship food education programme, reached more children in more places than ever before. The project was delivered in 14 cities by our amazing local project officers and gardeners and involved more than 13,000 children . From the 442 children who shared their feedback, the impact is clear:

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83% 81% 81%
ak Sa Q00
rv) Wert
learned how to talk to learned a developed
customers and engage new gardening teamwork
with the public skill skills
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77% 76% 62%
7 O LE
became more felt more interested felt calm and
interested in selling in growing fruit and relaxed whilst cooking
what they made vegetables or gardening
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The project continues to support children to learn new skills, grow in confidence and nurture their wellbeing. We look forward to the year ahead and the chance to scale the project even further.

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

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Report of the Trustees ~~[“Fi][—] .[2]~~

The Trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 August 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 1 January 2019).

Objectives and activities

Our mission

Activities

School Food Matters believes that school food can unlock a happier, healthier, more sustainable future for every child. We want to see a school food system that delivers for every child, so that:

School Food Matters provides fully funded food education programmes to schools. Our experience delivering these programmes informs and strengthens our campaigns, bringing the voices of children, parents and teachers to government policy. The charity is engaged in the following activities:

Objectives and aims

The objectives of the charity are to advance the education, and promote the health, of school children and their families in particular but not exclusively by:

Public benefit

The Trustees are aware of Charity Commission guidance on public benefit reporting as set out in Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011. They believe School Food Matters fulfils a fundamental public benefit by promoting the health, and advancing the education, of school children and their families.

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About School Food Matters

School Food Matters began life as a grassroots campaign in one London borough. Since 2007 it has blossomed into a national charity and is now a leader in the movement for the transformation of school food. We work with policymakers, local authorities, multi–academy trusts (MATs), individual schools and the children and young people we serve.

This year we have developed our strategy for 2025–2030 which will see us continue our mission to ensure that every child can enjoy nutritious and delicious food at school and food education that sets them up for a life of health and happiness.

We recognise the impact of food on our precious planet and believe that the circa £1bn spent each year on school food should be spent on sustainable food. In fact, the charity started its life with the ambitious strapline of “farm gate to school plate” with a logo to match.

As we look forward to the next five years, we will continue to push for school food that supports the health of our children and our planet but will look to our partners for their leadership and expertise in the area of sustainable procurement.

Our work is underpinned by our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. We have scrutinised our processes and now have a team that more accurately represents the communities we serve. We have so much more we can do together. We want to bring the voices of our beneficiaries to both programme and policy development. And we will create pathways for young people to join us by enabling them to graduate from volunteering to paid internships and onto employment at School Food Matters.

Our strategy for 2025–2030 is guided by our Theory of Change which puts happier, healthier children at the heart of everything we do.

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Strategy for 2025–2030

This year staff and Trustees came together to write our strategy for 2025–2030 and set five priorities for the next five years.

Priority

Drive national policy change to transform the school food system

Progress this year

We continue to work in coalition under the banner of the School Food Review, and together we have pushed ahead with reform on access, quality and funding of school meals. In June we won policy commitments in two of our focus areas; access, with an extension of free school meals to all families in receipt of Universal Credit, and quality with a government commitment to update the school food standards.

We secured funding for a research project with University of Birmingham to investigate how our Nourish programme could be adapted for secondary school settings and have continued our work with University of Hertfordshire to adapt delivery of Nourish for special schools.

We have restructured our policy, campaigns and communications team to work more effectively.

We have received training from Bite Back to help us develop our approach to student voice and we have used our network of teachers across the country to advocate for better breakfasts and an extension to free school meals.

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Priority

Prepare our organisation for work at scale

Progress this year

This year we have grown our network and have begun working in partnership with Birmingham City Council, Hertfordshire County Council and Cumberland County Council, and will recruit local project officers in each of these new regions.

We received two sizeable unrestricted core funding grants and secured multi– year funding for the School Food Review and for testing our model for scale across the country.

This year we successfully introduced the cloud–based HR system, HR Locker and moved from Sage to Xero for more efficient processes for finance.

Fluency in our content management system, Airtable, has radically improved, and teams are successfully using Canva and Mural with IT skills and expertise shared across teams through our Lunch and Learn programme.

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Priority

Develop local partnerships to scale our impact

Progress this year

This year we concluded our work with Spring Impact, a global non–profit consultancy which helps charities to scale impact. We now have a model for scale across the country. Thanks to funding from Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation, we will be able to test our approach in six areas outside London, with Birmingham and Cumberland secured.

Supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, our Young Marketeers programme was delivered in 14 cities this year, forging new partnerships with 18 local food charities.

Our policy, campaigns and communications team attracted more MPs to our programmes than ever before. A total of 12 MPs visited our programmes, giving us an opportunity to demonstrate the value of food education and the power of a whole school approach to food.

In October we published our Cost of a School Meal report which made the case for School Food Improvement Officers to monitor school food and drive improvement. Our forthcoming work in Cumberland will allow us to explore the impact of this role, a role that has paid dividends in several London boroughs.

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Priority

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Kickstart a food education revolution

Progress this year

This year Young Marketeers recruited 16 freelance project officers and gardeners to deliver our food education programmes in 14 cities. Local project officers and gardeners have enjoyed training both online and in person.

We have been able to highlight the work of smaller local charities through our reports to food education funders and through our new Food Education Network, with a Network Director now in place, hosted by School Food Matters.

The Food Education Network has established a steering group with special advisors from City, University of London’s Food Policy Unit and from primary and secondary education settings. We have drawn on their expertise to pull together a research hub so that we can identify gaps in evidence.

This year our food education webinars have attracted over 100 participants and we have pulled all our resources together onto a new webpage for schools and local project delivery teams across the country.

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Priority

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Help schools to get better food on every plate

Progress this year

This year, we brought in procurement expertise from two catering consultants, Panache and Riva and our staff benefitted from two days of training.

In the summer, we developed a partnership with the Mayor of London and Bloomberg’s Partnership for Healthy Cities. The Great Plates Partnership will deliver a series of webinars, training sessions and resources to support schools in London to procure and manage contracts for great school food. Resources from the Great Plates Partnership will be shared with schools and local authorities across the country.

This year we developed a proposal for research into parents’ experience of free school meals; how the stigma and shame associated with being eligible during their time at school has shaped their attitudes to school food for their own children.

Our on–going research into school food in secondary schools with University of Birmingham and in special schools with University of Hertfordshire has secured new relationships with school food service providers and experts in the sector. This has proved to be a rich source of learning as we develop our offers to children in different settings.

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Review of activities

School Food Matters has built strong relationships with project partners, and together we develop flagship programmes which continue to grow year on year. Partnerships are key to the success of our charity and enable us to deliver high quality food education programmes to our beneficiaries. We value the role our partners play and will continue to nurture these important relationships. We appreciate our partners’ long–term commitment to the projects highlighted right and overleaf.

Whole Foods Market and Whole Foods Market Foundation

This was our 13[th] year of working with

Whole Foods Market. Our Schools to Market programme incorporated a new, school–based arm of the programme, enabling us to extend the opportunities to six schools in two new boroughs, Hillingdon and Wandsworth. Over 2,000 children and young people from another 20 London schools took part in our popular Honeybee programme, planting bee–friendly gardens, attending visits from beekeepers and travelling to apiaries across London. We awarded another 51 Garden Grants to schools in seven London boroughs. To help ensure the longevity of these gardens, we offered gardening training to teachers at grant–winning schools and our SFM gardener delivered sessions on how new gardens can be embedded into the curriculum.

Borough Market and The National Lottery Community Fund

In 2025 we continued our successful partnership with Borough Market who supported our Young Marketeers Winter programme for secondary schools. Now in its 13[th] year, our Young

Marketeers Summer and Harvest

programmes have expanded to cities across the country, thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund, The Dulverton Trust and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, with additional funding from corporate partners, Onward Housing and the Torus Foundation.

It’s like a little miracle! You get one seed and you can grow something as big as a tree!” Child, Young Markeeters, Liverpool

Being part of an eco club is exciting but being part of a garden project is wonderful! I have learned how to plant and look after things. I am waiting to start planting my own vegetables and take some home.” Child, School Garden Grants, London

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Belazu Ingredient Company

This year’s Fresh Enterprise

programme saw a high calibre of entries from our eight schools. We welcomed Thom Elliot, the founder of Pizza Pilgrims to the tasting panel. The winning paste, Flavour Fest from Ellen Wilkinson school, is now available to buy on the Belazu website. The project continues to inspire young people to consider future careers in the food industry, with two participants enjoying work experience placements at Belazu HQ. Belazu continues to support our Holiday Food and Fun programme during the Easter and summer holidays, with children invited to engage in fun activities, including gardening and cooking. Over the course of both programmes, more than 600 hot, nutritious meals were provided for vulnerable children.

Wait, can we really mix these together? I didn’t think they’d taste good, but they actually do!” Student, Fresh Enterprise

Impact on Urban Health (IOUH)

We changed the name of our flagship school food improvement programme from Healthy Zones to Nourish . We wanted to move away from labelling foods as healthy vs unhealthy or good vs bad. Together we reviewed the nutritional messaging of our work and the impact it has on children and young people so that it aligns with our quest to support a positive relationship with food. We delivered Nourish in more boroughs this year. As well as Southwark and Lambeth, we delivered in Ealing and Westminster too. We also started delivery of School Food Action, a variation of Nourish in collaboration with Southwark Council. We have also taken our first steps in scaling Nourish outside London as we prepare for delivery in Birmingham, Cumberland and Hertfordshire.

It’s been really great; it’s been a big transformation. We couldn’t have done it without School Food Matters help.” Senior Leadership Team member, Nourish

Impact on Urban Health continues its focus on policy change to tackle health inequalities. With Bite Back, Chefs in Schools and The Food Foundation, School Food Matters continues to co–ordinate the School Food Review (SFR) . This year we added Sustain’s Children’s Food Campaign to the coalition’s governance group and worked with IOUH to secure funding for a further two years, taking us to August 2027. Our shared mission is to realise the full potential of the school food system through government reform so that no child misses out on good nutrition at school. With our new government in place at the start of this financial year, we focussed our attentions on briefing new ministers, supporting the delivery of universal primary school breakfast clubs and pushing for an extension to free school meals as part of the new administration’s commitment to tackle child poverty. This approach proved successful in June, with two major policy announcements on school food.

Congratulations to the 40 organisations that make up the School Food Review that have collectively campaigned for expanding free school meals for many years. The benefits of free school meals are unmatched leading to higher attendance, attainment, and better health outcomes. We applaud the government for recognising the power of this policy. It is truly transformational for the children who need it most.”

Dr Nick Capstick OBE, Chair of the School Food Review

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Financial support

School Food Matters is grateful for the support received from our funders and project partners over the course of this financial year:

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Financial review

For the year ended 31 August 2025, total incoming resources amounted to £1,547,744 compared to £1,217,527 last year. Expenditure for the year to 31 August 2025 was £1,521,940 compared to £1,188,195 last year.

Any funds described as “restricted funds” are available only for the specific projects or purposes determined by the funders. In addition, the charity holds “designated funds” which have been allocated for a particular purpose by the Trustees. The full Statement of Financial Activities is set out in the accounts that follow.

Reserves

As part of the 2024/2025 year end process, School Food Matters’ finance sub–committee reviewed the charity’s Reserves Policy. It was confirmed that the policy was still considered appropriate and that School Food Matters would maintain free reserves:

To this end, School Food Matters aims to accumulate unrestricted reserves equal to at least three to six months’ unrestricted expenditure. Our unrestricted reserves at year end stand at £174,110. Of this, £8,518 are fixed assets, so our liquid unrestricted reserves stand at £165,592. Therefore, it is deemed that we hold funds to ensure the charity was able to meet all current, known and some estimated possible future liabilities.

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

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Structure, governance and management

Governing document

School Food Matters is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 28 July 2008 and registered as a charity on 4 February 2010.

The company is governed under its Articles of Association. The Trustees have a responsibility to ensure that all aspects of the charity’s activities are properly conducted and carried out in full compliance with its Articles of Association. The Trustees meet at least four times a year and attend an additional strategy day together with School Food Matters staff. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. No expenses were claimed by any Trustee during the year.

Recruitment and appointment of new Trustees

The Trustees are appointed under the terms of the Articles of Association. Each new Trustee is given a copy of the Articles of Association, details of their responsibilities as a charity trustee, background on the charity’s strategy and current projects and other information useful in pursuing their role. They will also have access to all SFM policies including our insurance policies. Trustees are invited to visit our projects so that they can familiarise themselves with our work. The Trustees are recruited in consultation with the Chief Executive to ensure that the requisite skills are available to support the charity’s activities.

Staff, training and fair pay

School Food Matters has 22 core members of staff (17.9 FTE) and is governed by a board of nine Trustees. We continue to be able to recruit high–quality volunteers to undertake a range of useful tasks in all areas of our work. School Food Matters is very grateful for the many benefits they bring. This year, School Food Matters has had over 97 days’ work delivered by a group of 41 talented volunteers, many of whom are going on to enjoy professional development opportunities delivered by the charity’s staff. We also employ 25 freelancers who work on our projects across England.

In January 2018, School Food Matters became an accredited Living Wage Employer, committed to paying the London Living Wage, as calculated by the Living Wage Foundation, which reflects the cost of living.

Fundraising

A proportion of the charity’s income is from grants from the trusts and foundations listed in this Annual Report. All funding bids are developed by School Food Matters staff. In this financial year we have allocated £27,312 to raising funds from trusts and foundations which covers staff time and overheads.

Role of Trustees

The Trustees provide governance and develop the policies of the charity, and accept ultimate legal authority for it. The Trustees formulate and regularly review the long and short term strategic aims of the charity as well as setting specific goals and priorities. The Trustees approve budgets and are responsible for the good stewardship of the charity’s resources. They work in partnership with the Chief Executive with a view to furthering the charity’s objectives. The Trustees, who are also directors of the Company, each have a limited liability of £1 in the event of the charity being wound up. Biographies of Trustees can be found on the School Food Matters website.

Role of Chief Executive

The Chief Executive provides leadership to employees and is responsible for the operational detail and implementation of the charity’s strategy. The Chief Executive is also responsible for the management of the charity, including control of expenditure in line with budgets and delegations approved by the Board. The Chief Executive reports regularly to the Trustees on progress against agreed priorities and objectives and seeks opportunities to expand and promote the organisation.

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Risk management

The Trustees have reviewed the major strategic, business and operational risks to which School Food Matters is exposed. These include governance and compliance issues, loss of key members of staff, changing government policy, project or campaign failure and loss of income. The Trustees confirm that systems have been established to mitigate any such risks, that appropriate insurance cover has been obtained and that the assessment of risks is kept under review. The charity’s risk register is a working document which is reviewed annually by the senior leadership team and Trustees, as the responsible parties. It considers the possible risks to the charity and prudent ways to avoid such risks arising, as well as mitigation should problems occur.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Trustees consider the principal risks to School Food Matters to be:

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Risk Mitigation
Loss of senior School Food Matters has a senior leadership
leadership team team of four. Losing one or more of the team
members risks interruption to financial reporting,
fundraising, advocacy and campaigning
activities. Should the charity lose its Chief
Executive, there would be significant recruitment
costs, and Trustees would be engaged in the
recruitment process. To mitigate these risks, the
senior leadership team meets monthly to share
information. All management documents are
accessible to the leadership team, our succession
plan is regularly reviewed and updated by
Trustees, and the wider staff team has received
media training to develop a pool of well–informed
advocates to comment on our campaigns.
Damage to We are proud of our reputation and review our
reputation activities and relationships carefully to reflect
this. Mitigating activities include compliance
with Charity Commission and Companies House
regulations, embedding policies and practices
that reflect our commitment to Equity, Diversity
and Inclusion, carrying out risk assessments
and ensuring HR policies, such as safeguarding,
whistleblowing and data protection and
confidentiality, are in place. With our Press and
Communications team in place, we are better
able to respond to challenges to our reputation in
a timely and efficient manner.
Failure to meet Fundraising is always challenging and the charity
funding targets must forecast effectively and be prepared for
shortfalls. Mitigating activities include monitoring
reserves on a monthly basis to ensure our
minimum target is reached, reporting monthly
cashflow to the finance sub–committee, building
a project contingency fund to address shortfalls
and cancelling any proposed work that remains
unfunded. We must be prepared to reduce staffing
levels if a significant shortfall is forecast. We will
continue to diversify our income streams so that
we are not over–reliant on trusts and foundations.
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Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also the directors of School Food Matters for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

This Report of the Trustees, incorporating a strategic report, was approved by order of the Board of Trustees, as the company directors, on 22 January 2026 and signed on the Board’s behalf by

Pro 4 Mr Paul Smith Trustee

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 21

Independent auditors’ report

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Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of School Food Matters (the “charitable company”) for the year ended 31 August 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial

statements, we have concluded that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Other information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Report of the Independent Auditors thereon.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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Matters on which we are

required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a Report of the Independent Auditors that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed right.

We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

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In response to the risk of irregularities and non–compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non–compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non–compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Christopher Julian Brigstocke FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Collards Chartered Accountants

5–9 Eden Street Kingston upon Thames Surrey KT1 1BQ

22 January 2026

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org. uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Report of the Independent Auditors.

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

25

Reference and administrative details

Company Registration Number 06657048 (England and Wales) Charity Registration Number 1134094 Patrons Baroness Rosie Boycott Princess Dora Loewenstein Directors/Trustees Max Beazley Katrina Bowles Jared Brading Alayna Francis Ossie Gray Mecca Ibrahim Rebecca O’Connell (resigned 23 October 2025) Ben Reynolds Paul Smith Chief Executive Stephanie Slater Registered Office Blackfriars Settlement 9 Rushworth Street London SE1 0RB Independent Auditors Collards Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditors 5–9 Eden Street Kingston upon Thames Surrey KT1 1BQ Bankers Santander Triodos Nationwide Unity Bank 2 Triton Square Deanery Road Building Society PO Box 7193 Regent’s Place Bristol Kings Park Road Planetary Road London NW1 3AN BS1 5AS Moulton Park Willenhall Northampton WV1 9DG NN3 6NW

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

26

Statement of financial activities

(incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 August 2025

Note
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM
Donations and legacies
3
Other income
Trusts and Foundations
Charitable activities
5
Project management and services
Membership
Grant–making
Investment income
4
Total
EXPENDITURE ON
Staff costs
11
Cost of raising funds
6
Project management and services
7
Overheads and governance
8
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD		 Unrestricted
funds
£
31,418
–
7,500
–
–
–
4,537
43,455
–
4,857
–
–
4,857
38,598
135,512
174,110		 Designated
funds
£
–
5,214
25,000
–
–
14,000
–
44,214
23,482
19,526
14,000
–
57,008
(12,794)
12,794
–		 Restricted
funds
£
–
–
–
1,396,621
–
63,454
–
1,460,075
749,725
2,930
591,819
115,601
1,460,075
–
–
–		 2024
Total
funds
£
28,658
2,570
291,227
828,306
600
62,517
3,649
1,217,527
622,283
20,800
454,777
90,335
1,188,195
29,332
118,974
148,306
2025
Total
funds
£
31,418
5,214
32,500
1,396,621
–
77,454
4,537
1,547,744
773,207
27,312
605,819
115,601
1,521,940
25,804
148,306
174,110

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

27

Balance sheet

At 31 August 2025

2025 2024
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets		 Note
12		 Unrestricted
funds
£
8,518		 Designated
funds
£
–		 Restricted
funds
£
–		 Total
funds
£
8,518		 Total
funds
£
7,843
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors
Cash at bank		 13 4,311
168,892		 244
96,218		 72,960
488,596		 77,515
753,706		 158,517
409,046
173,203 96,462 561,556 831,221 567,563
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year		 14 (7,611) (96,462) (561,556) (665,629) (427,100)
NET CURRENT ASSETS 165,592 – – 165,592 140,463
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 174,110 – – 174,110 148,306
NET ASSETS 174,110 – – 174,110 148,306
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds
Restricted funds		 16 174,110 135,512
12,794
TOTAL FUNDS 174,110 148,306

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 22 January 2026 and were signed on its behalf by:

PO Mr Paul Smith Trustee

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

28

Cash flow statement

For the year ended 31 August 2025

Notes
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations
18
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Interest received
Net cash (used in)/provided by investing activities
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period
19
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period		 2024
£
198,953
198,953
(3,676)
3,649
(27)
198,926
210,120
409,046
2025
£
343,472
343,472
(3,348)
4,536
1,188
344,660
409,046
753,706

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

29

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 August 2025

1. Statutory information

School Food Matters is a private company, limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. The company’s registered number and registered office address can be found in the report of the Trustees. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.

2. Accounting policies

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The Financial Statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) “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 1 January 2019)”, the Financial Reporting Standard 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” and the Companies Act 2006. The Financial Statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

School Food Matters meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

Income

Income, including grants, is recognised when:

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met. Membership income is accounted for in the year that it is received. Income is stated after trade discounts, other sales taxes and net of VAT.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Fixtures and fittings are depreciated by 20% on cost and 25% on reducing balance. Fixed assets are depreciated by 25% on reducing balance.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the Trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds allocated by the charity for particular purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Pension costs and other post–retirement benefits

School Food Matters operates a defined contribution pension scheme administered by NEST. Contributions payable to the charitable company’s pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure:

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

30

Notes to the financial statements (continued)

For the year ended 31 August 2025

3. Donations and legacies Total
2024
£
28,658
Donations Unrestricted
funds
£
31,418		 Restricted
funds
£
–		 Total
2025
£
31,418
4. Investment income
4. Investment income
Deposit account interest Unrestricted
funds
£
4,537		 Restricted
funds
£
–		 Total
2025
£
4,537		 Total
2024
£
3,649
5. Income from charitable activities
Unrestricted &
designated funds
£
Project management & services
Belazu Ingredient Company
–
Borough Market
–
Dulverton Trust
–
Fishmongers’ Company Charitable Trust
–
GLA Kitchen Social
–
Grow to School
–
Honourable Company of Gloucestershire
–
Impact on Urban Health
–
Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation
–
Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation
–
Ocado
–
Onward Housing
–
Pukka Herbs
–
Rikolto
–
Schools
–
Tesco Community Fund
–
The National Lottery Community Fund
–
The Westminster Foundation
–
Torus Foundation
–
United St Saviour’s Charity
–
Universities
–
Various Local Authority commissions
–
Whole Foods Market Foundation
–
–
Membership Income
–
Grant–making funds
14,000
14,000		 Restricted
funds
£
26,000
18,553
42,050
25,288
2,000
2,625
–
694,529
110,000
33,333
40,139
4,000
–
6,211
990
–
99,427
29,824
13,200
10,636
7,500
103,863
126,453
1,396,621
–
63,454
1,460,075		 Total
2025
£
26,000
18,553
42,050
25,288
2,000
2,625
–
694,529
110,000
33,333
40,139
4,000
–
6,211
990
–
99,427
29,824
13,200
10,636
7,500
103,863
126,453
1,396,621
–
77,454
1,474,075		 Total
2024
£
26,000
9,975
–
24,315
2,000
–
1,000
498,306
–
16,667
48,183
–
9,428
–
–
5,000
–
–
8,800
6,400
–
61,722
110,510
828,306
600
62,517
891,423

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

31

Notes to the financial statements (continued) For the year ended 31 August 2025

6. Raising funds 2024
£
10,300
5,459
323
309
3,767
399
243
20,800
Total
£
773,208
27,312
605,819
1,406,339
Staff costs
Rent, rates and water
Insurance
Telephone
Stationery & office costs
Travel
Depreciation		 2025
£
18,614
4,912
406
287
2,591
235
267
27,312
7. Charitable activities costs
Staff costs
Cost of raising funds
Project management and services		 Direct
costs
£
773,208
18,614
498,916
1,290,738		 Support costs
(see note 8)
£
–
8,698
106,903
115,601
8. Support costs Total
£
8,698
106,903
115,601
Cost of raising funds
Overheads and governance		 Overheads
£
8,698
100,903
109,601		 Governance
costs
£
–
6,000
6,000

9. Net income/(expenditure)

Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):
Depreciation–owned assets
Auditors remuneration
Deficit on disposal of fixed assets
Operating lease costs – rent		 2025
£
2,673
6,000
–
45,059		 2024
£
2,686
6,000
–
44,175

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

32

Notes to the financial statements (continued)

For the year ended 31 August 2025

  1. Key management personnel

There were no salaries or other benefits paid to Trustees for the year ended 31 August 2025 nor for the year ended 31 August 2024. There were no expenses paid to Trustees for the year ended 31 August 2025 nor for the year ended 31 August 2024.

The total employee benefits of key management personnel, including pension contributions, for the year to 31 August 2025 were £180,083 (£197,833 for the year to 31 August 2024).

Pay for key management personnel at School Food Matters has been benchmarked and reflects the market rate for comparable jobs in comparable organisations. Pay also reflects level of knowledge, skills and experience required, and the responsibilities and accountabilities associated with each role. Staff pay is reviewed annually and agreed with the Trustees.

11. Staff costs 2024
£
562,336
49,984
20,263
632,583
Wages
Social security
Pensions
 2025
£
696,327
67,039
28,456
791,822

In addition to employing staff, the charity also benefits from the use of unpaid volunteers. During the year this amounted to the equivalent of 97 days work which if paid at the London Living Wage would have cost the charity £10,803 in wages. (£11,467 for 109 days work for the year to 31 August 2024).

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:
Admin & support staff
Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding
employer’s pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was::
£60,001 – £70,000		 2025
22
17.9
2025
1		 2024
18
15.3
2024
1
  1. Tangible fixed assets
Fixt
Cost
At 1 September 2024
Additions
At 31 August 2025
Depreciation
At 1 September 2024
Charge for year
At 31 August 2025
Net book value
At 31 August 2025
At 31 August 2024		 ures and fittings
£
19,941
3,348
23,289
12,098
2,673
14,771
8,518
7,843

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

33

Notes to the financial statements (continued) For the year ended 31 August 2025

13. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year 2024
£
22,030
129,743
782
5,962
158,517
Trade debtors
Accrued income
Other debtors
Prepayments
 2025
£
14,700
54,065
915
7,836
77,516

Trade debtors relate to amounts due in respect of unrestricted fund programmes.

Accrued income relates to income that has been spend but not yet received from the funder

14. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Social security and other taxes
Trade creditors
Accruals and deferred income
 2025
£
–
24,218
641,411
665,629
 2024
£
67,338
14,691
345,071
427,100

Accruals and deferred income includes £39,866 (£47,041 in 2024) for expenses relating to the period, but which the charity was charged after the period end.

Deferred income relates to income received during the year for food education projects which will take place after the balance sheet date.

The movement on deferred income is as follows:


Brought forward
Recognised this year
Income received this year being deferred
Carried forward
 2025
£
298,030
(298,030)
601,545
601,545		 2024
£
176,383
(155,583)
277,230
298,030

Within the above £0 (2024: £0) is expected to be deferred by over 12 months.

  1. Leasing agreements Minimum lease payments under non–cancellable operating leases fall due as follows:
Minimum lease payments under non–cancellable
operating leases fall due as follows:
Within one year		 2025
£
11,044		 2024
£
11,044

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

34

Notes to the financial statements (continued)

For the year ended 31 August 2025

  1. Movement in funds
Unrestricted and designated funds
General fund
Designated – Various food education projects
Total funds
Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follow
Unrestricted and designated funds
General fund
Designated – Various food education projects
Designated – Events
Designated – Fashion 4 Food
Designated – Garfield Weston Foundation
Designated – The Orp Foundation
Restricted funds
Various food education projects
Whole Foods Market Foundation School Garden Grants
GLA Kitchen Social
Total funds		 At 01.09.24
£
135,512
12,794
148,306
s:
Incoming
resources
£
43,455
–
5,215
14,000
20,000
5,000
87,670
1,394,621
63,454
2,000
1,460,075
1,547,745		 Net
movement
in funds
£
38,599
(12,794)
25,805
Resources
expended
£
(4,856)
(12,794)
(5,215)
(14,000)
(20,000)
(5,000)
(61,865)
(1,394,621)
(63,454)
(2,000)
(1,460,075)
(1,521,940)		 At 31.08.25
£
174,111
–
174,111
Movement
in funds
£
38,599
(12,794)
–
–
–
–
25,805
–
–
–
–
25,805

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

35

Notes to the financial statements (continued) For the year ended 31 August 2025

16. Movement in funds – continued At 31.08.24
£
137,022
11,284
–
148,306
148,306
Movement
in funds
£
21,842
11,284
(3,794)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
29,332
Comparatives for movement in funds
Unrestricted and designated funds
General fund
Designated – Various food education projects
Designated – Foresters School Gardens
Total funds
Net movement in funds, included in the above, are as follows:
Unrestricted and designated funds
General fund
Designated – Various food education projects
Designated – Foresters School Gardens
Designated – Whole Foods Market Foundation School Garden Grants
Restricted funds
Fishmongers’ Company Charitable Trust
GLA Kitchen Social
Impact on Urban Health
Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation
United St Saviour’s Charity
Total funds
 At 01.09.23
£
115,180
–
3,794
118,974
118,974
Incoming
resources
£
125,810
780,209
–
62,516
24,315
2,000
199,610
16,667
6,400
248,992
1,217,527
 Net movement
in funds
£
21,842
11,284
(3,794)
29,332
29,332
Resources
expended
£
(103,968)
(768,925)
(3,794)
(62,516)
(24,315)
(2,000)
(199,610)
(16,667)
(6,400)
(248,992)
(1,188,195)

The various food education projects fund (a restricted income fund) is a collection of several funds which relate to providing food education to schools and other bodies. These funds are provided by various organisations, trusts and other charitable organisations.

The Whole Foods Market Foundation School Garden Grants Fund (a restricted Income Fund) is a fund from the Whole Foods Market Foundation which is available to schools to allow them to develop school gardens where pupils can learn about growing fruit and vegetables.

The GLA Kitchen Social restricted income fund is to provide funding for running school holiday food and fun programmes..

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

36

Notes to the financial statements (continued) For the year ended 31 August 2025

17. Related party disclosures

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 August 2025.

18. Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities

Net income for the reporting period (as per the Statement of Financial Activities)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges
Interest received
Decrease/(increase) in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Net cash provided by operations		 2025
£
25,804
2,673
(4,536)
81,001
238,530
343,472		 2024
£
29,332
2,686
(3,649)
(46,674)
217,258
198,953

19. Analysis of changes in net funds

Net cash
Cash at bank
Total		 At 01.09.24
£
409,046
409,046
409,046		 Cash flow
£
344,660
344,660
344,660		 At 31.08.25
£
753,706
753,706
753,706

School Food Matters • Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025

37

School Food Matters Blackfriars Settlement 9 Rushworth Street London SE1 0RB

www.schoolfoodmatters.org