2021-03-31-accounts

Saltash Foodbank Annual Report 2020 - 2021

Feeding People in Crisis

Chair’s Message - Elizabeth Usher

This year there really hasn’t been any getting away from Covid-19 and its impact on almost every aspect of everyone’s life. For Saltash Foodbank this raised a number of issues:-

Could Saltash Foodbank continue to support its clients?

To comply with government guidelines, our Foodbank changed its operating procedure 12 months ago from one where clients came to us to obtain advice and signposting, and to collect their food parcels, to a system where clients were provided with support over the phone, and food parcels were delivered to them. In addition, our Foodbank has addressed food poverty by providing support direct to local schools, and has forwarded excess fresh produce to other local organisations including the Core, and (pictured below) The Community Fridge and Larder at No.4 Fore Street.

How can we best protect out volunteers?

Again, changes were made so that some volunteers began working alone and others came in to the Foodbank in small, fixed teams to prepare food parcels, weigh in donations, stack shelves, collect donations and deliver to clients. Older and clinically vulnerable volunteers had to follow government guidelines and step back for their own protection and everyone had to learn to follow strict cleaning and sanitising procedures. Like everyone else in the community, volunteers had to wear masks, wash hands and keep socially distanced – not easy rules to follow when undertaking many of the jobs that keep a Foodbank operational!

Will the Foodbank still have enough volunteers?

At the start of the first lockdown some of our longest serving and most experienced volunteers, reluctantly had to step back, but our Foodbank was fortunate to find support from a number of people who found themselves furloughed and the activities of the Foodbank have been undertaken by a reduced number of volunteers who have been quite amazingly dedicated and determined to keep up the flow of food in and out. A huge “Thank you” goes out to all those temporary and permanent volunteers who have been able to keep this Foodbank afloat.

Will donations dry up?

We knew that Covid-19, and the restrictions that this put on the general public, were bound to impact on our community and that local people might well face shorter working hours and even job losses. We were very concerned that this could impact on our community’s ability to continue their support.

But, we need not have worried! Saltash Foodbank has been overwhelmed by the generosity of the residents, organisations, and businesses of Saltash and the surrounding areas, who have continued to provide for their neighbours in these unprecedented times, with donations of food, cash and necessary items. This kindness was particularly appreciated at Christmas, when so much seasonal fare arrived in the form of tinned hams, crisps and chutney, mince pies, Christmas puddings, crackers, chocolates and gifts, all of which were distributed along with the Foodbank’s usual food parcels to local families.

Not that Saltash Foodbank has been working in isolation this year

Last year Cllr. Hilary Frank of Cornwall Council arranged virtual meetings of representatives from local churches, schools, charities and community groups who were supporting local people through the pandemic, to try to identify the need for food and related support in Saltash; improve communication between the various providers, and to coordinate provision of support and share best practice. Saltash Food Alliance, which was born out of that first meeting on 11 November 2020, has strengthened ties between local organisations to address not only hunger, but also food waste.

So, in spite of Covid-19, lockdowns and the ongoing uncertainty for all, Saltash Foodbank has continued to support local families in crisis. This has been entirely due to the dedication and hard work of our volunteers and the unfailing generosity and kindness of the local community.

TO YOU ALL - THANK YOU

. . . and to anyone who needs the help of Saltash Foodbank please be assured we will be there for you.

Just ring: 0800 328 2124

to receive confidential help and advice

The Trussell Trust

Saltash Foodbank continues to be affiliated to the Trussell Trust, which this year has in particular, provided us with invaluable advice and assistance regarding how best to operate safely and in adherence to government guidelines.

Like other Trussell Trust Foodbanks, we have continued to collect and upload data to the Trust, which is then able to provide government with an accurate picture of the problems of food poverty, faced by so many families and to work to address poverty in our society.

Through Emma Greenwood, the Trussell Trust’s South West’s Area Manager, our volunteers have been able to undertake continuing (virtual) training and Emma has been a great support during these unprecedented times. We are very grateful for her advice and encouragement. Thank you for being at the end of the phone Emma and thank you to all your colleagues at Trussell Trust who have been there to provide ongoing help and guidance!

Volunteers

At the start of the first lockdown, Foodbank volunteers became recognised as front-line workers and were issued with a letter from the Trussell Trust to confirm this, in case volunteers were challenged when away from home on Foodbank business.

Because of the reduced number of volunteers able to keep working in the Foodbank, many of those who were able to keep going have staffed sessions, week-in week-out, without a break since last March.

The Warehouse staff weigh in the donations and stack the Warehouse shelves. The Drop-In staff make up the food parcels and bags going out to clients. The collections drivers pick up both the donations made by the public, in the collection boxes in various local shops, and also the donations made by the supermarkets. The delivery drivers take the food parcels to clients.

Together these teams have ensured that the flow of food in and out of the Foodbank has continued smoothly throughout a very difficult year. Most jobs in the Foodbank involve a fair amount of lifting and carrying and all volunteers have had to follow strict and time-consuming sanitising regimes to keep themselves, other volunteers and clients safe. The dedication of all Saltash Foodbank’s volunteers has always been quite remarkable, but in this unprecedented year it has been nothing short of outstanding.

This year one of our Trustees, Karen Chapple, has kindly taken on the role of Volunteer Coordinator. Karen will become the point of contact for volunteers and she is also updating and uploading volunteers’ details to our Foodbank’s secure online data recording system. This is an ongoing task, but one that will ensure data protection for our volunteers’ information. Many thanks to Karen for stepping forward to take on this very necessary role.

Drop-In Report - Rika Chanter

The drop-In has not been a drop-in to clients this last year as we have been operating a delivery only service during the pandemic. I am grateful to all the volunteers who have embraced our new way of working during this year, without seeing our clients. These are the volunteers that take my calls to receive the client details and their extra needs, as well as those that pack and weigh the food bags and any additional items and then also the Foodbank volunteer delivery drivers who have travelled many miles to deliver the food parcels.

The Foodbank drop-in has been working this last year with 2 volunteers per shift. This, along with a strict cleaning routine, has kept everyone safe. After the food parcels requested have been assembled, they are delivered that evening. Another volunteer then comes in at another time to replace the used food parcels for the next drop-in shift. Several of our volunteers managed to do a signposting course on Zoom to help our clients.

I had more calls from people that have had to use the Foodbank for the first time than in previous years. This has mainly been due to the pandemic and its effects. Some clients obviously never expected to be in such a precarious financial position. This is shown in the table below. This can be as children have been home more, the client has been put on furlough, or the client was put on Universal Credit after losing employment. There were even elderly and clinically vulnerable people that called us after the free food parcels stopped from the government after the first lockdown, requesting food. Luckily for the people in the Saltash and surrounding area, Community Enterprises PL12 have changed their operations during the pandemic by shopping for those unable to shop for themselves; this included getting prescriptions and even loans from the jigsaw library. The Hopper bus started to deliver hot meals and ‘chill and cook’ meals in lockdowns to people requesting them. These were cooked at the Bullers Arms in Landrake. Some of these meals we have been delivered to individuals in temporary housing with no cooking facilities, so they have access to a more balanced diet. This was facilitated with grant monies received from Cornwall Community Foundation. This funding also allowed us to buy food tokens from local take-away outlets, such as Rowes, Codfathers and The Hungry Fox. These were supplied to clients in temporary accommodation, so they could have an occasional hot meal. Many of these people in temporary accommodation have been housed by the Council for various reasons, most frequently to get people off the street during lockdowns. Many were in ‘temporary’ accommodation for several months, which is not ideal.

The main reason for people needing the Foodbank is low income. It is sad that current levels of benefits do not cover peoples’ bills. Some have debt that needs addressing. We always ensure that the referring agency is helping them with their debts or that we refer them to Citizens Advice or that we encourage them to contact Christians Against Poverty. We are lucky in Saltash that Tim Squires from the Baptist church has recently started helping people with their debts. Unexpected circumstances, such as a broken appliance, being re-homed due to domestic violence, relationship breakdown, or a death or illness in the family, all add extra expense for those already on low income.

We recently asked a few clients to reflect on the service they had received from us. These are their responses:

‘The Foodbank has helped me when I needed it due to money shortages. I really appreciated all the food received, even at Christmas, I had Christmas food boxes. Been a real help, thank you.’

‘The Foodbank helped me enormously, at that time. I really did not know how I was going to eat for the next few weeks. It was an absolute life saver and extremely grateful.’

‘As a self-employed single mother, I had no income for months and struggled to feed my family and pets. The Foodbank was our lifeline. Thank you so much’

‘I was extremely grateful having all the food delivered to me by a very friendly man. This was a lifeline for me, and I shed a few tears as I unpacked it all. Thank you very much to you all.’

‘The Foodbank has been amazing to my husband and I during some difficult financial times, we appreciate your help.’

‘Help was very quick and understanding. I did not feel ashamed to be needing extra help, thank you.’

From the table on the next page you can see an added entry for Plympton. Plympton contacted the Trussell Trust and myself to see how they could start up a Foodbank. Their location was quite a distance from the other 2 Foodbanks in Plymouth. The feedback from the community was that a Foodbank was needed in their area to help the people affected by the pandemic. The Plympton team ministry, comprising of the 2 Anglican churches in Plympton, worked together to make this happen. At that time the Trussell Trust would not let them set up a Foodbank but were happy to allow them to be one of our agencies, but they would provide their own food for the food parcels they issued. This started in April 2020. Later in 2020, Plympton became a fullyfledged Foodbank and no further vouchers would go through our system. They are now called Plympton Foodbank under the Trussell Trust. Plympton also provide a delivery-only service and we have used them in the past to deliver to areas in Plymouth beyond our remit.

Our figures are shown both with and without Plympton. Both show an increase in need due to the pandemic on individuals and families. The trend for need in Saltash has increased in the 3 years shown.

Vouchers Report - Rika Chanter

As well as another Trussell Trust Foodbank in our area (Plympton), the increase of other food distribution hubs that have sprung up during the pandemic has been significant. Saltash has now a ‘Community Fridge and Larder’ that, as well as distributing end of day and items passed their ‘best before’ date, also distribute ‘in date’ tinned and dried foods, without asking questions of the receiver. This they do 3 times a week, with several dozens of customers at each session. Our data therefore underestimates the real state of hardship in Saltash. ‘Ambient food’ is made available through the government department DEFRA and Fare Share.

In Plymouth a new local food network has been set up to support all Foodbanks and food distribution hubs. This network recently reported there are over 100 different food distribution points in Plymouth, from the soup kitchen, to community larders, Trussell Trust foodbanks and many newer hubs which collect end-of-day food as well as Fare Share ambient food from the ARC (The Aid Redistribution Centre in Plymouth) supported by the Co-op, Sainsburys and other supermarkets. These new hubs also take community donations. At Saltash Foodbank we link in with this network, started during the pandemic and have seen the organisation grow to a point where referrals can be made by these new Foodbanks to Citizens Advice in Plymouth as well as developing an information leaflet for further support.

The Foodbank has been very lucky this year to receive donations from a number of very kind children, and thanks go to them and their families for their support.

Zennor donated to Saltash Foodbank again, providing 20 Christmas gift parcels and advent calendars. (Last year she donated lots of Easter eggs!)

The table below displays the areas from where we receive our referrals.

The table includes Plympton Foodbank figures from before they became a separate Trussell Trust Foodbank.

Sad News

On January 21st this year, Saltash Foodbank lost its Secretary, Lesley Margetts, who had supported and guided the Trustees since 2012. Lesley’s funeral took place on 18th. February 2021. The thoughts of everyone in Saltash Foodbank remain with her family.

As well as her work with the Foodbank, Lesley was involved in a wide range of activities in the local community, being a Reader and someone very involved with the running and the life of the Saltash Team Ministry. She also taught yoga and found time to run occasional sessions for the local Guides. She was as enthusiastic as she was energetic in all she took on. Lesley is greatly missed by all at Saltash Foodbank.

Secretary’s Report - Corina Clement

Throughout this year we have continued to hold regular meetings, but these have had to be held virtually. In order to ensure that Trustees and Volunteers were not overwhelmed by virtual meetings, Lesley drew up a Meetings Policy to ensure that Saltash Foodbank only holds one meeting in any month, but still follows its Constitution by holding three Trustee Meetings and an AGM, as well as regular monthly meetings. Minutes of the various meetings have been circulated to keep Trustees and Volunteers up to date via reports on the activities of the Warehouse and Drop-In Centre, together with reports on Collections, Agencies, and a Treasurer’s report.

One particularly important meeting this year was the General Meeting held on 9th December 2020, when the Constitution of Saltash Foodbank was amended so that the Volunteers of the Foodbank are now automatically ‘Members’ entitled to vote on the appointment of Trustees. The Trustees actively encourage the Volunteer members to attend the regular meetings and to be involved in how the Foodbank is run.

There are just so many “Thank you’s” that Saltash Foodbank needs to send out this year. Thanks go to our Volunteers, to our supporters, and to all those organisations and businesses who have worked with Saltash Foodbank to support families in crisis, including LIdl, Waitrose, Co-op, Tesco Transit Way; also the smaller local shops who have become collection points; the local schools, The Core, Community Enterprises PL12, Community Fridge and Larder. Our thanks also go to British Gas and their lovely delivery drivers.

We would like to give a ‘special mention’ to the local hot food outlets who signed up for the Foodbank’s voucher scheme, enabling homeless Saltash Foodbank clients to have a hot meal. Thanks to the management and all the staff at The Cod Fathers, Rowes and The Fresh Fox. The voucher scheme has meant so much to local people in crisis. We also liaised with Age Concern to have hot meals (which were prepared by the Bullers Arms for Age Concern and the community during lockdown) delivered by the Hopper bus and volunteer drivers to some of our clients.

In this particularly difficult year we felt it was important to try to add some fresh food to our client’s food parcels, and we are very grateful to local farmers and growers who regularly donated big bags of fresh potatoes, onions, carrots and swedes. Fresh food was a very welcome addition to our food parcels. Thank you to Tremayne Carew Pole and Sean O’Neill for your generous support through out this year.

Tremayne Carew Pole, has been supporting Saltash Foodbank with a donation of around 120kg of fresh vegetables from his farm every week throughout the last year.

Thanks also to Jim Hill. Right at the beginning of lockdown last year we realised that our new Covid-safe operating procedure was going to mean that more volunteers would need keys to the Foodbank. Rika rang round and Jim of Masterkey Locksmiths agreed that as we were a Foodbank charity he would drive across the bridge and come and help us. He came in his van and, in the carpark at the back of the Foodbank, he cut the keys that we needed to keep Saltash Foodbank operational. Thank you, Jim!

A generous donation of £100 from Pengelly Funeral Services.

A donation from Marjon’s Pastoral Team, represented by Revd. Michelle Parkman on left and Foodbank volunteer Anne Melling on the right.

Agencies Report - Rika Chanter

As the Referral Agencies table shows, our main source of referral is the Job Centre. These clients are mainly on Universal Credit (UC). They are able to email their work coach to request food help. Many on UC struggle to budget even though the government has added £20 per week to this benefit during the pandemic.

Many clients were also waiting for their first payment of Universal Credit or their benefit advance (that they have to pay back over 12 months). On top of this they can get deductions from their benefit of up to 40% for things like government loans they had in the past, or arrears they need to pay back. If clients have other debts, they need to pay these as well with their monthly benefit money, especially the priority debts like rent and council tax. Many clients struggle to pay even these and will get referred to support agencies such as Citizens Advice or Christians Against Poverty, to help them manage all their debts.

Most referrals during the pandemic have been submitted with the agency not having met with the client directly. This has led to some clients experiencing a delay in support. This, along with less people working for the agencies during the lockdowns, staff illness and shielding, have affected many operations at the agencies, especially as demand has increased. Due to lack of face-to-face meetings, we have noticed more clients coming to us with mental health issues.

Additional referrals were received from the following agencies: Plymouth City Council First Stop Shop and Citizens Advice National Helpline (introduced during Covid-19), recently renamed 'Help in Hardship'. As these referrals were not made by a referral agency set up by Saltash Foodbank these are not shown in the full figures below.

We have received no red vouchers during the last year. This used to be our main means of referral when agencies could meet people face-to-face. All referrals have been done via the Trussell Trust database, directly from the referral agency. They are able to choose the nearest or appropriate Foodbank for their client. Alternatively, we receive an email referral with details of the person needing support. Several referrals were done by phone to our 0800 number where details of the situation and client were passed to us and a voucher created for them. All communications with agencies and clients are kept strictly confidential.

Recently, more local primary Schools have agreed to become e-referral agencies. We are now supporting many families that have been unable to access free school meals (or the voucher which supported the families that usually received the free school meals) but were home schooling their children. It is good to add this school support to the Trussell Trust data system as they were previously supported with food by the schools directly.

We are here for the whole community and are keen to work with other groups we do not see often, especially the elderly.

Carla did a 27 mile hike to raise funds for the Foodbank and purchased items for Christmas Hampers. £170 was raised.

Zoe Angear donated £130 to the Foodbank by selling a beautiful picture of Saltash.

Unmanned Supermarket collection at Tesco Transit Way in Nov. 2020, due to Covid-19 restrictions. Over 3 days, 422.6kg of food was collected from items on a list at the table at the store entrance.

Supermarket Collections Report - Jackie O’Melia

Due to the pandemic there have been no manned supermarket collections over the last year but that did not mean that donations wavered; in actual fact, offers of support increased with many generous donations.

In previous years there has been a great deal of positive feedback and conversation from the community on supermarket Collection Days and although this has been missed over the last year I feel that the generous donations reflect the strong support Saltash Foodbank has within the local community. I do however hope that we will one day be able to return to face-to-face collections and be seen within the community again.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the stores and premises that hold Collection Points, as well as churches, businesses and individuals who have donated or provided support over the last year. Without your support and offers of help Saltash Foodbank wouldn’t have been be able to support as many clients as we have. I would also like say a huge thank you to all of the Volunteers, Trustees and supporters who have given help throughout this unprecedented year.

Thank you Waitrose Partners for your £333 gift voucher.

There are now many collections points across Saltash and the local area. Deli Bazaar in Fore Street and Spar Mote Park have now had Collection Points installed.

Thank you, Deli-Bazaar for having one of Saltash Foodbank’s donation baskets and thanks to your customers for all their donations.

Thank you Spar Mote Park for having a Saltash Foodbank collection point in store and to your customers for their donations.

Warehouse Report - Rika Chanter

We have been blessed with additional volunteers over the last year in the Warehouse to help sort, label and even redistribute food we had donated to us. Thank you to all those who joined us as volunteers this last year, to work on their own or as a couple ‘bubble’ to sort donations; this has really allowed us to keep all our volunteers safe.

As well as this we have added to our storage area by renting part of the converted toilet block (‘the Loobrary’) at the other Belle Vue Road Car Park. This is run by the Saltash Community Enterprises PL12, who are also our landlord at 18 Belle Vue Road premises.

‘The Loobrary’, or as we call it ‘the Castle’ was a real blessing late in 2020, when we needed space for Christmas hamper items. It currently still houses some Christmas hamper items and gifts as well as surplus stock we could not store in the main building, recently when we had a minor ingress of water into the Warehouse. The source of the problem was identified and dealt with by our landlord and their agents and our wall will be repaired soon when all is dry. In the meantime, some shelving had to be removed from our warehouse.

In addition to the Warehouse volunteers, overseen by Ruth, our Warehouse Manager, we also have added to our team of people that collect from supermarkets as we have increased the number of collection points in Saltash. Thank you to all who support us with their time, to ensure we can feed those in need.

The Foodbank had several large quantities of food donated to it. From Tesco direct through British Gas Drivers during the first lockdown. From Tesco Transit Way where we prepared a set list of items we needed for a 3 day food collection at their store in November. Then at Christmas, Lidl Saltash asked people to buy an extra item from a list of 5 items that Lidl prepared over a few weeks in December. In February we received one and a half pallets of stock from them, mainly rice, muesli, tuna, biscuits and pasta sauce. Thank you to Mike Finch and his van for collecting these items for us along with Les and Mel Dixon.

Stock In 2020 – 2021 = 36,758.49kg Stock In 2019 – 2020 = 17,680.20kg Stock In 2018 – 2019 = 15,160.80kg

Stock Out 2020 – 2021 = 36,129.10kg Stock Out 2019 – 2020 = 16,524.60kg Stock Out 2018 – 2019 = 14,226.80kg

I would like to thank all the organisations listed to the left, for their donations this last year. Thanks also to the many individuals who donate to our collection points.

Reasons for such a significant increase in donations are:

1. Addition of Plympton Foodbank food parcels

2. Additional food collection points in Saltash at No 4 Fore Street, Deli Bazaar, Mote Park Spar, Food Warehouse and Lidl, Saltash

3. Increase in collection of end of day items from supermarkets, such as bread, veg and fruit, especially from the Co-op Depot in Plympton, Aldi in Plympton and Lidl warehouse both Saltash and Plympton.

4. Lots donated direct from Tesco via British Gas drivers during the first lockdown to help those in crisis, and also to support local schools. This was a scheme delivering to all Trussell Foodbanks.

5. Generally, people being more generous in Saltash to support the Foodbank during this pandemic

6. Fresh vegetables such as potatoes, onions, carrots and swedes donated by Mr Carew Pole, Hay Farm on the Antony Estate and collected by volunteer Pat Dollard weekly. This fresh food has been well received by our clients who sometimes let me know how they will use these items for a nutritious meal for their families

7. Surplus stock received from other Foodbanks that were unable to store the excess food received from the lockdown Tesco deliveries

8. New supermarket one-off collections from Tesco Transit Way (3 day unmanned collection) and Lidl Christmas campaign for 5 specific items.

Reasons for such a significant increase in food distribution are:

1. We are unable to store more than 3 tonnes of food on our premises without being overwhelmed, so need to look for other Foodbanks and organisations that support vulnerable people, schools as well as adding extra to food parcels, to pass some of this valuable resource on to where it is needed.

2. Plympton Foodbank and the Plympton Team Ministry figures are also included here, for when they were not yet a Trussell Trust Foodbank. Their figures are added to the total that went out as food parcels

3. Increase of discretionary items collected from other supermarkets and the community that we could pass on to our clients and to the community such as, at the community table and at the Community Fridge and Larder in Saltash. These are items that are end of day items from supermarkets, items past their best before date, unusual items, not on our normal food allocation list, items with slightly damaged outer packaging or missing an item from a multi-pack that cannot be sold on. Many of these items would otherwise end up in landfill.

Projects Report - Charles Worth

2020/21 has again been a challenging year to deliver the Saltash Foodbank service! The Covid-19 pandemic meant that we had to develop and extend our ‘virtual’ infrastructure to ensure the Foodbank kept operating efficiently.

Laptops

The key Foodbank roles: Chair, Management, Logistics, Finance, Communications and Secretary, all now have dedicated laptops. As well as having efficient new computers, this means that when key volunteers step back, they will be able to hand on their computer, with all the information a new volunteer needs, to maintain our vital service. Colleagues have been exemplary in adapting to these new tools. We have therefore been able to use applications like Skype and WhatsApp, enabling the information-flow to be maintained. Screen-sharing has allowed us to support each other’s IT skills and solve the technical issues that inevitably arise when a new IT infrastructure is implemented. We base our communications on the secure mail and web systems provided via the Trussell Trust and we are extremely grateful for their support and professionalism. We ensure the protection and privacy of our critically important information through the use of Bitdefender Antivirus software.

Coda

The challenge of working virtually has also provided the opportunity to use online tools which ensure that relevant information is easily and securely accessible to all Volunteers, Trustees and Administrators. We have selected an application called Coda for this. As well as storing and accessing information, Coda has enabled us to work collaboratively online, for example in the production of this Annual Report. The use of Coda has also prompted us to review and update information that we have previously held in box files. Whilst this has meant an increased workload, it also means that our working information (Volunteer and Trustee information, Policies, etc.) can be more easily reviewed and kept up-to-date.

Funding

Working with grant funding providers, most notably the Cornwall Community Foundation, has been a major Project focus this year. Without their support we would have found it impossible to meet the practical and financial challenges that the Covid pandemic has created. We sincerely thank the Cornwall Community Foundation for their ongoing support. Their systems provide the funding we need but also ensure that it is carefully spent through a detailed reporting process. My sincere thanks to Jill Morton for her extremely hard work, ensuring that our spending is rigorously and transparently accounted for.

Christmas

My most enjoyable task in the past twelve months has been my involvement in the Christmas Hamper process. Both directly and through Saltash Schools and other organisations, we have been able to provide extra support for many Saltash families – particularly those with children – at Christmas time. Seeing the relief on the faces of parents, when just a little extra is provided to help them get through Christmas, is a very special experience.

Finance Report - Jill Morton

At the end of March, Saltash Foodbank found itself with bank balances of £47k. This is mainly due to the grants and the very generous donations received during the year.

Donations have been received from local Churches, Neighbourly, L2D Ltd, Making a Difference Locally, B&M, WCP Ltd Pengelly Funeral Services, St Barnabas League of Friends, Inner Wheel, Waitrose, Cecily Baker Charity, Marjon, Clive Barford Ltd, Spareable, Unite the Union, Cornish Christmas Giving and many donations from individuals.

We are very grateful for all donations, regardless of size, that help us to continue our work to help relieve poverty in Saltash and the surrounding area.

Saltash Foodbank volunteer, Jane, in the Loobrary with some of the Christmas donations

These grants have enabled the Foodbank to continue its work. We have had to change the way we work, with the food being delivered to clients. This has incurred additional travel expenses. Many volunteers have also had to work remotely.

The Trustees have agreed that the reserve fund should enable the Foodbank to operate for a 12 month period in times of economic hardship (such as the pandemic that we are currently experiencing). This reserve fund has been calculated at £12k. This reserve fund will give us the comfort of knowing that we are able to carry on our extremely valuable work in times of ongoing hardship.

The Trustees would like to thank Stephen Richards for examining our books and records and for his Report thereon. The Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 March 2021, the Balance Sheet as at 30 March 2021 and the notes to the accounts are set out below.

Notes to the accounts year ended 31 March 2021

1. The accounts have been prepared under the receipts and payments method

2. Fixed Assets have been depreciated at 20% on reducing balance

3. For insurance purposes Saltash Foodbank has assets valued at £17,637

4. The accounts do not show any stock as all of the stock is donated

5. For insurance purposes Saltash Foodbank has stock values at £9,900

6. The Trustees do not think that the stock value at 31 March 2021 would have changed from the estimated value at February 2021

7. The Foodbank has a telephone account which enables its clients to phone at no charge to themselves. It is the policy of the Foodbank to make lump sum payments to BT to ensure that the account is always in credit

8. As at 31 March 2021 it is estimated that the credit balance was £830

Saltash Foodbank Trustees - 2021

Liz Usher (Chair)

Corina Clement (Secretary)

Jill Morton (Treasurer)

Rika Chanter (Manager)

Bob McLean

Rev. Di Burrows (SFB’s link to Churches Together)

Darren Chapple (Logistics)

Charles Worth (Projects)

Karen Chapple (Volunteer Co-ordinator)

Sara Walker

Jackie O’Melia (Collections Co-ordinator)

Saltash Foodbank’s virtual Christmas card 2020