Rutland Foodbank Annual Meeting
Wednesday 22[nd] September 2021 at 2.30 pm
Number 36 Melton Road, Oakham
Trustee’s Report 2020-2021
Foodbank Objective
.. the prevention or relief of poverty or financial hardship of people living in Rutland and neighbouring districts by providing food and other items and services, information. Advice, education and supporting in such other ways as the trustees shall from time to time see fit (July 2014)
Chairman’s Report, Ali Wainwright
I’m pleased to introduce the annual report for the Rutland Foodbank for the year 2020-2021.
The Foodbank opened its door to the first client in September 2013. It remains a matter of concern to me that there is still an ongoing and increasing need for the Foodbank to support Rutland residents in poverty.
I am indebted to my fellow trustees and all the volunteers for all their help and support during this year. No-one could have foreseen the impact of world-wide events which began in the first few months of 2020 and beyond.
If we look back to the 1st of April 2020 we will remember that we were in the very early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report would need to be as long as War and Peace to tell the story of all that happened during the year. To help write the report I’ve been using the archive of emails and WhatsApp updates I was sending to volunteers and supporters. Reading through the archive has been absolutely fascinating as so much happened in such
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a short time. At the moment it runs to over 9500 words and 30 pages (it’s available if any of you need a good long read).
Before I go into the report I think it’s important that having reflected upon the year I take the opportunity to thank everyone involved with the operation of the charity. All the volunteers & supporters, the builders, the delivery teams and all the Rutlanders and businesses who donated food, money and the general support that we received from local press, local charities and from statutory organisations, in particular Rutland County Council. Without everyone working as a team we could have struggled even more than we did so my heartfelt thanks to you all and recognition that Rutland is such a generous community looking after those experiencing some of the worst times of their lives.
The Trustees in post 2020-2021 included:
Helen Baggott - resigned 23[rd] September 2020
Jane Duce
Vaughan Gilbert
Michael Masters
Alison Wainwright
Helen Baggott resigned with effect from the 7[th] Anniversary of the Foodbank starting. Her major contribution to the operation of the charity cannot be underestimated. Her role as Liaison Trustee and her leadership in Safeguarding, involvement with supervisors and volunteer training and her personal support to so many volunteers and clients was an example to us all. We wish to place on record our thanks and off all good wishes to her in the future.
At this time we want to record our thanks to all the Trustees who have given their time to ensure the Foodbank remains able to help and support the local community 2020-21 was a very challenging year but the Rutland Foodbank has built on its sure foundations to become a resource for many and well-regarded by Rutland residents.
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Note: The Trustee vacancies have not yet been filled as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted on the work of the Foodbank and its board.
Key people changes
It would be remiss not to record thanks to two key individuals whose tireless volunteering kept the Rutland Foodbank going. Heather Armstrong was Operations Manager until the summer of 2020 when she stepped down. She oversaw much of the initial operational redesign and coped during the most difficult period of almost daily change and problemsolving. Her resilience and attention to detail was an asset to the Foodbank
Hilary Smith was Warehouse Manager Langham for a number of years so was ideally placed to deal with the very difficult logistics of increased donations with limited space at the beginning of the pandemic. She was key in overseeing the relocation of the warehouse to the new premises at 36 Melton Road. In addition she adapted the rota and kept the volunteers safe within the COVID-19 regulations. Hilary had established our warehouse and the associated checking, dating, shelving and stock control so well that very food donations are ever wasted
Finance Report prepared by Michael Masters, Treasurer
The Annual Accounts accompany this report and thanks are given to Neil Kirk who carried out an independent examination.
Despite or perhaps because of the Covid Pandemic and lockdown Income continued to grow during the year. Apart from a drop in 2016/7 there has been a steady growth since the Foodbank was created as this graph shows:
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The income includes £1,180 returned from the landlord of the previous property. There was also a doubling of Gift Aid. Further information about the donations is given below.
Expenditure also increased during the year from £19,252 to £50,219. This chart shows the distribution of these costs:
The largest portion (£30,870) relates to the premises. The new premises incurring higher rent and also involved refurbishment costs.
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The costs of Charity Management & Administration totalled £3,380 split as shown
The insurance costs have risen with the new premises and due to the higher income. The telephone costs are also higher with a new and more effective system.
The actual costs of delivering food to those in need rose from £3,861 to £10,403. As this chart shows the extra costs are almost entirely due to the operating decision to deliver food during the pandemic as it was not possible to ask clients to collect.
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Other costs totalled £5,566 which included safeguarding and other safety costs and the purchase of assets for use by the charity.
Communications have been difficult this year especially with Barclays Bank and the utility companies. As a result new banking arrangements have been made with CAF Bank and the Barclays account has been wound down. The utility bills for 2020/1 are possibly not correct but the amounts involved are relatively small.
Restricted income was mainly to meet the added costs involved with the Covid Pandemic.
The net result for the year reserves had risen to £63,316 which is much higher than the Trustees deem to be the minimum required. Although the future is still uncertain and the day to day costs are higher than previous years, the Trustees are not looking to increase income and are declining offers of grants and other funding.
Monetary Donations
Monetary donations were received from 185 named individuals plus an unknown number who gave anonymously, 15 Companies, Rutland County Council and 13 other Charities, Churches & Schools. Donations were also made via CAF, Give as You Live, Just Giving and PayPal. The total received was £84,315.
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----- Start of picture text -----
GRANTS AND DONATIONS
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Charities Companies Agencies Rutland CC Individuals
10%
7%
41%
27%
15%
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Volunteers
Once again our volunteers were key to the work we do. As we started the year we were so well supported by over 70 wonderful folk who gave their time so freely to support us. Their energy and kindness helped create a charity that truly cares for those experiencing poverty.
However, following the government guidance issued during Lockdown 1 we reluctantly had to ask all of volunteers aged 70 and over to step away from regular sessions, they were the majority of our volunteers.
But after a short recruitment exercise we attracted a number of new volunteers to join the team. Some were on furlough, some university students others were new to volunteering completely. The smaller team gelled well and displayed remarkable resilience and flexibility whilst picking and packing for such a massive increase in referrals.
Referrals
Prior to the pandemic referrals have been made by a number of agencies and representatives from Rutland County Council, Citizens Advice Rutland, church communities & schools etc. They were able to issue a red paper voucher that clients brought to the Foodbank and in return they received a three day feedback. As the lockdown began it was apparent that this pathway was no longer viable and so the decision was made to transfer to the Trussell Trust online voucher system and issue a 7-day food pack.
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The capability to use online system was implemented probably within the first two weeks using a combination of mobiles and tablet our key partners were Citizens Advice Rutland and Rutland County Council who established their own internal Foodbank referral pathway changing to online referrals meant that clients no longer had to attend in person and we have the capacity to call and speak to them to discuss food allergies, whether they needed nappies, pet food et cetera. It also allowed the team to discuss delivery arrangements helping manage the activity required.
Premises
We started the year at 40 Melton Road, these premises had helped the Foodbank team reach out to local community for several years as a point of distribution.
Food stocks have been brought down from Langham warehouse to Oakham weekly as our activity rose we were seeing volunteers driving back-and-forth with boxes and boxes of stock often daily. Until the relocation of the warehouse we were supported by team from Rutland County Council who transferred boxes in bulk for us. Thank goodness the weather in April and May 2020 was kind to us often we ended up with food stocks on the shallow wall outside number 40 until we have made up the packs for that day and then moved items inside.
The trustees had already identified difficulties with having a split site prior to the pandemic. Very early on in lockdown one we found the ideal place to move just around the corner, number 36 Melton Road. We signed a lease early in April 2020.
It had previously been the Rutland vet practice the space was ideal but the building needed quite a lot of alteration and decoration. We cannot thank our Landlords enough for agreeing to the proposed alterations and our builders and everyone who helped us so much prepare and get the building ready for occupation so quickly.
Moving to number 36 in mid-June 2020 gave us the final piece of the jigsaw in our re-design our operations. Having the food warehouse and an area for picking and packing bags prior to delivery gave us an opportunity to operate to deliver Monday to Friday.
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By early autumn 2020 we were struggling for space in the building such was the level of donations we were receiving. We had increased the number of sessions our volunteers were dating, sorting and shelving in the warehouse. The additional load of harvest donations meant that when the opportunity arose for us to lease The Barn (38A Melton Road) just across from the rear of the building the trustees agreed this would help considerably. We sign up at the beginning of December and as soon as we have the key the Christmas donations were stored there.
Deliveries
As we entered lockdown one and it became obvious that we could no longer operate with clients attending our premises we began to change over to a delivery only model.
During the year we had exceptional support from HMP Stockton, Oakham School and Rutland County Council transport team. The combination of teams and their willingness to deliver across Rutland searching out unfamiliar roads and properties meant that for most clients we were able to deliver within 24 hours Monday to Friday. Our ad-hoc delivery to those in extreme need ensured no-one went hungry over the weekend.
As the year progressed the trustees recognised that the delivery model was helping reach more clients across Rutland. Previously, if clients could not afford to travel to the foodbank or didn’t have transport they would not have been able to receive an emergency food parcel.
Deciding that delivery deliveries were reaching more people meant that a decision to maintain deliveries even after the lockdown led to the purchase of Clemmie, the bright orange van, in March 2021. Having our own transport has given much more flexibility in delivering and collecting donations
Activity
As a result of the changes to people’s situation whether it was reduced hours, Furlough, children at home, working at home or poor health the numbers of referrals rose dramatically during Lockdown 1.
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Prior to the Lockdown we had provided a three-day emergency food pack that was collected by clients. As it became apparent that we needed to close our doors we made a decision to change to a 7-day pack that would be delivered to clients.
In order to allow comparisons with previous years rather than using the number of referrals (vouchers received) as our activity ‘currency’ we quickly began to use the ingredients provided for the number of meals. The headline figure is that the Foodbank was able to support Rutland households with enough food to prepare nearly 43,000 meals during the year.
What became apparent very early on was that the pandemic was affecting everyone young, and old, people who previously been in employment who suddenly found themselves without needing urgent help.
There were a range of referrers but the main ones remained frontline staff from Rutland County Council, the Citizens Advice Rutland, Rutland Community Wellbeing Service, local support agencies such as The Longhurst Group, The Bridge, local schools and churches
| Year | No. Vouchers |
Adults | Children | Total | Meals Provided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 - 2016 | 300 | 420 | 232 | 652 | 5686 |
| 2016 - 2017 | 298 | 372 | 187 | 559 | 5031 |
| 2017 - 2018 | 366 | 594 | 345 | 849 | 7641 |
| 2018 - 2019 | 484 | 647 | 495 | 1142 | 10278 |
| 2019 - 2020 | 544 | 652 | 736 | 1388 | 15492 |
| 2020 - 2021 | 837 | 1137 | 888 | 2025 | 42525 |
As part of the process of supporting clients we are able to upload information to the Data Collection System maintained by the Trussell Trust, this provides us with an insight to the circumstances of our clients and the primary reason for their referral. By far the biggest issue are the number of clients who have low incomes. Some will only need support for a short while whilst they are starting a new job or their benefits are getting sorted but there are some
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clients who find they need help during periods where they have sudden unexpected expenditure such as urgent bills for repairs etc.
| Crisis | No. Vouchers |
Adults | Children | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefit Changes | 29 | 43 | 29 | 72 |
| Benefit Delays | 23 | 34 | 20 | 54 |
| Child Holiday Meals |
7 | 10 | 21 | 31 |
| Debt | 50 | 59 | 53 | 112 |
| Delayed Wages | 18 | 26 | 32 | 58 |
| Domestic Violence |
3 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Homeless | 25 | 33 | 0 | 33 |
| Low Income | 465 | 648 | 565 | 1207 |
| Other | 79 | 125 | 101 | 126 |
| Sickness | 138 | 162 | 63 | 225 |
| Total | 837 | 1137 | 888 | 2025 |
We support all ages and families and individuals. Again the database enable us to understand more about the people we help
| Age Group | No. Of People |
|---|---|
| Adults (17-24 yrs) | 222 |
| Adults (25-64 yrs) | 859 |
| Adults (over 65 yrs) | 52 |
| Adults (age unknown) | 4 |
| Children (0-4 yrs) | 278 |
| Children (5-11 yrs) | 235 |
| Children (12-16 yrs) | 374 |
| Children (age unknown) | 1 |
| Totals | 2025 |
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| Size of Family | No. Vouchers |
|---|---|
| Couple | 61 |
| Family | 121 |
| Other | 52 |
| Single | 352 |
| Single Parent | 251 |
| Totals | 837 |
Christmas Goody Bags
At Christmas with the help of local partners and very generous donations we used the top floor of The Barn to pack nearly 250 goody bags. These were prepared for all households we had supported since April 1[st] . It was a spectacular piece of teamwork with a team of dedicated volunteers sorting Christmas treats (sweet & savoury), small toys, colouring books etc and packing to suit the household size and trying to match to the ages of the children. Our donations levels were so good that we were still sending out goodies until the end of the year. Distribution took place over a few weeks but we were helped massively by the Uppingham Hopper Team who came out and about with us one Saturday – this was such a help, thank you.
Food Donations
We received 41,488kg of donations during the year. This is a significant increase compared with 2019-20 when the figure was 19,197kg and reflects the support from individual donors and businesses who supported us during an exceptionally busy year. Our thanks are sent to everyone who has helped us. A true reflection of the community spirit we have in Rutland.
Village Collections
As the lockdown progressed and it became apparent that public buildings places of worship and even access to supermarkets was going to affect the opportunities for food donations we were pleased to hear that RCC in connection with Voluntary Action Rutland (VAR) had
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designed a collection scheme working with 15 Rutland villages to collect donations from an identified point in the village and bring them in to the warehouse for volunteers to sort date and shelve. This helped us maintain the flow of foodstuffs so we never experienced significant shortages.
We used Facebook as our main site for posting food shortages, this proved remarkably successful in getting basic foodstuffs donated.
The breakdown of food and toiletries donations is shown below:
| Donors (Food & Toiletries) | Weight (kg) |
|---|---|
| Churches | 731.70 |
| Community Collections (Villages) | 7522.57 |
| Co-op Stores Oakham | 5432.70 |
| FareShare E Midlands | 5900.90 |
| Individuals | 5554.34 |
| Lidl | 2606.50 |
| Local Businesses & Groups | 1510.69 |
| Morrisons Stamford Bulk | 97.85 |
| Foods returned to Warehouse due to the closure of Uppingham session |
505.85 |
| Schools | 1546.00 |
| Tesco Covid-19 Bulk Donation | 1948.20 |
| Tesco | 6868.80 |
| Uppingham (various sites) | 1262.38 |
| Totals | 41488.48 |
Partnerships
During the year partnership working became an essential part of what we do. With the assistance of Rutland County Council who established the Voluntary, Community and Faith group (VCF) we were able to contribute to weekly online meetings sharing intelligence and learning from each other just how best to deal with situations that had not arisen before. To work with other charitable organisations, statutory and voluntary groups with both representatives was an important part of responding to the impact of the pandemic on the local community. The Foodbank was part of a wider community support to people in need .
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The Continuing Impact of th• Pandomic In the earty weeks of 2021 we vRre still Coping wÉih the impact of the pandemic as we approach8d the end of the year we realised that the op8rations of the foodbank néeded to maintain the flexibility that had been so apparent during the previous months. As the year ended we were not sure what 2021-2022 as restrith'ons eased Vuld look like but V knew thal the teams we had in place had the energy, enthusiasm and experience to deal with challenges. To finish we need to reiterate our thanks to everyone involved with the operation of the Rutland Foodbank Charity and all those who give their suppor( it is so appreciated. Signed: Date: 15 09. ZOLJ Print Name: Ali Wainwright Position.. Trustee. Chair Signed.. Date.. Print Name: Michael Masters Po$mon.' Trustee, Treasurer Rutland Foodbank Register&1 Charity No 1158460 www.rutland.foodbank.o info rLrtland.foodbank.or Tdephone Number 07582 783363
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total Funds | Total Funds | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020t21 | 2019t20 | |||||
| RECEIPTS | t | t | L | |||
| lncome fromDonationsandLegacies | ||||||
| GiftAidClaimed | 3,845 | 3,845 | 1,921 | |||
| Grant lncome | 18,896 | 1,078 | 19,974 | 4,712 | ||
| OtherDonations | 46,969 | '180 | 47,149 | 8,818 | ||
| RegularDonations | 16,396 | '16,396 | 11,688 | |||
| Other lncomingResources | ||||||
| Other lncome | 1,180 | 1,180 | ||||
| Total Receipts | 87,286 | 1,258 | 88,544 | 27,139 | ||
| PAYMENTS | ||||||
| CharitableActivities | ||||||
| Charity Management&Administration | ||||||
| Advertising | 147 | 147 | ||||
| Bank Charges | 16 | 16 | ||||
| Computer Services | 124 | 124 | ||||
| lnsurance | 1,332 | 1,332 | 448 | |||
| Licences & Subscriptions | 35 | 35 | 426 | |||
| OfficeExpenses | 151 | 151 | 63 | |||
| Postage | 56 | 56 | 17 | |||
| Printing & Stationery | 530 | s30 | 311 | |||
| SundryExpenses | 75 | 75 | 27 | |||
| Telephone | 914 | 914 | 20 | |||
| Premises | ||||||
| Cleaning | 13 | '13 | ||||
| Fire/ElectricalSafety | 276 | 276 | 190 | |||
| Fittings | 723 | t13 | ||||
| Heating/Lighting | 864 | 864 | 401 | |||
| Moving Costs | 480 | 480 | ||||
| Property lmprovements | 16,522 | 1'ro | 16,900 | 93 | ||
| Rent | 11,458 | 11,458 | 7,750 | |||
| WaterRates | 156 | '156 | 383 | |||
| SupportCosts | ||||||
| Safeguarding | 158 | 91 | 249 | 304 | ||
| Other Equipment | 156 | 156 | 382 | |||
| OtherSafetycosts | 31 | 12 | 43 | |||
| ServiceDelivery | ||||||
| FoodParcels | ||||||
| Food Supplies | 2,454 | 504 | 2,958 | 2,915 | ||
| Toiletries | 72 | 60 | l52 | 541 | ||
| Sundry DistributionCosts | 0 | |||||
| Packaging Costs | 69 | 185 | 254 | 405 | ||
| TransportCosts | 7,059 | 7,059 | ||||
| Purchase offixedassets | 5,'l1I | 5,1 1B | 4,576 | |||
| Total Payments | jtg,e8e | 1,230 |
5q,r1 |
|||
| AllReceipts | - | [87,286 |
81,258 | t88,544 | f27,',t39 | |
| AllPayments | €48,989 | 81,230 | €50,219 | 819,252 | ||
| NetMovementin Funds | €38,re7 | iia | isa,ais | 87,887 | ||
| Total FundsBrought Forward | irs,oie | ir,arr | eio,aeo | e18,943 | ||
| Total FundsCarried Forward | ioe,aio | Cr,aes | ros,iss | *o,abo |
| Bank Balances | |
|---|---|
| BarclaysBank UKPLC | 1,670 |
| CAFBank (cash) | 13,358 |
| CAFBank (gold) | 30,000 |
| Petty Cash | 86 |
| CAF 12 Month Fixed Rate Saver | 20,000 |
| Vouchers | 40 |
| NetAssets | 65,155 |
| TotalFunds | ||
|---|---|---|
| f | ||
| RestrictedFunds | ||
| Christmas Hampers | 1,474 | |
| Toiletries | 177 | |
| Covid19 | 188 | |
| Total designatedfunds | 1,939 | |
| GeneralFund | 63,316 | |
| 65,155 |