Basford, Bestwood & Bulwell Foodbank Registered Charity Number 1153963
Trustees Report
April 2023 to March 2024
Basford, Bestwood & Bulwell Foodbank (working name Bestwood & Bulwell Foodbank) is an unincorporated association governed by a constitution adopted on 19[th] March 2013.
Our charitable purpose is the prevention or relief of poverty which we do through the distribution of food and essential items to people in crisis within the City and County of Nottingham.
We are part of the Trussell Trust network of foodbanks and our principal place of operations is St. Philip’s Church, Knights Close, Top Valley, Nottingham. NG5 9AJ.
In accordance with the constitution, Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting.
The Trustees for the period covered by this report were Ms. Adele Brooksbank, Mr. John Gregory (Greg) Cowley BEM (Chair) & Rev. Christine Little.
All trustees gave their time voluntarily and received no remuneration or other benefits.
The Trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by The Charities Commission on public benefit and are satisfied that the charities operation continues to satisfy those criteria.
Report on Activities
This has been another challenging year as the cost of living crisis has really started to take hold.
Throughout the period we have retained a strong core of volunteers for which we remain thankful as without them it would not be possible to operate at the level needed to keep pace with the increased demand we have seen. However, the continued increase in demand does place a strain on our volunteers and despite this strong core, there have been occasions where we have needed to seek last minute assistance or operate with skeleton levels of staffing.
We have always attempted to help clients address the underlying issues which cause them to seek help from our charity and to that end, with grant funding we have been able to formalise our work with Bestwood Advice Centre to fund a part time Welfare Benefits & Debt Advisor and a part time Support Advice Worker who can work from our distribution centres. This facility has been used extensively and since this service has been in operation we has successfully assisted clients to secure additional benefits in excess of £650,000.
We have also received some funding from Nottingham City Council through the Household Support Fund which has allowed us to top up some of our food stocks.
Demand for our services continue to grow and both our main distribution centre which operates from St. Phillip’s Church in Bestwood and our secondary centre which operates one day a week out of St. Mary’s Church in Bulwell have seen an increase in the number of visitors. In total this year we have provided food parcels of ten meals each to 6,067 people which is 905 more people than last year, an increase of 18%. This utilised an additional 6,104 kilograms of food.
With ever increasing demand for our services, the level of donations has struggled to keep pace with the demand meaning that we have had to use monies received via fundraising, donations and the household support fund to shore up a number of staples.
Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
John Gregory Cowley Chair of Trustees 15[th] December 2024
Bestwood & Bulwell Food Bank
Accounts to 31 March 2024
| GENERAL FUND INCOME Donations Donations via CAF TESCO donation based on food collection Gift Aid GENERAL FUND TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE Payments to Trussell Trust Food Purchases Health & Safety Employee costs Salary & Pension Agency fees Volunteer Support Insurance Contribution towards centre running costs Telephone Post & Stationary Warehouse costs Legal Costs Energy Support via Bestwood Advice Centre Equipment purchased GENERAL FUND TOTAL EXPENDITURE Excess of income over expenditure RESTRICTED FUNDS Computer Equipment/Debt Support Income Expenditure Debt Support via Bestwood Advice Centre Deficit of income over expenditure |
Year to 31 Mar 2024 68347 9144 77491 3487 291 81269 0 45008 0 21194 0 21194 187 481 1800 136 484 3100 35 0 0 72425 8844 |
Year to 31 Mar 2024 68347 9144 77491 3487 291 81269 0 45008 0 21194 0 21194 187 481 1800 136 484 3100 35 0 0 72425 8844 |
|---|---|---|
| 21194 0 |
||
| 81269 0 45008 0 21194 187 481 1800 136 484 3100 35 0 0 |
||
| 72425 | ||
| 8844 | ||
| 27873 | ||
| 27873 | ||
| 0 | ||
As at 31 Mar 2024
As at 31 Mar 2023
REPRESENTED BY
| Cash at bank General Fund as 1 April 2023 Add surplus on General fund GENERAL FUND AT 31 Mar 2024 Restricted Funds as 1 April 2023 Deficit on Restricted fund RESTRICTED FUND AT 31 Mar 2024 TOTAL ALL FUNDS |
78365 8844 |
100209 | 51820 26545 |
91365 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100209 | 91365 | ||||
87209 13000 |
78365 13000 |
||||
| 13000 0 |
13308 -308 |
||||
| 100209 | 91365 | ||||
Notes to Accounts
Not all of our activities are cash based, we had the following transaction in the period.
| Kilograms | £ Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Food held in store at 1 April 2023 | 21218 | 35646 |
| Food donated or purchased by Foodbank during the year | 49825 | 83706 |
| Food given out by Foodbank during the | ||
| year | 44728 | 75143 |
| Food held in store at 31 March 2024 | 26315 | 44209 |
Food is valued at an average price of £1.68 per Kg.
Food purchased and food held in store includes food paid for but not physically delivered to the foodbank at 31 March 2024.
Policy on Reserves
It is the policy of Bestwood & Bulwell Foodbank to hold in General Reserve a sum of not less than 50% of the general expenditure of the current financial year.
As at 31 March 2024 Bestwood & Bulwell Foodbank held in General Reserve £87209 a figure in excess of the minimum requirement of this policy of £36212.
Independent Examiners report to the Trustees of the Bestwood and Bulwell Foodbank st I report on the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 Respective Responsibilities of the Trustees and the Examiner As members of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the Financial Statements. You have requested that an independent examination is carried out. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those Financial Statements. Basls of thls report I have examined the accounts kept by the Trustees and agreed those to the Financial Statements and the bank account statements. I have traced all items of expenditure back to supporting documentation. I have reconciled the bank account at the end of the accounting period. I have received your assurances that the grants received during the period are not restricted or have been used within the restrictions imposed. Independent Examiners Statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention 11 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements To keep accounting records To prepare Financial Statements have not been met; or 21 which in my opinion. Attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached M P Powditch ACA 11 Gerrard Close Arnold Nottingham NG5 9QL 22, October 2024