2024-12-31-accounts

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ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2025

Chair of Trustees’ Report (Pages 2 -3 )
Financial Report and Accounts for 2024 (Page 4)
Independent Examiner’s Report (Pages 5-6)
Project Reports
a) Food and Community Hub (Pages 7-8) including CAB impact data (Page 9) b) The Plot (Pages 10 - 11)
c) Next Steps Project (Pages 12 - 13)
Minutes of 2024 AGM (Pages 14 - 15)

Chair of Trustees Report

Welcome to the Annual Report for Hope for Belper for 2025, which covers our activities as a charity over the past 12 months.

Hope for Belper was founded in 2008 as part of the nationwide Hope ’08 initiative with the simple aim of demonstrating the love of God through random acts of kindness and practical acts of service. We continue to be inspired by this original vision.

Over the past 17 years the charity has overseen a variety of local projects including the ‘Dreamscheme’ from 2008-12 which saw groups of young people getting together to carry out improvements to various neglected areas of the town, Belper Street Angels which ran from 2012 to 2022, and the Belper Town Chaplaincy which now operates as an independent project.

More recently our energies have been focused on the project for which the charity is best-known - the Belper food bank, originally known as the Basic Idea and since renamed the Food and Community Hub, and its two associated projects, community gardening initiative The Plot and coaching programme Next Steps.

Much of the above work would not have happened without the vision, energy and commitment of two of our founding trustees, Gareth and Helen Greenwood. They were part of the original group of local Christians who set up Hope in 2008 and it is no exaggeration to say that the charity would not exist in its current form without them.

Gareth chaired the board of trustees for 14 years until 2022 and Helen was its secretary for eight years. Although they will continue to be closely involved in the Food and Community Hub, both as volunteers and as members of its steering group, they are standing down as trustees this year and on behalf of everyone involved with the charity, I would like to place on record our heartfelt thanks to them for their many years of service.

Over the past year, we have been giving much thought to the future of Hope, with the aim of reengaging with local churches and the local community and also with a view to resourcing current and future projects by getting ‘new blood’ and fresh vision into the leadership of the charity.

During the spring we held an Awayday in which we tried to work through some of these issues under the headings ‘Reviewing Hope, Re-Imagining Hope and Rebuilding Hope.’ We identified three distinct phases of Hope - ecumenical co-operation (2008-12), establishing presence (201318) and consolidation (2019-25), posing the question what a ‘fourth phase’ might look like.

Out of this came a recognition that we perhaps needed to do more to reconnect with our supporter-base by having more open meetings, leading directly to the well-attended ‘celebration evening’ in May which showed an encouraging level of support for Hope and what we do.

We also reaffirmed our core charitable objectives: "To demonstrate and advance the Christian faith through enabling Christians in partnership with others to take an active role in facilitating, organising and providing community initiatives in response to needs in the Belper area.” For us this means not just building on and developing our existing projects, but remaining open to new ideas and initiatives as needs arise and as resources allow.

Much of the work identified at the Awayday is still ongoing - for instance, looking more closely at what it means to provide a ‘community hub’ as well as a food hub, considering what more we can

do to meet the needs of young people in the town, and taking a fresh look at our comms operation, particularly the website. This work will continue in the coming year, but under fresh leadership as I will be standing down as chair of trustees at the AGM, although it is my intention to remain on the board of trustees for the time being.

My primary concern both as a trustee and as chair has always been to ensure Hope remains true to its Christian roots and ethos, bringing Jesus’s message of hope to our community by acts of service. As I prepare to hand the baton on to a new chair and welcome an influx of new trustees, I have every confidence that this will continue to be the case.

Paul Linford, Chair of Trustees 2022-2025

Financial Report and Accounts

HOPE FOR BELPER

2024 Receipts & Payments Accounts

FUND	OPENING BALANCE	2024 RECEIPTS	2024 PAYMENTS	FUND TRANSFERS	CLOSING BALANCE
General Fund 40,135 Just Giving (Guy Wimhurst) 3,881 Reserve Funds Bless Project 19 General Reserve 5,000 Food & Community Hub Reserve 35,000 Guy Wimhurst (Challenge Costs) 2,415 Restricted Funds Food & Community Hub 7,799 Next Steps 0 The Plot 0 Bish Bash Nosh 772 Christmas Hampers 2,966 Chaplaincy Project (Restricted) 264 ACTS 435 CASH IN HAND AS PER ACCOUNTS 98,251 Co-Operative Bank 95,595 Outstanding Receipts 2,580 SUB TOTAL: CASH IN HAND AS PER BANK BALANCE 98,175 Plus: Hub Petty Cash 76 CASH IN HAND AS PER BANK BALANCE 98,251		21,822 35,847 15,000 1,531 0 1,054 75,254	68,137 9,930 438 38 2,487 81,030	-20,000 41,957 -3,881 0 0 5,000 35,000 -2,415 0 26,296 1,805 5,070 1,093 734 1,533 264 0 92,457 92,192 0 92,192 265 92,457

The 2024 Receipts & Payments Accounts were approved by the Trustees and authorised for issue on 16/06/2025.

Signed:

Paul Linford, Chair of Trustees

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Food & Community Hub Report

Number of referrals:

2020: 1317 2023: 3192 2021: 1259 2024: 2267 2022: 2062 2025: 709 (to date 12/06/2025)

In the last 12 months we have seen a decline in the number of referrals we are seeing – we can only speculate on the reasons for this but there are a couple of significant contributing factors:

The main factor being that in May 2024 we moved to most of our referrals being done by a Citizens Advice advisor on site (rather than remotely via other organisations). This has meant more direct contact with people and has enabled us to talk to them about the reason behind why they are accessing the food bank. It has enabled conversations about money management, appointments with CA being made, further referrals/signposting to other organisations and has helped to prevent ongoing/long term use of the food bank for those who were accessing habitually rather than out of need.

Secondly, many of the Ukrainians who came to the UK when the war in Ukraine began are now settled into life in the UK and are working or now in receipt of full benefits so are not having to rely on the food bank.

In both cases – with the Ukrainian community and those who have historically accessed the food bank weekly but perhaps did not always require it – these individuals and families have continued to access The Hub and everything that goes on around the distribution of food parcels.

We continue to be busy with lunches and are serving 30-40 meals (we did hit 48 once session!) every Tuesday and Friday. The sharing of a meal has been a fantastic way to get to know people and build a real sense of community with those who attend. This offering is open to ALL so please spread the word. I am very grateful for those who take on the challenge of cooking for an unknown number of people every week!

Citizens Advice - Please see 2024/2025 Project Report Attached. CA continues to be a real asset to the hub.

Bish Bash Nosh – we have continued this project in conjunction with Fleet Arts and have had a monthly art session provided by them. This has ranged from water colours through to pottery and has been very well received. As people find themselves more a part of the community, the happier they are to take part in these additional activities – this in turn creates a real buzz and friendly atmosphere.

On an ad hoc basis we have continued to put together our BBN Go boxes which contain a recipe card and all the ingredients to make a meal we have eaten at the hub. The last one was an Orzo bake which went down particularly well, and people really engaged with it. We received several photos of the meals created and even a taster!

Community Engagement:

Work experience from Holbrook School for Autism.
School/uniformed organisation visits to the hub.
Remedi – community reparation of anti-social behaviour.
Corporate volunteering
Live Life Better Derbyshire

Christmas 2024:

Due to the increasing logistics attached to the hampers this year we simply gave out the Aldi vouchers with a small gift to all to attended the hub in the run up to Christmas. We gave away 87 of these and, as always, they were very gratefully received.

We also served Christmas dinner to almost 100 people which was quite a squeeze and no mean feat! An incredible atmosphere with a delicious meal cooked by Smiths Kitchen (and friends) and the addition this year of some carol singing!

The Plot:

As you will hear from The Plot report the veggies are starting to appear (and Miles has even used some in the meals he has cooked for us) and these are being donated to The Hub and received very gratefully by the clients. It continues to be a real asset to be able to offer some fresh vegetables alongside the food parcels.

As always, we are very grateful to all who support the work of The Hub in many and varied ways – THANK YOU!

Jo Lambourne,

Food and Community Hub Co-ordinator.

Belper Food and Communlty Hub Impact Data Annual report 2024125 citizens advlce Derbyshire Distncts N¥mb•v •f dl•Nts •tt•ssln8 th• Mrvk• Cll•nt ¢ta¢ts Cll•Thtr probl•ms t•rkl•d Ai• dl•nt• a•nd•r •l¢U•fit• Ithlty•f ¢ll•nt• White Asian Other <25 yrs 25-29 yrs 30-34 yrs 35-39 yrs 40-44 yrs 45-49 yr5 50-54 yrs 55-59 yrs 60-64 yrs 65+ 596 Female Male 56 4496 9S% 196 496 696 996 H•alth ol¢ll•nts 996 Disabled or Long term health condition 7296 13% In¢om•ylns 896 ••n•fits •¢ur•d 23% 40. IMu•i by typ• Thls past year we have... As515ted Unlv•rMI Cr•dlt 964 216 Dealt with 25 clients ¥th housLng problems Ch•rtt•bh $POrt & Food 8•nk¥ 191 enquiries about PIP Conmmw D•bt 26 144 Dealt with 222 separate iSSLte5 surrounding Universal Credir Employm•rt VlTr•n¢l•l 49 38 Advised 29 clients requiring guidance with health and community (are Provided adwce to 22 cllenis wth utillty Issues 51 Housl ImmlJr•tl•n 71 39 Oth•r R•l•ilwshlps T4X l* p•rtnw•hlp wlth l•lp•rT•vH i 36 Belper itv e arizens Advlce Der Rwster hire Districts 2025. Chaflty No.1094369

The Plot Report

Building on the joys and successes of 2024, The Plot remains a delight to make happen!

We have resumed our deliveries of dew-fresh veg to the Food Hub - mostly lettuce right now, but much more is on the way!

We have seen changes in our group of volunteers and helpers; mostly because life and circumstance have changed, making Thursdays unworkable. But it’s always the way that one day suits some, but not others, so it seems unnecessary to change it.

Last year we installed a new growing bed in the lower Plot area and we relined the Pond (now called Plot Ness!). The relining has been a limited success so far this year as the long dry spell saw most of the water evaporating off, but what rain does fall at least now stays where it should! (and the rain also filled our water butts in the nick of time!).

The growing bed has been a big success - we planted various climbing beans and pumpkins because we figured they would be able to bring themselves into the sun. And it has worked! We have some towering purple beans!

We have tried this year to be more sustainable with our seeds, so have left broccoli, beetroot and kale to run to seed so that we can use our own (and swap with other growers!). This has been a success too!

The soil remains very fertile after adding ‘green manures’ during the winter months, and crops are romping along very nicely.

We have in the ground: kale, chard, lettuce, potatoes, purple french beans, cherokee bean, broad beans, beetroot, three varieties of peas, tomatoes, basil, four kinds of pumpkin, courgettes and garlic! Hoping for a good future crop this year.

There has been some consternation though, because Strutts have decided to do something else with the land that we currently use. They intend to cut down the trees and redevelop the site from Dec 31 2025.

We are all upset about this upset… but I remain optimistic that a new home will be found: bigger and better!

In chasing a new site, I met with the developers building the new Babington Hospital and they initially seemed quite enthusiastic, but at the last minute discovered a technical planning issue which meant it was impossible to get us on site.

I have met with the Catholic church on Gibfield Lane (the memorably named Our Lady of Perpetual Succour) about using a patch of land behind there, but the Diocese needs to be consulted, and, strictly speaking, the land is the back garden of a house on site which is to be rented out in the future… so maybe this isn’t so promising.

There has been some discussion with Belper Town Council about using some land on their new (proposed) allotment site, but I was told that, in the interests of fairness, they can’t simply grant the space to us without offering it out to other interested parties across the community. It was suggested that an application from us would be viewed favourably, given our experience in this

field (no pun intended!), but success can’t be guaranteed. So it was said that we ought to continue to pursue all other leads…

I am yet to chase up a lead to the Strutt’s estate, but I’m told their plots of land are fairly far flung so might not be entirely suitable.

A friend of a friend has a sizeable garden plot off Spencer road, which I have yet to properly investigate, but again, it’s someone’s garden and security of tenure isn’t a given.

So while there have been more possible leads than I anticipated, none have come to fruition… YET!

Hope springs eternal. Meanwhile, food deliveries will be maintained! Me and the crew love it all… Miles Haplin, Project Leader

Next Steps Report

The Next Steps project up and running and is being well received by participants with many going on to refer the programme to others.

The table below gives an overview of the numbers (End of April)

	Jul-24	Aug-24	Sep-24	Oct-24	Cumulative Totals	Nov-24	Dec-24	Jan-25	Cumulative Totals	Feb-25	Mar-25	Apr-25	Cumulative Totals
NUMBER OF COACHES	7	7	7	7		7	7	7		7	5	6
NUMBER OF COACHEES	7	7	9	10		9	9	10		9	10	9
NUMBER OF GOALS WITH DEADLINES SET	10	10	16	12		15	14	11		11	16	14
TYPE OF GOAL
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL	6	6	9	7		9	7	8		6	11	7
HOUSING	1	1	3	2		3	2	2			1	1
SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCY	1	1	2	1		1	1
MEDICAL											1	1
FINANCIAL	1	1	1	1		1	1			2	1	2
OTHER Please state	1	1	1	1		1	1	1		3	2	3
NUMBER OF COACHING HOURS DELIVERED	12	6	12	9	39	6	6	7	19	12	21	14	47
NUMBER ACTUALLY ATTENDED VS NUMBER OF PLANNED SESSIONS	92%	60%	92%	75%		75%	83%	54%		80%	95%	100%

At the end of April, we had 9 participants and had 6 coaches as 1 of the original 7 coaches had stepped down. In addition, 2/6 of the coaches requested to take a short break from coaching due to work and personal reasons. (They want to continue as coaches after the break). Subsequently, this restricted the number of new participants we were able take onto the programme. The opportunity to get some feedback from our Coaches has been taken in order to identify things that can be done better. Overall, they have reported feeling positive about the impact their coaching has had; however, they have reported that supporting clients with complex needs has led to some of them feeling that having more than one person to work with is too much. Consequently, from this point on in the project Coaches will only be allocated one person to work with at a time.

As a result of this decision, the Next Steps Coordinator has recruited 4 new coaches. After all their induction and training has been completed, it is anticipated that we will be in a position to offer more coaching slots. Consequently, the current focus is to conclude existing coaching pairings (as appropriate) and carry out the evaluation of those coaching sessions as well as actively recruiting new people on to the programme.

To date we have supported a total of 17 individuals through the programme

Links with other organisations:

The Next Step Coordinator regularly updates the ‘A’ frame Information board available to all attendees at the Hub which covers information about services available within Belper from a wide range of organisations. In addition, a Signposting Catalogue has been created to support Coaches in their roles and this has been revised and updated.

Based on feedback from 1 x 1s with the Volunteer Coaches, the NSC will be following up with Kelsey CIC; another local charity which focusses on supporting people with addiction and substance abuse issues. The aim is to forge a strong connection as a number of people who attend the Hub would find it helpful to get help in this way and we already have people using their services who will advocate for it.

Pilot Project Review

A formal review of the project was undertaken at the end of March 2025 and a decision was made by the Steering Group to recommend that the project continues until March 2026, after which time, a further review will take place. This extension is to be funded by Hope for Belper. This recommendation was ratified by the Trustees and the NSC has agreed to continue in post.

The close integration of the Next Steps project as part of an established Hope for Belper set up means that whilst we stick to taking clients from this group and offering coaching from volunteer coaches and source peer support from the wider Food Hub community then there is little risk of this project disappearing without a trace. It has had strong positive feedback from people taking part in the programme who also advocate for it, as a result, we are seeing more people requesting coaching because they have had a recommendation from someone who is on, or been on the programme.

The decision to reduce the coaching load on coaches will help us to ensure that our Coaches continue to feel positive about the time they are giving up. It will allow them to have breaks between assignments if they want them which will support their mental health.

EXAMPLES OF FEEDBACK ON THE IMPACT OF BEING COACHED:

The importance and value of sitting down talking with someone and being really listened to.
Being helped to reflect on what I have done well as well as what I still have to do - having a focus on achievement.
That I am worth listening to. I DO HAVE A PURPOSE. The revelation that I AM VALU ED
Being listened to, and having someone to talk things through with to help me find the right track. My coach is a lovely person
My coach listened to me and helped me to look at easier ways of doing things which has stopped me worrying so muc h
To look at things from a spiritual perspective rather than a material perspective
It allowed me to feel strong and helped me cope in all sorts of ways
Knowing that there was someone I could trust. To have an 'open door' separate to friends and family where I can discuss things that I don’t want to go into with them.
Face to face support has been really appreciated and the coach has been there for me in one of the hardest parts of my life
To prioritise important tasks and deal with things one at a time
To be able to hear and control my inner voice thereby making it less damaging in my day-today life. I am able to shut up the sabateurs in my head and be more mindful of the things I can do for my well being

Ann Walker, Next Steps Co-Ordinator.

Minutes of Hope for Belper AGM held on 18[th] July 2024 at Belper Baptist Church

Present : Paul Linford, Roy Stratton, Amie Brown, Robert Foster, Jamie Gains, Jo Lambourne, Gareth and Helen Greenwood, Jill Day, Ann Walker, Lorraine Bolger, Mike and Linda Kennington, Hilary Widowson, Andy and Mel Bridges (16)

Apologies : Sarah Bradbury, John and Sue Roden, Tony Ward, Ann de Gruchy, Penny Curley, Frances Kelly, Su Fel, Andrew Pollett, David and Kate Gough, Anne Stratton, Christine Marlow (13)

1. Welcome. Paul welcomed everyone and began the meeting in prayer

2. Minutes of Previous Meeting . These were agreed to be an accurate record.

3. Matters arising not covered on the Agenda . No additional matters were brought for discussion

4. Election of Trustees

Roy Stratton was thanked for his work as a trustee as he is standing down.

The following were re-elected:

Paul Linford (nominated by Roy and seconded by Amie) Robert Foster (nominated by Helen, seconded by Gareth) Gareth Greenwood (nominated by Amie, seconded by Jo) Helen Greenwood (nominated by Robert, seconded by Amie) Amie Brown (nominated by Paul, seconded by Helen) Jamie Gains (nominated by Mike, seconded by Jo)

Mel Bridges was elected as a new trustee, nominated by Paul and seconded by Andy.

Paul gave a short overview of the role of a trustee

5. Election of Officers

Chair: Paul (nominated by Roy, seconded by Amie) Secretary: Mel (nominated by Paul, seconded by Jo) Treasurer: Christine (nominated in her absence by Paul, seconded by Amie) Safeguarding Trustee: Gareth (nominated by Paul, seconded by Amie.)

Independent Examiner (Finance). Christine had someone in mind for this role, but as she wasn’t present, it was agreed that this appointment could be postponed until the next trustees meeting (action).

6. Annual Reports

The Annual Report was received and project leaders gave updates.

The following action points were noted:

● Paul is planning to stand down as chair at the next AGM, so a successor for this role is still needed

● It is an important time to consider how Hope for Belper will look in the future. The trustees plan to have a vision day/away day in the autumn

● Past Hope for Belper projects can now be removed from current paperwork

● Chaplaincy funds to go back into Derbyshire Workplace Chaplaincy (Christine)

7. Guest Speaker - Jill Day, Belper Refugee Welcome

Jill gave a very interesting talk about her involvement with Belper Refugee Welcome, in particular providing support to one family as they have settled in Belper. The support for this family provided by Citizens UK ends in October

Points for the future:

● Could an agreement be put in place with the council to regularly support one or more families?

● Could Belper become a ‘Town of Sanctuary’?

● Would it be useful for this project to come under the umbrella of Hope for Belper?- This can be considered by the trustees at a later date if it would be useful for the continued work of Belper Refugee Welcome.