07810 005763 office@acts4sharing.org acts4sharing.org ## **Annual Report 2025/26** ## **Introduction by the trustees** After last year’s impressive Acts4Sharing annual report, we once again are pleased to inform everyone, that this year it’s been pretty much ‘business as usual’. The demand for our service continues to remain high, but our dedicated team led by our wonderful CEO have yet again risen to meet the challenges. We give praise to our God for His amazing provision, His timeliness, His protection and continual answers to our prayers, as we seek to keep Him at the centre of all that we do. A huge thank you, on behalf of all the trustees, to all the ‘caring’ people associated with us, our wonderful volunteers, our partners, our donors, our supporters and of course our staff and may God continue to bless Acts4Sharing, enabling us to bring relief from poverty, along with encouragement and the love of Jesus to all those who are referred to us. We hope that, like me, you will find this report helpful and informative and if you want to know more about us, please visit our website: acts4sharing.org ## **Thank you** This year saw us celebrating our 11[th] anniversary; another year full of reaching out to people, within our local community and beyond, with God’s love with practical household items, bibles and prayer. Above all, we remain thankful to God for His protection over us, and for knowing that He goes ahead of us in all that we do. We work on a foundation of prayer, and are grateful to all who pray with us and for us. A few of us continue to meet at the start of each new working week to ensure that we cover everything in prayer for the week ahead. We continue to be amazed by the way in which prayers are answered and needs are met; and for the little details of prayerfully choosing the right items for each home that we go to. All that we do is done in God’s strength; we are grateful to Him for enabling us to keep on keeping on as we serve Him in our local area. Needless to say, it takes a whole team of willing hands and feet and voices to enable the work to be carried out. We are extremely grateful for every team member, who work alongside our one paid member of staff. The van team members enable us to collect donations and deliver them onwards to those in need, whilst also offering Bibles and prayer to each person. Back at Hope HQ they are continually sorting and logging incoming donations, whilst also preparing outgoing items. By the end of the year we had 46 volunteers, with three people retiring after a long time of regularly helping; one moving onto a new job, and one returning to South Africa. Many of the team give of their time and energy on a regular or weekly basis, whilst others fill in as and when needed. We are so grateful for our four trustees, advisor and landlords, all of whom provide the much needed background support to keep us running efficiently and appropriately, with three of the trustees also regularly offering hands-on help on the van and at Hope HQ. We continue to provide our services at no cost to our clients and donors; we very much appreciate all of those who financially donate to us, whether that is on a recurring or one-off basis. Every penny is important, especially with the cost-of-living being so much higher these days. These financial donations give Acts4Sharing the capacity to run Hope HQ, two vans and pay for one member of staff. The team teas, coffees, biscuits and lunches are now funded by the volunteers, enabling us to keep costs lower. We still occasionally need to purchase mattress covers or parts to repair items before delivery. ## **Hope HQ and garden** Once again, with occasional juggling of furniture in the store, Hope HQ has continued to provide us with ample space for all of the items we have received. Where possible larger items are collected from donors and taken directly to clients without the need for them to be stored at all. We also tend to load up each afternoon in readiness for the day ahead, which once again has helped with space for incoming items. The ‘toolbox’ training given to volunteers has definitely cut down on the number of unsuitable items being brought into the store. Most days team members have stayed on for lunch together, which is a great opportunity to share the morning’s events and to get to know each other better. Up until the end of August, we continued with our Saturday morning prayer and praise times, with a few of us joining together each week. These times were a blessing of stillness and the opportunity to reflect, share and pray together on a day when the vans remained parked up and the focus was completely on Jesus. The garden, as always, was well used through the warmer months for tea breaks, lunches, doing repairs or simply stepping into the quiet for a short breather in the midst of busy days. In August many of us gathered together in the garden for a pizza evening; a rare opportunity for volunteers to meet up with many working different days each week and not actually seeing each other. Once again we had complete breaks with a week off in August, October half term, Christmas, and Feb half term. Hope HQ was closed during these weeks enabling everyone to have a complete rest. The team have kept up to date with safeguarding training and ‘toolbox’ training to ensure that everyone stays safe and works efficiently together at Hope HQ and out in the community. ## **Transport** The two vans continue to provide efficient and reliable transport for us, and for the Foodbank runs. Some of the money raised for the second van was kept in reserve to enable the ‘wet-belt’ to be replaced as advised (this is a job that needs doing every six years). Both vans passed their MOTs without any major issues – one just needed a lightbulb! Sadly one van’s side door was badly damaged when it was driven too close to a hedgerow (thankfully noone was hurt), but the door did have to be replaced. We are thankful to one of our volunteers who sourced a second-hand one in the correct colour, and to a local Christian who provided expertise and additional people who gave assistance to swap them over. Since then, the other van took a bump against a low level bollard and is awaiting repairs, but is still safe to drive. We continue to be very grateful for our generous and able mechanic, Andy Field, who resides in a neighbouring unit; he is always on hand for the little jobs that might need immediate attention, as well as booking our vans in for services, repairs and MOTs. At Christmas both vans were used to transport large-scale nativity scenes, gazebos, chairs and tables, Christmas books, crafts and a pop-up cafe into Ringwood town so that the local churches could take part in ‘Winter Wanderland’ which had been organised by the local council. ## **Local work** We started the year with two part-time paid staff members and 34 volunteers, inclusive of the trustees. We had one short-term volunteer join us for the summer whilst she was on break from Bible school in South Africa. We ended the year with one part-time paid staff member and 46 volunteers. Paul, our part-time chaplain, followed God’s call and moved onto Poole. He is still very much an ambassador for our work; we very often find that he was the link between us and someone donating. Regular feedback calls are still made to clients a week or so after their final delivery. Many times during that morning we hear the word ‘amen’ as our volunteer finishes praying with them. Donations come in from across our 25-mile radius and we still receive many items through houseclearances as families sort out homes after loved ones have passed away or gone into a care home. We pray that by enabling these items to be passed onto to someone in need, that it will make the process easier for them, especially for those who are grieving. We also have several people each week dropping into Hope HQ with smaller items to donate. We have received donations from at least 433 homes, an increase of 47 (12 %) compared to last year. ## **433 donors** Many people find out about us through searching online, but many more discover us through word of mouth, particularly through one of our ambassadors. Unusually we have helped slightly less people this year, just ten less compared to last year, just over a 1% decrease. The work seems to have reached a sustainable level for the team and resources that we have available. Once again, it is good to remember, that whilst numbers and statistics are helpful, each number represents a person, and each person is valued and loved by God, and our aim is to help them to realise that for themselves by the way in which we reach out to them and show them that they have worth. ## **1115 people helped** Of the 1115 people helped this year, living in 605 different homes across our local community and beyond, 164 households cited that the reason for needing help was due to homelessness, 155 were struggling with poor health (mental or physical), and sadly 47 had escaped domestic abuse (both ladies and men, young and old). ## **605 homes** Our referral partners continue to provide the much needed and relied upon link between us and those we help. Our partners come from all of the councils within our area, as well as NHS staff, schools, churches, foodbanks, and other charities. Behind each referral is a person or a family with a story to share, and we so often have the privilege of hearing them, and praying with them. We willingly help people from all backgrounds, situations and of all ages. This year we’ve helped people from 23 different nationalities (including British) aged 0-90 years old. As expected, with little change in the number of people we’ve helped, the amount of outgoing items hasn’t seen an increase either. Once again we delivered at least 45 tonnes of furniture, white goods and other household items. ## **45 tonnes** This included 21 fridge-freezers, 24 washing machines, 56 microwaves, 79 dining tables and 273 chairs, 201 sofas and armchairs, 130 chests of drawers, and 242 beds. We also distributed 204 bedding sets, 657 towels, 192 pairs of curtains/ blinds and 251 cushions. In addition to all of these things, we have given out 145 dining boxes and 149 cooking boxes, 89 kettles, 63 toasters and 143 lamps. Often these make their way to people who are simply living in one room in a house of multiple occupance. We still choose not to supply cookers, for safety reasons, but have, as always given out many slow cookers, health grills, air fryers, and some soup makers. The ‘Blessings Box’ always seems to be full of those extra items that make a house a home, including ornaments, vases, pretty plant pots, clocks and pictures. It’s especially lovely to see clients looking through to choose their own items. ## **Bibles and prayer** We continue to offer every client a Bible and prayer; the majority of the time they accept gratefully, or even enthusiastically. Many times we’ve prayed with people who have told us that no one has ever offered to do that for them before. The Bibles we were purchasing were quite expensive, so we emailed our supporters asking for funding; some gave financially, whilst some churches gave Bibles that they had spare. Either way it has made a huge difference to us being able to continue offering God’s word to each home we visit. One of our volunteers initiated finding cheaper ones, and succeeded. We now purchase 40 complete NIV Bibles at a time at just £2 each. The same volunteer also worked hard at putting together Bible helps to enable our clients to find their way around the Bible more easily. Alongside this, we are now offering ‘Why Jesus?’ booklets in addition to a blessings card. We were also given New Testaments which are offered to those donating items. There have been Bibles in Farsi, Arabic and Ukrainian given out, as well as some Christian literature provided in Polish. These have been gratefully received, with one particular Arabic gentleman smiling as he saw his own language being made avaialble. Follow up calls continue to be made each week; this gives opportunity for us to see how our clients are doing, and find out if they need any further help. It’s also another opportunity for us to chat and offer prayer. On occasions this has led to people asking for more Bibles as they’ve given their original one away to a friend. Part way through the year, we learnt that one Bible had led to three young friends all going to an Alpha course together. These Bibles and the ‘Why Jesus?’ booklets have been funded by specific donations made by individuals. ## **Funding** We continue to be unique in our area by providing collections and deliveries free-of-charge, whilst also giving all items freely, We remain extremely grateful to every individual, church and organisations who support us financially, whether that is on a regular basis or as a one-off gift. During this past year we received £… of unexpected gifts including an additional £2,086 for mattresses for children and £1,136 for Bibles and ‘why Jesus?’ booklets. ## **Communication and collaboration** We continue to be supported financially and prayerfully by several local churches, and are sometimes invited to visit, particularly on their mission Sundays. This past year Poulner Baptist Chapel gave us the privilege of leading an entire evening service; during this time many of our volunteers took part, including sharing testimonies, leading prayers, reading from the Bible and giving teaching from Acts 4. The service was well received and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening. Many of our volunteers are linked with local churches. We are endeavouring to have ambassadors in each one. At the moment we have one at Poulner Baptist Chapel and another at the local Salvation Army. The lady at the Salvation Army has been very busy helping to get us known amongst her neighbours, friends and associates. She often collects smaller donations in her car to bring to us. This also led to us collecting from a Priory when the nuns were having a clear out of their cupboards. As we began this year, we were still supported by Nightingale House at Ringwood School until the end of their term in July. We are still members of Communities First Wessex, who are available to provide training and support when it is needed. We occasionally refer clients on to Wardrobe Foundation who provide bespoke clothing for ladies in need. Foodbank runs are completed twice each week in one of our vans, enabling food and other essentials to be taken from supermarket to warehouse, and warehouse to distribution centres in readiness for their clients to collect. We are also able to provide Foodbank vouchers for clients who are in the Trussell Trust areas. HOPe charity shops continue to network with us as we share stock with each other, enabling us to make the best use of donations that come into either place. There are times when we end up with too many of a particular item; when this happens we can pass suitable things on to either New Forest For Ukraine or use Anglo Doorstep Collection who support other charities. We also help out local animal charities and our neighbours with not-so-good towels and blankets. ## **Trustees and advisor** There have been no changes in our trustees this year; we are thankful that all four have stayed on board, and continue to do a great job at keeping the charity running appropriately. Most of them regularly help in a hands-on basis either out on the van or at Hope HQ. We are as ever thankful to our advisor who keeps us up to date with all the legalities of running a charity. ## **Looking forward** As always, we trust God for what the future may hold for Acts4Sharing. No two days are ever the same. The store is full one day and can look comparatively empty the next. Whilst we looked at the possibility of Ringwood Brewery becoming a community hub, it obviously wasn’t meant to be as it has been purchased by other companies now. If we need a bigger building or more storage space in the future we trust that God will provide it at the right time. For now, we are all at peace with where we are. We are working as efficiently as possible to keep the store, the team and visitors safe. As we say at the end of every year … We look forward to being able to continue to: - give people the dignity of choosing their own items; - show people God’s love as we share time and skills with them; - let people know that they are valued as we take time to listen to them. The financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2026 are available on request from office@acts4sharing.org. ## **Financial Report for the Year Ending 31 March 2026** ## **Basic Information** Acts 4 Sharing was registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 28 July 2014 (registration number 1158033). For the period of this report, the Trustees were: Bev Whalen Judy Thomas Keith Melrose Neville Carney Operating Office and Registered Office Hope HQ, 29 Parkside, Ringwood BH24 3SG Telephone: 07810005763 Web site: www.acts4sharing.org E-mail address: office@acts4sharing.org ## **Statement of Financial Activities** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Acts 4 Sharing
Income and Expenditure Account
for the Year Ending 31 March 2026
2024/25 Notes Unrestricted Restricted Total
£ £ £ £
Income:
11,637 Gifts from individuals 1 12,958 2,720 15,678
9,695 Gifts from churches 2 7,819 0 7,819
1,737 Gift Aid recovered 3 1,612 0 1,612
1,510 Grants etc 4 750 0 750
1,777 Other contributions / donations 2,392 180 2,572
26,356 Total income: 25,531 2,900 28,431
Expenditure:
21,028 Employee costs 5 19,474 10,993 30,467
6,120 Van - running costs 6 5,206 5,206
17,900 Van - purchase and related expenses 7 3,557 3,557
216 Purchases etc 8 3,057 3,057
7,776 Hope HQ expenses 9 7,887 0 7,887
3,266 Admin, insurances and other costs 10 2,907 0 2,907
56,306 Total expenditure: 35,474 17,607 53,081
(29,950) Surplus / (deficit) (9,943) (14,707) (24,650)
64,884 Balance brought forward: 17,384 17,550 34,934
34,934 Balance in hand at end of year: 11 and 12 7,441 2,843 10,284
**----- End of picture text -----**
|As at 31
March 2025
(£)
Notes
£
10
Assets:
Vans
13
10
34,924
Balances at Bank
14
10,274
34,934
10,284
0
Current liabilities - Creditors
0
**34,934**
Net Assets and Liabilities
**10,284**
17,384
Reserves:
Unrestricted
11
7,441
17,550
Restricted
12
2,843
**34,934**
**10,284**
**Acts 4 Sharing**
**Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2025**|As at 31
March 2025
(£)
Notes
£
10
Assets:
Vans
13
10
34,924
Balances at Bank
14
10,274
34,934
10,284
0
Current liabilities - Creditors
0
**34,934**
Net Assets and Liabilities
**10,284**
17,384
Reserves:
Unrestricted
11
7,441
17,550
Restricted
12
2,843
**34,934**
**10,284**
**Acts 4 Sharing**
**Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2025**| |---|---| |As at 31
March 2025
(£)
10
34,924|£
10
10,274| |34,934
0|10,284
0| |**34,934**|**10,284**| |17,384
17,550|7,441
2,843| |**34,934**|**10,284**| ||| The notes are on the next page. ## **Disclosures to the above accounts:** - 1 A number of these gifts are regular monthly donations - the remainder being one-off gifts. - 2 Four churches make regular monthly offerings, while others make one-off gifts. - 3 Gift Aid is recovered from qualifying gifts and includes thoseunder the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme. - 4 These grants have been via The Charities Trust. - 5 From November 2024 until August 2025 there were two part time employees. From that time there is only one. The £10,993 relates to specific gifts for pay and pensions given in previous years. - 6 Van running costs are below. They include running costs for both vans from September 2024 but not the purchase cost and "commissioning" expenses for the new van see not 7 below). |Insurances
Road Fund Licence
Servicing / repairs / MOT etc
Fuel||2024/25 (£)
807
550
1,511
3,252|2025/26 (£)
824
716
912
2,754| |---|---|---|---| |||6,120|5,206| - 7 The purchase cost of the additional van was £15,995. The "commissioning" expenses relate to initial insurances, signwriting, wheel clamp etc. The van was funded from Poulner Baptist Chapel's 2023 Christmas offering. Se also note 13 below. The costs shown under "Restricted" in 2025/26 are funded from the gift to purchase the scons van and are made up of: |p of:||| |---|---|---| |Insurances
Maintenance and repairs etc||2025/26 (£)
1,007
2,570| |||3,577| - 8 Purchases from restricted funds are made up as follows: |Bibles and_Why Jesus?_
Beds / mattresses
9
Expenses were as follows:
Rent
Energy, water etc
Other costs||2024/25 (£)
216.00|2025/26 (£)
971
2,086| |---|---|---|---| |||216|3,057| |||2024/25 (£)
6,000
1,666
110|2025/26 (£)
6,000
1,887| |||7,776|7,887| - 10 Included here is the cost of liability etc insurance at £1,087 (£1,004 in 2024/25). - 11 The balance on the Unrestricted element of the account can be used for anything considered appropriate by the Trustees and in keeping with the Charity's objects. - 12 The balances on the Restricted Fund are as follows: |n the Restricted Fund are as follows:|||| |---|---|---|---| |Van (see note 13)
Pay and Pensions (see note 1)
Bibles (see Annual Report)
Beds (see Annual Report)||2024/25 (£)
4,051
12,315
184
1,000|2025/26 (£)
784
1,322
523
214| |||17,550|2,843| - 13 The purchase cost of the initial van was £12,600 and, after depreciation has a nil book value at 1 April 2024. The additional van (see note 7 above) was funded entirely by donations and has therefore been "written out" in the year of purchase. For the purposes of an "asset register" they each have a nominal book value of £5. |14
This is made up of:
Lloyds Bank||2024/25 (£)
34,924|2025/26 (£)
10,274| |---|---|---|---| |||34,924|10,274| Sue Wall June 2026 ## **Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities** Charity Law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity as at the end of the financial year and of the surplus or deficit of the charity. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees are required to:- - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue to operate, and - state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. The Trustees are also responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which are sufficient to show and explain the charity's transactions and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with regulations made under the Charities Act. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Trustees are also responsible for the contents of the Trustees' report, and the responsibility of the independent examiner in relation to the Trustees' Report is limited to examining the report and ensuring that, on the face of the report, there are no inconsistencies with the figures disclosed in the financial statements. Signed on behalf of the Board Keith Melrose, Trustee 12 August 2026 **Acts 4 Sharing** ## **Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2026** ## **Accounting policies** The financial statements of the Charity have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and Section 1A of Financial Reporting Standard 102 effective April 2008, as modified by the Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting issued by the Charity Commissioners for England & Wales, under the historical cost convention and the accounting policies set out in these accounts and as a going concern. Incoming resources and outgoings are accounted for on an accruals basis. The charity maintains a general unrestricted fund which represents funds which are expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the objects of the charity. Such funds may be held in order to finance both working capital and capital investment. There are four restricted funds. These relate to Pay and Pensions, the van, purchase of Bibles and beds (see note 12 above and the Annual Report). If upon winding up or dissolution of the charity there remain any assets, after the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities, the assets represented by the accumulated fund shall be transferred to some other charitable body or bodies having similar objects to the charity. Neither the Trustees nor any persons connected with them have received any remuneration, either in the current year or the prior year The Disclosures to the Accounts on page 3 should be read alongside these accounting policies. ## **Reserves policy:** The Trustees believe that the Charity should hold sufficient balances on its general and other accounts to allow it to continue operating even if there was a significant reduction in the level of giving. This is the Charity’s ninth year of operation in its CIO status, and the Trustees’ consider there should be a reserve sufficient to cover at least three month’s operating costs on expenditure included in the unrestricted element of the accounts. On the basis of current estimates of expenditure in 2026/27, this should be in the order of £10,000 - and the balance at the beginning of the year, at £7,400, is less than ideal and Trustees will endeavour to restore balances to an acceptable level as soon as possible. ## **Acts 4 Sharing** ## **Statement of Public Benefit for the year ended 31 March 2026** The Objects of A4S are as follows: 1. To advance the Christian faith for the benefit of the public in accordance with the basic tenets of historical Biblical Christianity. 2. To prevent and relieve poverty initially in Hampshire and its neighbouring counties by providing: grants, items and services to individuals in need and/or charities, or other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty. 3. To relieve financial hardship by the recycling and provision of furniture, clothes and other household items. 4. To provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life. 5. To advance education for persons of any age by providing or assisting in the development of their mental, physical and moral capabilities through leisure time activities and by supporting other charities in England, the UK or abroad. We consider that Object [1] above passes the “public benefit test” because advancing the Christian religion in our community has a positive impact on the moral and ethical behaviour of those with whom we come in contact. Furthermore, our Christian faith and our relationship with God – as Father, Son and Holy Spirit - gives meaning to our lives and encourages us to live in such a way as to benefit the wider society by being good citizens and following the Bible’s teaching on how we should conduct ourselves in society. Objects 2 – 5 demonstrate public benefit because A4S: - provides the basic necessities for those in deprived circumstances who otherwise could not afford to live at the most basic level. - recycles household goods by redistributing them to those and need thus preventing them going to landfill sites. This has worthwhile environmental benefit. - benefits those communities by providing better housing and community facilities by the provision of skills, building materials and other resources. - encourages other organisations with similar objects to work in their own communities so that outside intervention will eventually be reduced. ## **Acts 4 Sharing** ## **Report of the Independent Examiner to the Trustees on the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31 March 2026** ## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and examiner** The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed and I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) It is my responsibility to: - examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, - to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and - to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of independent examiner’s statement** My examination was carried out in accordance with all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. ## **Independent Examiner's Statement:** In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or - the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or - the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I 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. ## Andrew J Clarke cpfa The date upon which my opinion is expressed is 14 August 2026.