LUNCH POSITIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD 1[st] JUNE 2023 – 31[st] MAY 2024
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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)
Heather Leake Date
Richard Jeneway
Chris Sarson
Name of Chief Executive or names of senior staff members
Gary Pargeter
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. 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 VCSE infrastructure organisation Brighton & Hove Community Works.
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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 with a wide range of stakeholders. Lunch Positive is an active participant of the Brighton & Hove Fast Track City Taskforce, strategically focused on reducing HIV stigma, ending new cases of HIV, and improving the quality of life for people living with HIV. We are active participants within a wide range of Sussex-wide strategic networks, including the cross-sector Sussex HIV Network, focused on providing effective health and social care to people with HIV in the locality. Within these we bring the voice of lived experience of people with HIV, service and organisational insight, and help shape and strengthen support provided for people living with HIV within the Sussex region.
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 Director is an elected voluntary Community Representative for HIV health and wellbeing, also providing additional community representation in the LGBT+ equalities field. We actively engage with NHS, local authority, health and wellbeing and other strategic partnerships focused on a broad range of health and community issues.
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 that are considered most at risk of acquiring HIV. Service users join through self-referral or referral from a range of sources which include clinicians, health & social care practitioners, support organisations and agencies. The charity operates within an Equalities & Diversity Policy framework.
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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 community based activities. The year has been one of high levels of activity addressing the enduring, new and evolving support needs of people living with HIV, and we have supported 344 people across Sussex.
The main activities undertaken in relation to our objects during the year are:
1. HIV Lunch Club
We have run the weekly HIV lunch club which has provided impactful psycho-social benefit. The lunch club has provided a well facilitated, supportive safe space for people to access food, meet, share conversation and peer support, form friendships and support networks. It is a unique and highly valued space to relieve social isolation, access information, and to derive social, emotional, practical and nutritional support.
A key development of the HIV lunch club has been the continued weekly hiring of an additional floor known as ‘The Sanctuary’ for each session. Providing additional space for the growing numbers of people attending, this space is facilitated in a café style with fewer seats and purposely provides a quieter environment for people who find large numbers of people and louder environments a barrier to participation. This has been instrumental in attracting, engaging and providing continuing support for people with complex needs.
2. Warm hub and drop-in
Responding to the impact of the cost of living crisis on the community of people living with HIV in Brighton & Hove we have continued the Tuesday drop-in ‘Warm Hub’. Running for one additional day each week, this space has provided a warm refuge and saving of heating bills for people, together with added opportunity to access a hot cooked meal, food bank and other nutritional support. The Warm Hub has been facilitated by our support worker who has offered drop-in advice and scheduled session person-centred support to people experiencing complex needs and multiple vulnerabilities. Initially running throughout the winter months, this hub now operates permanently and as a ‘Tuesday drop-In’ throughout the rest of the year. The Warm Hub / Drop-In has proved highly impactful, with a notable reach and engagement of people who experience poverty, social isolation, social anxiety, mental health issues, and people with neurodiversity for whom the space has felt more accessible.
3. Food bank and food support
We have expanded our nutritional support offer. In addition to the provision of regular healthy shared meals at the lunch club and our HIV food bank, we have provided additional nutritional support through a new community food table offering at our support gatherings, providing surplus donated food to people with need when not using
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the service. We have also provided a home delivered cooked food and food bank service to people in crisis who are unable to attend in person. Together, this nutritional support has helped people who experience difficulty maintaining a healthy diet and feeding themselves on a regular basis. This includes service users who have life circumstances or health issues affecting self-care; diminished physical or mental health, lack of motivation or personal resources to eat healthily; and those who have constrained income and are experiencing poverty.
4. Information and advice
Provision of information and advice resources, including workshops, leaflets, periodicals and digital resources that address the health and wellbeing needs of service users. Signposting and making referrals to other agencies, charities community groups that support the needs of service users and volunteers.
At lunch club and other groups sessions, we have facilitated space for staff and volunteers from other agencies to attend the HIV lunch club 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.
5. Companionship connections
Many people have reported social isolation and profound feelings of loneliness, deterioration in mental health, and some suicidal ideation. On a weekly basis we have made telephone companionship calls to service users who use our face-to-face services and to a separate growing cohort who are looking for a remote support approach. Companion calls have involved checking in on people’s welfare, providing peer-support and friendship, and offering a listening ear to people who are lonely and socially isolated, often feeling anxious and distressed. Our companionship phone calls have 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.
6. Befriending scheme
We have delivered, strengthened and developed our community face-to-face HIV befriending scheme in Brighton & Hove and in East Sussex. This befriending project matches people living with HIV with volunteer befrienders for friendship and mutually agreed practical support. Our befriending scheme has particular success in engaging and supporting people who have complex support needs, experience profound loneliness and barriers to accessing social support.
7. Winter support
We have developed our winter support programme, providing winter wellness advice & signposting, also providing additional emergency food and emergency heating support to people in crisis.
8. Social prescribing
An important development of our support offer within Brighton & Hove, and sites within East Sussex, has been the inclusion of social prescribing through collaborative working
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with local social prescribing organisations. At regular sessions we have provided space for social prescribers to engage with our service users. This has proved highly effective, supporting many people with complex needs to engage with wider health and wellbeing support.
Our support worker has attended the local HIV clinic to engage with patients, including acting as a link worker to engage with community social prescribing.
9. East Sussex groups and support
Our work in East Sussex has continued to develop substantially. We have employed a worker to coordinate this, and we have seen a growth in numbers of people engaging for support. The needs of those self-referring and attending have often been more complex. Support activities have developed, including a monthly HIV lunch club in Eastbourne, quarterly supper group in Hastings, and a monthly social and wellbeing hub in Seaford. These services reach and support a diverse group of people living with HIV in a geographical area where there is no other regular group or face-to-face support. A further development of work in this area has been link working with East Sussex social prescribing organisations, and the inclusion of Eastbourne HIV clinic patient forum meetings within Lunch Positive sessions.
10. Accessible volunteering
We have continued our supported volunteering programme, engaging and involving people living with HIV who have complex need. This has 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 & support selfcare and long-term health condition management.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Our services are locally unique. We have reached and supported record numbers of people in community settings, including many people in crisis, people experiencing profound and multiple disadvantage, complex need and health challenges, mental health issues, and multiple vulnerabilities.
We have continued to reach and support people who are often otherwise unreached. This has been through the successful involvement of service users in delivering services and providing peer-support, taking asset based approaches to psycho-social support, and continuing to address the social determinants of health of our service users.
We have consistently worked with agility, building and maintaining strong connections with service users, community and stakeholders, providing community led support. We have continued to identify, review and work within national and local policy and strategies focussed on supporting people living with HIV. 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, developed these, and started new services.
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We have supported greater numbers of people with complex need, including those who are socially isolated, people with mental health issues, serious mental illness, co-morbidities, and large numbers of people with high levels of social anxiety who often find it difficult accessing services.
Service users consistently inform us that they access our 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.
SHARING LEARNING AND OUR MODELS OF OPERATION - NATIONAL HIV NURSING ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE
In June 2024, Lunch Positive was pleased to present to the National HIV Nursing Association Annual Conference in Liverpool. The presentation focussed on the asset-based and community focussed models of service delivery operated by Lunch Positive. Evidence of the involvement of people living with HIV to deliver services, socially-based peer support, improved health and wellbeing outcomes for service users, examples of reach to people with need, and the cost-effectiveness of the support we provide were received enthusiastically by delegates.
ZERO STIGMA DAY
Our organisation led on the event management and staging of the first Zero Stigma Day rally in Brighton & Hove, in July 2023. Reflecting our organisation’s commitment to ending HIV stigma, we produced a high profile public awareness event that gave opportunity to share the voice of people living with HIV, shared lived experiences of HIV stigma, and reached an audience of hundreds of people.
SERVICE USER & VOLUNTEER INVOLVEMENT
Service activity and development has continued to reflect the needs, insights and approaches identified as part of our ongoing 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. Services have been delivered through a record level of volunteer involvement and activity.
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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 improve 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 need. Many positive health and wellbeing outcomes and personal capitals built through volunteering have been attained.
Across all our service activity, 78 volunteers have given a total of 11,800 hours to the charity . This has included a range of newly established volunteer roles, and a consistently high degree of flexible volunteer working to respond to evolving need, new and changing service environments. The paid equivalent of the time which has been given by volunteers would be valued at £131,000
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.
BUSINESS PLANNING
We have addressed organisational and operational sustainability as fundamental aspects of planning. This has included business planning to meet growth in service uptake and service use, complexity of support need of service users. Business planning has included Covid-19 recovery, review of service landscape and service development, scoping new project work, capacity building, resilience of staffing and volunteering team structures, identifying additional and more diverse funding streams, and increasing our own income generation.
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FINANCIAL REVIEW
The charity has a mixed income, incorporating voluntary sector grants, local authority grants, income generation activities, community fundraising activities, and voluntary donations. This has been essential to deliver services at scale and pace. The charity's grant funding includes a range of annual smaller grants. These are awarded from a range of funders with whom we have established and built long-term and effective relationships. During the year we have worked to refresh and develop our community fundraising strategy which includes identifying potential new grant funders in response to a rapidly changing funding landscape where there is greater pressure on voluntary sector grants overall, and a decline in HIV specific grant funders. It has remained a priority to scope new grant funders, both to sustain current service delivery and to support growth of our ongoing work, development and expansion of work.
The financial benefit of a range of cost-of-living related grants, together with our own income generation and the support of community fundraising partners have been instrumental in meeting expenditure to deliver on core activities, growth of service uptake and increased complexity of need of service users.
Trustees, staff and volunteers have all worked exceptionally hard during the year to strategise, develop and deliver our community fundraising programme of events and activities, and to engage new supporters across community.
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 related overheads for each financial year. 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 ongoing forecasting. 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. This may include service delivery, developmental activities, match funding, new projects, and developing income generation activities. Our reserves policy is available on request.
DECLARATION
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees' report above. Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees Signature
Richard Jeneway Trustee 30 March 2024
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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Lunch Positive Registered charity number 1137186
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Lunch Positive for the year ended 31 May 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
hueyger
Lucy Cryan, ACA Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales 21 Inwood Crescent, Brighton, BN1 5AP
30 March 2025
Lunch Positive 1137186
Receipts and payments accounts
For the period Period start date Period end date To from 01/06/2023 31/05/2024
Section A Receipts and payments
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incoming resources from charitable activities |
57,093 | 34,940 | - | 92,033 | 90,368 | |||
| Donations & communityfundraising | 39,006 | - | - | 39,006 | 21,148 | |||
| Income from investments | 1,540 | - | - | 1,540 | 624 | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
97,639 | 34,940 | - | 132,579 | 112,140 |
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
- - - 34,940 |
- - - 34,940 |
- - - 132,579 |
- - - 132,579 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||||
| - | 132,579 | 112,140 | ||||||
| Expenditure on charitable activities | 84,920 | 32,996 | - | 117,915 | 131,670 | |||
| Expenditure on fundraising | 965 | - | - | 965 | 603 | |||
| - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| **Sub total ** | 85,885 | 32,996 | - | 118,881 | 132,273 | |||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
||||||||
| - | 118,881 | 132,273 | ||||||
| 11,754 | 1,944 | - | 13,698 | - 20,133 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | |||||
| 109,803 | 15,361 | - | 125,164 | 145,341 | ||||
| 121,557 | 17,305 | - | 138,862 | 125,208 |
NB Some additions may vary by +/- £1 due to rounding
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Unrestricted Restricted Endowment |
|
|---|---|
| Categories | funds funds funds Details |
| to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ |
|
| B1 Cash funds | 29,939 6,869 - 102,023 - - 40 - - 132,002 6,869 - Current account *3555 00 Current account 3555 50 Cash in hand Total cash funds** ~~———~~ |
| Unrestricted Restricted Endowment |
|
| funds funds funds |
|
| to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ Details |
|
| B2 Other monetary assets | - - - - - - Non e ~~ee~~ ~~ |
| Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) Current value (optional) Details |
|
| B3 Investment assets | - - - - - - - - - - None ~~===~~ |
| B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) Current value (optional) - - - - Details None ~~[-~~ ~~J—-—~~ |
| Fund to which Amount due When due |
|
| liability relates (optional) (optional) Details |
|
| B5 Liabilities | - - None ~~-—~~ |
| Signed on behalf of all the trustees Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signed on behalf of all the trustees Date of approval Print Name Signature ~~——~~ ~~7 —~~ |
| Richard Jeneway |
Trustee 30 March 2025
Receipts and payments account year ended 31st May 2024
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Receipts Restricted Unrestricted 2024 Restricted Unrestricted 2023
Incoming resources from charitable activities
Grants:
BHCC Third Sector Prospectus 14440 0 14440 15200 0 15200
National Lottery Cost-of-living fund 16000 0 16000 0 0 0
BHCC Household Support Fund 6 4500 0 4500 0 0 0
MAC Aids Fund 0 10000 10000 15000 0 15000
Sussex Community Foundation 0 5000 5000 5000 0 5000
SCDA 0 4500 4500 0 0 0
Eastbourne Borough Council 0 1412 1412 0 0 0
House Project 0 1000 1000 0 0 0
Lewes District Council 0 1928 1928 0 0 0
SCDA Small Spark Grant 0 500 500 0 0 0
TDC Older Persons Grant 0 1000 1000 0 0 0
Eastbourne Food Partnership 0 1800 1800 0 0 0
Wellbeing stigma grant 0 4850 4850 0 0 0
Brighton District Nursing Association 0 3000 3000 3000 0 3000
BH Public Health 0 8570 8570 8570 0 8570
Edward Carpenter Trust 0 500 500 0 0 0
Other grants awarded previous year 0 0 0 20849 0 0
Other:
Community catering income 0 8110 0 0 7491 7491
Community reps fees 0 800 0 0 800 800
Miscellaneous 0 4123 0 0 0 0
Donations
Community fundraising 0 7482 7482 0 14458.59 14458.59
Other donations 0 31524 31524 0 21148.3 21148.3
Investments
Bank interest 1539.74 0 624 624
TOTAL RECEIPTS 34940 97638.74 132578.7 67619 44521.89 91291.89
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Payments
Expenditure on charitable activities
Salaries, wages, on-costs 20128.49 36723.56 56852.05 39434.69 28074 67508.69
Premises 9811.2 21560.31 31371.51 6415.25 21907.94 28323.19
Food & consumables 3005.67 12973.76 15979.43 18599.68 299.32 18899
Health & safety 0 1397.43 1397.43 2482.42 -50.68 2431.74
Admin, IT, insurance 0 2340.12 2340.12 2744.83 530.62 3275.45
Volunteer programme 0 1010.94 1010.94 609.23 1127.28 1736.51
Volunteer expenses 0 175.98 175.98 316.23 82.75 398.98
Catering equipment 0 120.76 120.76 1479.82 25.62 1505.44
Capital items 0 0 0 0 0 0
Marketing & promotion 0 375.3 375.3 157.31 0 157.31
Vehicle costs and fuel 50.42 4926.04 4976.46 3780.28 728.96 4509.24
Community engagement 0 0 0 185.41 797.67 983.08
Community catering 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wellbeing projects 0 3115.34 3115.34 471.47 1073.05 1544.52
Winter support activities 0 0 0 196.2 0 196.2
Accountancy 0 200 200 0 200 200
Miscellaneous 0 0 0
Expenditure on fundraising
Fundraising 0 965.25 965.25 45.6 557.7 603.3
TOTAL PAYMENTS 32995.78 85884.79 118880.6 76918.42 55354.23 132272.7
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NB Some additions may vary by +/- £1 due to rounding
Breakdown of funds held at 31st May 2024
| Funds held at 31st May 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Restricted funds | 15361 |
| Designated fund (1) Organisational development | 72803 |
| Free reserves | 37000 |
| 125164 |
| Funds held at 31st May 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Restricted funds | 6869 |
| Designated fund (1) Organisational development | 100000 |
| Free reserves | 32002 |
| 138871 |
| Breakdown of restricted funds held at 31st May 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Awards for All (carried forward from 2018-19) | 7.5 |
| Awards for All (carried forward from 2019-20) | 1766 |
| BH HSF 6 | 1943.91 |
| TDC older persons grant | 1000 |
| Sussex Community Foundation | 651.57 |
| Edward Carpenter Trust | 500 |
| Rainbow Fund Writing Workshop (recd. 2022-3) | 1000 |
| 6868.98 |