## **ANALYSIS OF BURGESS HILL COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ACTIVITIES** ## **2024** ## **Summary** - Burgess Hill Community Food Bank (BHCFB) provides food and small amounts of toiletries to needy households in Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint and surrounding villages. - Donors support BHCFB by gifting food and other items and by donating cash. - The Food Bank’s clients receive one or more boxes of food and other items. Each box is designed to sustain two adults for 3 days. The number of boxes for which clients qualify is based on the size and age composition of their household. - During 2024, distributions to clients continued to be made against vouchers issued to them by local public institutions, charities, churches and trusts. Burgess Hill Town Council was dominant amongst these, providing vouchers for approximately three-quarters of all distributions. - During the year, the Food Bank provided 3,622 boxes to 536 separate clients through a total of 2,526 distributions. - This total of 3,622 boxes was 16% less than the record of 4,315 boxes distributed in 2023. - Some 220 clients used the Food Bank only once during 2024 and a further 245 clients between 2 and 10 times. These 465 relatively low-use clients comprised 86.8% of all 2024 clients and accounted for 49.5% of all distributions. The remaining 50.5% of distributions went to just 71 clients who used the Food Bank during the year between 11 and 38 times. - Users of the Food Bank were mostly small households: some 41% of clients were single adults and a further 51% had households comprising two, three or four members. 1 ## **ANALYSIS OF BURGESS HILL COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ACTIVITIES** ## **2024** ## **1 The nature of BHCFB activities** Burgess Hill Community Food Bank (BHCFB) distributes basic food items to needy households in Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint and surrounding villages. The Food Bank’s main outlet is in Burgess Hill town centre, with a second outlet in Hassocks. The Burgess Hill outlet opens for two hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. For most of 2024, the outlet in Hassocks opened for two hours on Mondays and Fridays but towards the end of the year moved to Friday opening only. In Burgess Hill, clients are encouraged to collect from the Food Bank’s outlet. Distributions are made by delivery to the homes of clients if they are unable to collect. In Hassocks, all 2024 distributions were collected from the BHCFB outlet in the village. BHCFB also covers the area in and around Hurstpierpoint. Demand in this area is low making delivery only the most efficient means of distribution. Distributions are normally made to clients against BHCFB vouchers issued by local organisations, such as Burgess Hill Town Council, Brighton Housing Trust and Mid Sussex Early Help. The amount of food distributed is based on a standard ‘box’ sufficient to feed two adults/teenagers for three days. The amount for which a client qualifies is based on the size of their household, with pre-teens counting as half an adult/teenager. Since it is difficult for Food Bank volunteers to split standard boxes, when a client’s household size results in the client qualifying for an amount of boxes that is not a whole number, the amount distributed is rounded up to the next whole number. Each standard box contains only non-perishable foodstuffs and toiletries. At the Burgess Hill outlet clients can opt to receive small additional amounts of frozen foodstuffs. The data in this report are mostly drawn from the Food Bank’s records of each distribution made to clients. The key data variables employed are the date of each distribution, the point of distribution (Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint), whether distributions were collected or delivered, the name of the client, and the size and composition of the client’s household and therefore the number of boxes received. Cost data are drawn from the Food Bank’s audited accounts for years through to 2023 and provisional accounts for 2024. 2 ## **2 Usage of BHCFB in 2024** During 2024, BHCFB supplied a total of 536 clients with 3,622 boxes of food and toiletries. This involved a total of 2,526 distributions, of which 88% were collected from an outlet and 12% delivered. Basic information on BHCFB’s operations is shown in Table 1. ## **TABLE 1 BHCFB DISTRIBUTIONS IN 2024 ANAYSED BY OUTLET, BENEFICIARY, NUMBER OF BOXES AND DISTRIBUTION METHOD** |**Outlet/**
**Distribution**
**method**
**Number of**
**Distributions**|**Number of benefciaries***
**Number**
**of Boxes**
**Adults &**
**Teens**
**Pre-teens**
**Total**| |---|---| |**Burgess Hill**
**2,058**|**3,800**
**1,126**
**4,926**
**2,952**| |
Collected
1,863|3,344
1,014
4,358
2,634| |Delivered
195|456
112
568
318| |**Hassocks**
**407**|**708**
**189**
**897**
**550**| |Collected
407|708
189
897
550| |Delivered
0|0
0
0
0| |**Hurstpierpoint**
**61**|**147**
**97**
**246**
**120**| |Collected
0|0
0
0
0| |Delivered
61|147
97
246
120| |**Total**
**2,526**|**4,655**
**1,412**
**6,069**
**3,622**| |Collected
2,270|4,052
1,203
5,255
3,184| |Delivered
256|603
209
814
438| * Note that the beneficiary data refer to each distribution. Thus, for example, a pre-teen in a household which uses the Food Bank 10 times will add 10 to the number of pre-teen beneficiaries. 3 ## **3 Changes in the usage of BHCFB in 2024** BHCFB’s throughput in 2024 was down on the record achieved in 2023 but well above the levels of prior years. For 2024, the chart below shows the number of distributions in each week, and the annual mean number of weekly distributions in 2024 and in the three preceding years. Distributions and the number of boxes distributed were respectively 14% and 16% lower than in 2023. These falls for the Food Bank as a whole, resulted from falls in Burgess Hill of 8% in distributions and 9% in boxes and from much larger falls in Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint. In Hassocks distributions fell by 34% and the number of boxes by 39%. In Hurstpierpoint, the number of deliveries declined despite a shift to delivery only. Compared with 2023, Hurstpierpoint’s distributions and the number of boxes distributed were down by, respectively, 43% and 33%. A more detailed analysis of these changes in BHCFB usage is presented in Annex Table 1. **----- Start of picture text -----**
2024
BHCFB WEEKLY NUMBER OF DISTRIBUTIONS
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
04/01/2418/01/2401/02/2415/02/2429/02/2414/03/2428/03/2411/04/2425/04/2409/05/2423/05/2406/06/2420/06/2404/07/2418/07/2401/08/2415/08/2429/08/2412/09/2426/09/2410/10/2424/10/2407/11/2421/11/2405/12/2419/12/24
**----- End of picture text -----**
Source: Table 1, BHCFB’s 2021, 2022 and 2023 reports and records of weekly distributions in 2024. ## **4 Sources of vouchers in 2024** All but a small proportion of distributions were issued against vouchers, with just 3.2% provided on an emergency basis to needy clients unable to obtain a voucher. The issuing of vouchers was dominated by local authority councils. Over three-quarters of all distributions were covered by vouchers issued by Burgess Hill Town Council’s Help Point. Hassocks Parish Council accounted for a further 12.4%. (Table 2). **TABLE 2 2024 SOURCES OF VOUCHERS** 4 ||Sources of vouchers
No. of
vouchers
% of total
distributions|Sources of vouchers
No. of
vouchers
% of total
distributions|Sources of vouchers
No. of
vouchers
% of total
distributions| |---|---|---|---| ||Burgess Hill Town Council Help Point
Hassocks Parish Council
Brighton Housing Trust
Meadows Surgery
Linwood Community Mental Health Centre
Hope Sussex Community
Mid Sussex Early Help
All other voucher sources
No voucher
Total|1,954
313
41
21
20
12
11
73
81
2,526|77.4
12.4
1.6
0.8
0.8
0.5
0.4
2.9
3.2
100.0| Source: BHCFB records. ## **5 Change in the Mean Size of Distributions** For the Food Bank as a whole, there was a small 2% reduction in the size of distributions from 1.46 to 1.43 boxes. In Burgess Hill, the size of distributions fell from 1.45 to 1.43 boxes, a decrease of less than 2%. In Hassocks there was a larger fall of some 9% from 1.48 to 1.35 boxes. In Hurstpierpoint, an increase in the proportion of clients living in large households led to a 22% increase in the mean size of distributions from 1.62 to 1.97 boxes. ## **TABLE 3 DERIVATION OF GROWTH IN THE MEAN NUMBER OF BOXES PER DISTRIBUTION** ||**Distributions**|**Boxes**|**Mean number of**
**boxes per**
**distribution**| |---|---|---|---| ||**2023**
**2024**|**2023**
**2024**|**202**
**3**
**2024**
**Ratio**
**2024 to**
**2023**| |**Burgess Hill**
**Hassocks**
**Hurstpierpoi**
**nt**|2,227
2,058
613
407
107
61|3,236
2,952
906
550
173
120|1.45
1.43
0.99
1.48
1.35
0.91
1.62
1.97
1.22| |**Total**|2,947
2.526|4,315
3,622|1.46
1.43
0.98| Source: BHCFB records. ## **6 Client household size** 5 For 2024, the percentage of distributions going to client households of different sizes is shown in Table 4 for Burgess Hill, Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint. Annex Table 2 shows how these percentages changed between 2023 and 2024. During 2024, 40.9% of BHCFB distributions went to client households comprising a single adult. This was up by approximately 3% compared with 2023. This increase stemmed from a small increase in Burgess Hill and a much larger increase of over 10 percentage points in Hassocks. These changes were partially offset by a sharp reduction in distributions to single adults in Hurstpierpoint, from 25.2% of all clients in 2023 to just 7% in 2024. During 2024, for BHCFB as a whole, there were no discernible patterns of change in household size beyond the small increase in single adult households. The most notable feature was the significant proportion of Hurstpierpoint’s distributions that in 2024 went to a small number of exceptionally large households. **TABLE 4 BHCFB 2024 CLIENT HOUSEHOLD SIZE** |**Size of**
**household**
**(persons*)**|**Percentage of distributons**| |---|---| ||**Burgess Hill**
**Hassocks**
**Hurstpierpoint**
**Total**| |1
2
3
4
5
_6_
7
8
9
10|40.9
46.2
6.6
40.9
17.7
21.4
8.2
18.1
16.1
9.1
44.3
15.6
17.0
14.0
16.4
16.5
4.9
7.1
4.9
5.2
2.5
0.5
0.0
2.1
0.6
0.0
6.6
0.6
0.3
0.7
11.5
0.7
0.1
1.0
0.0
0.2
0.0
0.0
1.6
0.0| |Total|100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0| * All household members, including adults, teenagers and pre-teens. ## **7 Repeat use of the Food Bank** Repeat use of BHCFB is analysed in Table 5. Annex 3 contains a similar analysis for each of the Food Bank’s three areas of operation. During 2024, a total of 220 clients, accounting for 41% of all clients, used BHCFB on one occasion only. A further 14.2% of clients used it just twice. Despite comprising well over half of all the Food 6 |TABLE 5 ANALYSIS OF THE INTENSITY OF CLIENT FOOD BANK USE IN 2024|TABLE 5 ANALYSIS OF THE INTENSITY OF CLIENT FOOD BANK USE IN 2024|TABLE 5 ANALYSIS OF THE INTENSITY OF CLIENT FOOD BANK USE IN 2024|TABLE 5 ANALYSIS OF THE INTENSITY OF CLIENT FOOD BANK USE IN 2024|TABLE 5 ANALYSIS OF THE INTENSITY OF CLIENT FOOD BANK USE IN 2024|TABLE 5 ANALYSIS OF THE INTENSITY OF CLIENT FOOD BANK USE IN 2024| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Distributions
per client
Number
of
clients
Aggregate
number of
distributions|Distributions per
client||Number
ofclients
% of all
clients
Cumulative %
of all
clients|Aggregate
number of
distributions
% of all
distributions
Cumulative %
of all
distributions|| |1
220
220
2
76
152
3
48
144
4
34
136
5
23
115
6
19
114
7
18
126
8
7
56
9
13
117
10
7
70
11
13
143
12
6
72
13
8
104
14
4
56
15
3
45
16
5
80
17
3
51
18
2
36
20
3
60
21
5
105
22
8
176
23
1
23
25
1
25
26
1
26
27
1
27
30
1
30
34
2
68
35
1
35
38
3
114|1
2
3
4
5
6-10
11-20
21-30
31-40||220
41.0
41.0
76
14.2
55.2
48
9.0
64.2
34
6.3
70.5
23
4.3
74.8
64
11.9
86.8
47
8.8
95.5
18
3.4
98.9
6
1.1
100.0|220
8.7
8.7
152
6.0
14.7
144
5.7
20.4
136
5.4
25.8
115
4.6
30.4
483
19.1
49.5
647
25.6
75.1
412
16.3
91.4
217
8.6
100.0|| ||Total||536
100.0|2526
100.0|| |||0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
**Percentage of all clients/distributions**|1
2
3
4
5
6-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
% of clients
% of all distributions
**Number of distributions received by the client during 2024**||| |Total
536
2526|||||| 7 Bank’s clients, these two groups together accounted for less than 15% percent of the 2,526 distributions made during the year. Just over half of all distributions went to a small number of high users. Clients who used BHCFB on more than 10 occasions comprised just 13.2% of all clients but received 50.5% of all deliveries. The six highest users received between 34 and 38 deliveries and accounted for 8.6% of all distributions. ## **8 BHCFB expenditure on food and toiletries** A part of the food distributed by BHCFB is donated in kind by individuals and by local firms and organisations. BHCFB also receives cash donations that enable it to buy additional food and toiletries. During 2024, the Food Bank distributed food and toiletries with an estimated total value of over £91,000.[1] Reflecting price inflation and growth in its throughout, BHCFB’s expenditure on food and toiletries increased in each year from 2019 to 2023, rising from just £1,832 in 2019 to £49,008 in 2023. In 2024. the reduction in the Food Bank’s throughput, coupled with a slowing in the pace of price inflation and a continuation of generous food donations, led to the Food Bank’s expenditure on food and toiletries falling by 15.1% to £41,596. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Annual Expenditure on Food and Toiletries
Purchased for Distribution to Clients
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
£60,000
£50,000
Toiletries
£40,000
Food
£30,000
£20,000
£10,000
£0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
**----- End of picture text -----**
1 Note that £91,000 is the total cost of all items distributed assuming that each was purchased by donors and BHCFB at the lowest price available in local discount supermarkets. The actual purchase cost will have been substantially higher than this since most of the items gifted to the Food Bank in kind will have been purchased by donors during their regular shop at significantly above these lowest prices. 8 ## **ANNEX TABLE 1** ## **BHCFB PERFORMANCE IN 2024 COMPARED WITH 2023** ## **(2024 as a percentage of 2023)** |**Outlet**
**Distributons**|**Benefciaries**
**Boxes**
**Adults &Teens**
**Pre-teens**
**Total**| |---|---| |**Burgess Hill**
**92**
Collected
**93**
Delivered
**84**|**92**
**76**
**88**
**91**
**92**
**80**
**89**
**92**
**95**
**52**
**82**
**83**| |**Hassocks**
**66**
Collected
**67**
Delivered
**0**|**72**
**30**
**56**
**61**
**73**
**31**
**57**
**62**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**| |**Hurstpierpoint**
*****
**57**
Collected
**0**
Delivered
**82**|**71**
**63**
**68**
**69**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**109**
**110**
**110**
**110**| |**Total**
**86**
Collected
**86**
Delivered
**82**|**88**
**63**
**80**
**84**
**87**
**62**
**79**
**84**
**96**
**67**
**87**
**87**| * Note that at Hurstpierpoint there were collections and deliveries in 2023 but deliveries only in 2024. ## **ANNEX TABLE 2** ## **BHCFB CUMULATIVE PRECENTAGE OF DISTRIBTIONS AS CLIENT HOUSEHOLD SIZE INCREASES, 2023 AND 2024** |Number
of
household
members|Cumulatve percentage of distributons|Cumulatve percentage of distributons|Cumulatve percentage of distributons|Cumulatve percentage of distributons| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Burgess Hill|Hassocks|Hurstpierpoint|Total| ||2023
2024|2023
2024|2023
2024|2023
2024| |1
2
3
4
5
_6_
7
8
9
10|38.3
40.9
58.0
58.6
72.5
74.6
88.0
91.6
94.7
96.5
98.5
99.0
99.1
99.6
99.6
99.9
100.0
100.0|35.9
46.2
57.3
67.6
72.6
76.7
85.6
90.7
94.9
97.8
96.6
98.3
96.9
98.3
98.7
99.0
99.8
100.0
100|25.2
6.6
50.5
14.8
61.7
59.0
72.9
75.4
80.4
80.3
82.2
80.3
92.5
86.9
95.3
98.4
100.0
98.4
100|37.3
40.9
57.6
58.9
72.1
74.6
86.9
91.1
94.3
96.3
97.5
98.4
98.4
99.0
99.3
99.7
100.0
100.0| 9 ## **ANNEX TABLE 3A ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTIONS PER CLIENT** |Burgess Hill||| |---|---|---| |Distributions
per client
Number of
clients
Aggregate
number of
distributions|Distributions
per client
Number of
clients
% of all
clients
Cumulative
% of all
clients|Aggregate
number of
distributions
% of all
distributions
Cumulative %
of all
distributions| |1
178
178
2
63
126
3
41
123
4
28
112
5
17
85
6
16
96
7
15
105
8
6
48
9
11
99
10
6
60
11
11
121
12
3
36
13
6
78
14
4
56
15
2
30
16
5
80
17
3
51
18
1
18
20
2
40
21
4
84
22
5
110
23
1
23
25
1
25
27
1
27
30
1
30
34
2
68
35
1
35
38
3
114|1
178
40.7
40.7
2
63
14.4
55.1
3
41
9.4
64.5
4
28
6.4
70.9
5
17
3.9
74.8
6-10
54
12.4
87.2
11-20
37
8.5
95.7
21-30
13
3.0
98.6
31-40
6
1.4
100.0|178
8.6
8.6
126
6.1
14.8
123
6.0
20.7
112
5.4
26.2
85
4.1
30.3
408
19.8
50.1
510
24.8
74.9
299
14.5
89.5
217
10.5
100.0| ||Total
437
100.0|2,058
100.0| |||| |Total
437
2,058||| **ANNEX TABLE 3B ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTIONS PER CLIENT** 10 |Hassocks||| |---|---|---| |Distributions
per client
Number
of clients
Aggregate
number of
distributions|Distributions
per client
Number
of clients
% of
clients
Cumulative
% of all
clients|Aggregate
number of
distributions
% of all
distribution
s
Cumulative
% of all
distributions| |1
31
31
2
7
14
3
6
18
4
5
20
5
4
20
6
3
18
7
3
21
8
1
8
9
1
9
10
1
10
11
2
22
12
2
24
13
2
26
15
1
15
18
1
18
20
1
20
21
1
21
22
3
66
26
1
26|1
31
40.8
40.8
2
7
9.2
50.0
3
6
7.9
57.9
4
5
6.6
64.5
5
4
5.3
69.7
6-10
9
11.8
81.6
11-20
9
11.8
93.4
21-30
5
6.6
100.0|31
7.6
7.6
14
3.4
11.1
18
4.4
15.5
20
4.9
20.4
20
4.9
25.3
66
16.2
41.5
125
30.7
72.2
113
27.8
100.0| ||Total
76
100.0|407
100.0| |||| |Total
76
407||| 11 ## **ANNEX TABLE 3C ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTIONS PER CLIENT** |Hurstpierpoint|Hurstpierpoint||| |---|---|---|---| |Distribution
s per client
Number
of clients
Aggregate
number of
distribution
s||Distribution
s per client
Number
of clients
% of
clients
Cumulativ
e % of all
clients|Aggregate
number of
distribution
s
% of all
distribution
s
Cumulative
% of all
distribution
s| |1
11
11
2
6
12
3
1
3
4
1
4
5
2
10
9
1
9
12
1
12||1
11
47.8
47.8
2
6
26.1
73.9
3
1
4.3
78.3
4
1
4.3
82.6
5
2
8.7
91.3
6-10
1
4.3
95.7
11-20
1
4.3
100.0|11
18.0
18.0
12
19.7
37.7
3
4.9
42.6
4
6.6
49.2
10
16.4
65.6
9
14.8
80.3
12
19.7
100.0| |Total
23
61||Total
23
100.0|61
100.0| **ANNEX TABLE 4** **COST OF ITEMS PURCHASED BY BHCFB FOR DISTRIBUTION TO CLIENTS** ||**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|**2022**|**2023**|**2024**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Food**|1,832|3,549|6,931|23,214|44,838|38,313| |**Toiletrie**|0|0|1,099|2,569|4,172|3,283| |**s**||||||| |**Total**|**1,832**|**3,549**|**8,030**|**25,783**|**49,010**|**41,596**| Source: BHCFB audited accounts. 12 111 11111111111111 11111111111111 111111111111111111 11111111111111 11111 Iiiiiiiilii Iiiiiiiuiu 80888 t> tyi Ln o e4 r4 r4 Ln * r¢ rff& YJ INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT 2024 BOARD OF TRUSTEES I have audited the 2024 accounts for Burgess Hill Community Food Bank (a charitable organisation) and in my opinion the financial records and statements are a true and fair reflection of the financial position of Burgess Hill st st Community Food Bank for the period January I to December 31 , 2024. Jonathan Bird FMAAT February 3, 2025