## **LUNCH POSITIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD 1[st] JUNE 2020 – 31[st] MAY 2021** ## **Reference and administration details** Charity name: Lunch Positive Registered charity number: 1137186 Charity’s principal address: 113 Queens Road Brighton East Sussex BN1 3XG **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** **Trustee name** **Office (if any)[Dates acted if not for ] whole vear** **Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)** Steven Foster Secretary Heather Leake Date Richard Jeneway Margot Uden Chris Sarson **Name of Chief Executive or names of senior staff members** Gary Pargeter 1 ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** The charity is constituted as a Charitable Trust through a Trust Deed dated 28[th] July 2010. The charity actively involves people with HIV in trusteeship. Trustees are selected by the Board with regard to the applicant's knowledge, skills and experience, how these relate to role specifications and the needs of the Board in providing effective governance. Skills audit forms part of recruitment, induction & training processes. Trustees are inducted and trained using a variety of methods which include a comprehensive induction training programme. Following induction, further ongoing training opportunities are offered in-house and through local providers. During the year our organisation has continued to participate in the local voluntary and community sector Governance Network facilitated by Brighton & Hove Community Works. Trustees undertake their roles within an extensive policy framework. Organisational structure is such that trustees are collectively responsible for effective governance and development of the organisation, whilst utilising specialism in skills to support decision making and undertake individual project and/or sub- committee work. Trustees' considerations of major risks are undertaken through the active operation and review of a comprehensive risk register. Appropriate measures to manage risk are incorporated into organisational strategy, planning and delivery and are reviewed accordingly. The charity is highly collaborative, working across sectors and closely with a wide range of local charities and community organisations, care providers and support organisations which address the needs of people with or affected by HIV. Lunch Positive is an active participant of the Brighton & Hove Sexual Health Programme HIV Health & Social Care Domain, a forum focused on providing effective health and social care to people with HIV in the locality. Participation supports the local HIV Action Plan. We also work closely with local partners as part of the HIV Towards Zero Strategy, contributing to the strategic direction and delivery of Brighton & Hove Fast Track City activities. Lunch Positive is an active member of the local voluntary sector infrastructure organisation and policy influencing forum Brighton & Hove Community Works. As part of this, our senior employee Service Manager is an elected voluntary Community Representative representing the HIV community at city-wide strategic partnerships including the local authority Fast Track City Taskforce, Sussex Health & Social Care Forum, and Sussex Police LGBTQ External Reference Group. ## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** Our objectives are to relieve the needs of person affected by HIV through the provision of a lunch service, information on healthy living and lifestyles and a signposting service to other HIV and nutritional services. Our services are provided for people who have an HIV positive diagnosis or who are affected by HIV by virtue of being the families, relatives, close friends, carers and partners of such persons; and persons from those communities locally that are considered most at risk of HIV infection. Service users join through self-referral or referral from a range of sources which include clinicians, practitioners, other support organisations and agencies. The charity operates within an Equalities Policy framework. 2 **During the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic we continued to provide frontline community based support to the HIV community. We established, delivered and developed a unique range of new support. We rapidly scaled up activity and provided an ongoing Covid-19 response supporting people with HIV across Sussex. We also significantly adapted and developed our pre Covid-19 core support activities and projects, delivering these in new ways where Covid-19 measures allowed.** ## **Summary of main activities** **The charity trustees confirm that they have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit, and have followed this in planning and undertaking our activities.** The charity's aims are to support and improve the health and well-being of service users through the provision of a range of activities. The main activities undertaken in relation to our objects during the year are: ## _**Covid-19 response**_ We continued to deliver and develop our Covid-19 response which was started in early 2020. This responded to current, new and evolving need, adapting service activity and environment, working at pace and adjusting to increased scale. Covid-19 response activities supported 307 service users across Sussex. Our volunteer team responded amazingly, recruiting new helpers, giving increased availability to perform additional and new duties as part of this Covid-19 response. The response focused on providing nutritional support to people with pre-existing, new and exacerbated need, expanded advice and information, mental health and emotional support, peersupport, befriending and companionship for people who were often fearful and anxious, socially isolated and lonely. ## _**Covid response activities**_ 1. Nutritional support included the preparation and delivery of cooked food and groceries to people with HIV who were unable to shop or cook for themselves, self-isolating, and clinically shielded. We provided a 5-day supply of food to the most vulnerable of service users, with an increased reach to people with co-morbidities, ageing and frailty, and people leaving hospital. We prepared and delivered a weekly average of 542 meals. 2. On a weekly basis we made telephone companionship calls to service users, checking in on people’s welfare, providing peer-support and friendship, and offering a listening ear to people who were lonely and socially isolated, often feeling anxious and distressed. A high number of people with whom we spoke reported deterioration in mental health, and some suicidal ideation. Our companionship phone calls provided vital emotional and mental health support, an opportunity to provide information and advice to assist people, and to connect people to additional support and services. 3. We delivered, strengthened and developed our structured HIV befriending project, delivered in partnership with local charity Together Co. This befriending project matches people with HIV with volunteer befrienders for friendship and mutually agreed practical support. 3 4. We established and delivered a winter support programme, providing winter wellness advice & signposting, also providing additional heating equipment and essential household items to people in need, and emergency heating funding to people in crisis. 5. On a highly flexible needs-led basis we provided practical support to people in crisis who because of the pandemic were encountering difficulties in accessing usual services and support. This included helping people move their belongings from temporary hostel accommodation to permanent social housing, helping with travel to hospital appointments, guidance and support using digital devices that people were otherwise unfamiliar with. ## _**Core service activities at various stages of Covid ‘unlocking’ and ability to deliver face-to-face support gatherings**_ 1. Provision of a weekly lunch club (or an alternative Covid secure weekly drop in food takeaway at times of Covid restriction) which has provided psycho-social support and has supported the health & well-being of 94 service users. This provided a facilitated, supportive and safe space for people to access food, meet, share peer support, form friendships and support networks, relieve social isolation, access information, and to derive emotional, practical and nutritional support. 2. Provision of a regular healthy meal at the lunch club (or drop in takeaway), free for people unable to make a donation, and additional nutritional support for people when not using the service. In addition to the enabling impact this meal has on psycho- social support it has been evidenced that these shared meals have provided added nutritional support to people who experience difficulty maintaining a healthy diet and feeding themselves on a regular basis. This includes service users who have life circumstances or disabilities affecting self-care; diminished physical or mental health, lack of skills, motivation or personal resources to eat healthily; and those who have constrained income and are experiencing poverty. 3. During the year we expanded the range, amount and geographical reach of food made available to people in financial crisis and experiencing food poverty. We achieved this through attracting an increase of food donations and redistribution to people in need on a preventative and responsive basis. 4. Provision of information and advice resources, including workshops, leaflets, periodicals and digital resources that address the health and wellbeing needs of service users. 5. Signposting other charities, community organisations and groups that support the needs of service users and volunteers. 6. Facilitating space for staff and volunteers from other agencies to attend or be connected remotely, and to offer support. These include organisations that focus on health and well-being improvement, mental health; healthy lifestyles, alcohol, drug and substance misuse; carer support; HIV related health issues, and welfare benefits advice. 7. We continued our supported volunteering programme, engaging in person and involving people with HIV with complex need. This enabled us to actively involve and support people with HIV whose volunteering helped maintain and improve mental health, support substance misuse and mental health recovery, encourage self-care and prevent health deterioration. 4 ## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** The charity provides locally unique community and asset based services which are focussed on psycho-social support, peer support, and address the social determinants of health for people with HIV. Our year has been one of unique, continual and outstanding activity addressing the pre-existing, new and evolving support needs of people with HIV throughout the Covid 19 pandemic. We have reached and supported record numbers of people, including those at serious risk and in crisis, people experiencing profound disadvantage, complex needs, pre-existing and Covid impacted health issues, mental health, and multiple vulnerabilities. Our models, adaptation and scaling of services have contributed to health and sector research and have been published in NHS and third sector reports on VCSE response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have consistently worked with agility, building and maintaining strong connections with service users, community and stakeholders, providing rapid community based responses. We have continued to identify, review and work within national and local strategies surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, support of people with HIV, people experiencing social and economic disadvantage, HIV health management and improvement, nutrition for people with chronic illness, and enabled volunteering for people experiencing barriers and challenges to participation. As part of both our Covid-19 response and core activities we have continued supporting people with complex needs with increased emphasis on supporting people in crisis, helping those who are socially isolated, whose mental health has been affected, serious mental illness, people with high levels of social anxiety who often find it difficult accessing new services. Support provided through volunteering and service-user participation has been essential in creating this community & asset based support. Through this volunteer input we have responded to a continued growth in numbers of people using all services. In addition to the wide ranging Covid-19 support need, large numbers of service users inform us that they access support due to being socially isolated, and many have reduced or no other social resource and network. This includes older people with HIV, an increased number of people who are recently diagnosed, and growing numbers of people with drug and alcohol issues. We have facilitated affirmative, safe and supportive service environments where people have been able to relieve isolation, share peer support, from friendships and develop supportive social networks. Service use has also provided nutritional support, enabling an improvement in regular access to healthy diet for a large number of people, having positive benefits for physical and mental health and well-being. ## **Service User & Volunteer Involvement** Core service activity continued to reflect the needs, insights and approaches identified as part of our 2019-20 Appreciative Inquiry with service users and key stakeholders. This has provided added opportunity for service users and volunteers to give continued input into scope and qualities of service delivery and volunteering, consider future and new activities, and inform the strategic direction of the charity. We have actively involved service users and others with or affected by HIV in volunteering and helping activities. Volunteering has attracted individuals who express an interest in voluntary activity to relieve social isolation, find peer support and to address their own health and well- being. We have involved people experiencing challenges and barriers to participation and have also worked in cooperation with other agencies to involve people in volunteering who have higher levels of support 5 need. Positive health and wellbeing outcomes and personal capitals built through volunteering have been attained. Services have been delivered through a record level of volunteer involvement and activity. Through both our core and Covid-10 related activities a total of _**47 volunteers have given a total of 11,978 hours to the charity** ._ This has included a range of newly established volunteer roles, and a consistently high degree of volunteer working flexibility to respond to evolving Covid-19 need and changing service environment. The paid equivalent of the time which has been given by volunteers would be £132,836. ## **Nutritional Support** Overall we have seen an ongoing increase in people experiencing food poverty, which has been addressed through increased numbers of meals served and emergency food items provided. Special thanks are given to local businesses, supermarkets for food donation and charities Nourish and FareShare Sussex that re-distribute food stocks that would otherwise have been wasted. These food stocks have contributed to Covid -19 outreach, lunch club meal provision and emergency food provision. ## **Stakeholders** We have maintained purposeful and effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders: funders, care providers, other charities and community groups, peer support groups, infrastructure organisations, donors, the local community and the wider public. This has helped raise the profile of the charity and our services, increased self-referrals and service use, had positive impact on fundraising, and has widened scope for future partnership working and organisational development. We have contributed to local & national LGBTQ and HIV press, reporting on HIV issues through regular articles that represent our work and the views of service users. ## **Community development, health policy and research, awards & recognition** Opportunities for involvement in wider face-to-face community development were reduced due to Covid-19 measures throughout the year. However, we continued to be highly involved in a wide range of development and wider community support activities. This enabled us to share the voice and experiences of people living with HIV, and the experiences and learning of being a community based HIV organisation with asset based principles and approaches. During the year we actively contributed towards the local authority _**Equalities and Access Cell**_ which informed local policy and processes to support the most vulnerable of local residents throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and the _**NHS England working group**_ on developing a toolkit for HIV commissioning. We provided community insight, support and involvement for the _**Brighton & Sussex Medical School**_ new study on frailty and HIV. We contributed towards third sector study and research on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on service users and the sector. _The scope, quality and impact of our Covid response was featured as a case study, informing and published in the_ _**NHS Commissioners Sussex Partnership Report ‘COVID-19 Sussex wide review: Stronger partnerships, stronger communities and a stronger voluntary, community and social enterprise sector’**_ 6 ## **Business Planning** We have addressed organisational and operational sustainability as a fundamental aspect of all planning. This has included business planning to meet growth in service uptake and service use, complexity of need and support for service users and volunteers. Business planning has included Covid-19 impact restart and recovery, service landscape and development, scoping need and new project work, capacity building, identifying additional and more diverse funding streams, and increasing our own income generation. ## **Fundraising** The grant funding and community fundraising landscape was seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Opportunities were not available for our usual community fund-raising and income generation activities, many based around food provision for other charities & community groups and catering at community events. General grant funding was often realigned to Covid-19, and some grants were temporarily no longer open. We accessed a wider range of Covid-19 support grants and enhanced our community giving and public donation approaches. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** Our reserves policy incorporates maintaining reserves to meet the requirements of our Trust Deed and to mitigate any unforeseen shortfalls in grant funding for service delivery expenditure. For these purposes, the level of this fund is based on an average of three months budgeted operational expenditure and directly related overheads for each financial year. Reserves for these purposes are gained through income generation and community fundraising activities. The level of reserves required to be in place for these purposes is reviewed and set during annual budgeting, and as part of longer-term business planning. This is monitored throughout each year as part of annual forecasting in preparation for increases or decreases of the fund to the optimum level during the year and at the start of each subsequent year. Any free reserves held at the year-end which are surplus to this fund level are allocated either as free or designated reserves contributing to a range of budgeted and planned activities for the following year or longer term which may include service delivery, developmental activities, match funding, new projects, and income generation activities. The charity has a mixed income, incorporating grant income, income generation activities, community fundraising activities, and voluntary donations. Covid support grants received during the year were essential to deliver services at scale and pace, and to mitigate Covid related loss of community fundraising income. The charity's sources of general grant funding remain a range of annual smaller grants and several larger longer term grants. The award of longer term grants has impacted positively on the charity's ability to plan strategically. 7 DECLARATION The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Signed on behalf of the charity's trustee5 Signature Full name.. Heather Leake Date Position: Trustee Date.. 5, April 2022 Independent Examinerfs report on the accounts Report to the trustees of Lunch Positive Registered Charity number 1137186 Accounts year ended 31" May 2021 The accounts have been prepared on the Recelpts and Payment5 ba515. Respeclive responsibilities of trustees and independent examlner As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. You consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibllity to: examine the accounts u nder section 145 of the Charlties Act. to follow the procedure5 specified in the General Directions of the Charity Commissioners lunder section 14515llbl of the Act) and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basls of Independent Examlner's Report My examination was carried out In accordance with the General Directions 8lven by the Charity Commission. An examination Includes a revlew of the accountin8 records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual Item5 or disclosure5 in the account5 and seekin8 explanations from the trustees concernin8 any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair, view and the report is limited to those matter5 laid out in the statement below. Independent Examlnerfs Report In connertion with my examlnation, no matter h35 come to my attentlon: 11 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any materlal respert the requirements al to keep accounting records In accordance with section 130 of the Act: and b) to prepare accounts which accord with the accountlng records and comply with the accounting requlrement5 of the Act have not been met- or 21 to which, in my oplnlon, attentlon should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Mireille Shimoda Resource Centre 6 Tllbury Place Bri8hton BN2 OGY 5th April 2022 Pagelof2 Disclosure sectlon None PageZof2 Lunch Positive Accounts year ended 31st May 2021 Registered charlty.. 1137186 Charity correspondent: Gary Pargeter Community Base 113 Queens Road Brighton BNI 3XG These account5 have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis from information and explanations supplied by tne charity. Mirellle Shlrnoda Resource Centre 6 Tilbury Place Brighton BN2 OGY 4th April 2022 These accounts have been approved bythe Trustees of the charlty. signed by one or two Trustees on behalf of all the Trustees Date Pageiof5 Lunch Positive ne815ternd thA1￿Y'. I￿116 Statement ol FlnancialActhfltles year endÈd 315t May 2021 2020 REcelpts Incomin8 resour￿ from Eharttablea¢tidt&e5 Donatlon5 Incomefrom inyestrnents Totsl Recel 78.2 58.222 6.152 18316 42 64,374 18.316 42 7U 25 io 74259 26.1 58,2ZZ Paymefflts Fxpendttureon charit8ble 8ctivltles Ex ondtu,. eon fundralsl Total P ment5 75368 87.430 96 87.526 51257 99 52,3$6 14454 992 19M6 70,711 12.158 71,llDI Nel ￿c￿l￿$fortheyear FJn1$8t 1st.une 2020 fftnsfEroffund5at 31stAW2021 14.140 91.958 I6￿11 119311 5A66 21A95 10.930 108J81 27,353 lan£eof fvnds Dt 315tMay 2021 253 105,99& 136.291 ,553 91058 NBsarne ado￿OnsMaYV1ryty+I.£1d￿e1orc￿nth Lunch Posltlve Ag¥lgrarnd£harfty.' IIJ7116 Rec¢lpls gnd Paymekts A¢count yearended 31st May Z021 Unrestrkknd 2020 Retelpt5 Grant BHCC Thlrd Sector prospe¢tus Grant People's Health Trust Grani MACAID5 Fund Grant Su￿eX Fllundation Grant SLfS5e%CoTnmunfty Foundatlon W￿tSu5$eX Grant Su55ex cr-.sls Fund Grant Communlty Foundation Food 5ecuriryFund Grant BACC Wlnter8r3nt Grant Bil8htoTh & Hove Food Par￿erShip Grant Brlght¢n ￿5￿CtNUr￿nB Assoctstlon GrantTNLCovkl Support Graoi BHCC Public Health Gr3nt HDtnity Trust GrantAwards lorAII Caterlng ￿n￿Ome Cornmunlty ￿p5fr Meal income 14Ay) 6,414 8,0 14,450 6.414 8,￿0 IOMD 5.C¥)D 1374 4920 3￿53 6,973 3.853 6.971 14,8tM) 8,570 570 8,570 1,0 9.868 8,570 I,Mo 2,730 2,730 2,622 1622 MeBI donatiDnS Communlty fund￿￿1￿0 ColleLtk)n tins Otherdona¥on5 ill¢ome Jrom Inve#rnents Bank intsrest Toial R¢(81pts 10.692 794 10.692 794 13.901 8,518 41S 8,528 415 Y,3TJ 9,373 io 26,157 42 A2 ,732 78,269 104,455 58.zlz payments Salorles, wages, orrfosts prernt5es Food & consumèbles Ne3lth & safety 5upplles andseNkEs Admln15tration, IT, Insurance Vdunteer programme V(AuntEerexpenSE5 Caterinlequlpment Capital ItEms marke￿nE and promotlon Vehkle costs & fuel ¢omm¥nlty engagement Communlty caterln Accountsncv Winter Support Equlpment Capaclty bvlldln8 proiett E¥pendltrffe onfwthutslnB 43.158 43.￿8 10.869 IL698 23￿18 8.139 7.7r 4,525 2,838 ,19) 259 531 3A12 323 45 28.043 IC..977 11.949 1,794 B90 4,089 1.522 2,346 2.703 123 Jl.575 LYI 2,833 L217 4J)50 2.454 564 2,359 676 16 1,712 L198 L)50 71 L220 1370 311 1,579 642 1,890 3,487 iio 2,84S 150 370 a?0 1,614 L614 96 Ill58 96 1,091 71,gD2 Total Pè ents 75?6B 52,356 19,445 Net receipts fDrthe year Fund5 at tstJune 2020 Trèn5ferof fund5 at 315t May 2021 14.(b30 91958 IS.941 119,311 10,930 108.381 27,353 21,495 6,886 Balance of lunds ot31st Mèy3021 30.2S3 Its5,998 136.251 27.353 958 119AII N6 some èddllons mtyvary w+l-£i dtse to r￿j￿1￿& Pw3of5 Lunch Positive R•8lstèred charlty. I￿7186 Statement of Asset5 and Liabilities at 31st May Z021 Monetary Asset$ Cooperafjve bank Icurrent accounL 4•***355 001 CDoperatlve bank lsavin85 aCCQUft¢ ¢**** 355 501 Cash In hand 127,810 8,401 40 Balance of fund5 held at 31st May 2021 136,251 Liabilltles At 31st May 2L121, the charfty owed the followln8'. Dorset Gardens Methodlsi Chtsrth (INVOICE NOS. 20211012£ 228 & 202110￿ £4501 678 678 Non-monetary Assets The charfty has no known non-monetary asse NB some additions mayvary by +/- £1 due to roundirF8 page4of5 Lunch Positive Rewstered charitw 1137186 Breakdown of fund5 held at 315t May 2021 Pleose note thot errors of */- £1 may occur due to r¢unding Funds held at lstjune 2020 Restricted fund5 Oe51gnated fund111 Organisational development Designated fund121 Employment contlngenry Free reseNes 27,353 64,929 7,950 19,079 119,311 Funds held at 31st May 2021 Restricted fvnds Designated fund111 Owanisational development Designated fund121 Employment contingency Free rèserve5 30.253 78,969 7,950 19.079 136,251 Breakdown of restricted funds held at atst May 2021 Clinical Commi551onlng Group Icarrled fon¥ard from 201&191 Hedgecock Bequest (carried forward from 2018-191 Awards for All111 {carrled forward from 2018-191 Awards for All12, "P051tive fimes I Ireceived 2019-201 MAC Aids Fund (received 2020-21} Sussex Comrfbunlty Foundation IreceNed 202(>-211 Sussex Community Foundation Food Security Ireceived 2020-211 Sussex Community Foundation West Sussex (received 202(>211 Brlghton District Nursing As50ciation (received 2020-211 Brlghton & Hove City Council Third Sector Prospectus Irecelved 2020-211 TOTAL of restricted fvnds held at 31st May 2021 1.221 1,476 1,766 7,592 5,CQO 5,000 524 476 6,398 30,253 PageSDf5