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2023-03-31-accounts

Rutland Foodbank Annual Meeting

4th September 2022 at 2.00 pm, 36 Melton Road, Oakham

Trustees’ Report 2022-2023

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)

Chair of Trustees Report, Ali Wainwright

I’m pleased to introduce the annual report for the Rutland Foodbank for the year 2022-2023. If we look back to April 2022 we were beginning to re-adjust to post-pandemic living. However, demand for support from the Foodbank continued and gained pace during the year as we were all affected by increasing costs. Rises in gas and electricity costs were followed quickly by increasing food costs. Rising inflation impacted upon many households and resulted in increasing number of referrals. Fortunately the operational model we had developed during the pandemic meant that the volunteers were able to respond to the rising needs.

Once again I am indebted to my fellow trustees and all the volunteers for their help and support during this year. Their continued resilience and focus meant that we were able to respond to referrals in a timely way.

2022-23 was another 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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The Trustees in post 2022-2023 were:

Ali Wainwright, Chair

Sue Brown

Dee Burton (appointed July 2022)

Vaughan Gilbert

Michael Masters, Treasurer

Trustees recruited a new colleague Dee Burton during the year. Dee has volunteered with Foodbank for a number of years and had supported our project manager during the pandemic. She brings a wealth of experience to the board. Her background in business and volunteering brings additional skills to the team.

Three trustees came to the end of their 3-year tenure, Ali Wainwright, Vaughan Gilbert and Michael Masters all indicated that they were willing to continue a further term, this was supported by fellow trustees.

Working with the Trussell Trust

We continue to be supported at a Regional and National level by experienced staff from the Trussell Trust. The online access to resources and specific advice is continuing to prove helpful. As the restrictions on gatherings meetings were easing there were opportunities to meet volunteers and staff from local foodbanks to share good practice and problem-solve.

Two trustees attended the Regional Forum in Nottingham, an opportunity to reflect on the impact of the pandemic, and also to discuss the impending cost of living crisis and to consider how to highlight the hardships so many face daily.

All foodbanks are working jointly towards a time when they are no longer needed so an understanding of the ‘Guarantee our Essentials’ campaigning by the Trussell Trust, supported by many other charities, was helpful in thinking about to work with other local groups and charities and Rutland County Council.

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Finance Report

The Annual Accounts accompany this report and thanks are given to Andrew Gilbert who carried out an independent examination.

The income for the year was still very high with other donations almost double the previous year’s figure. We also received a large grant from the Trussell Trust as restricted income to be used in connection with the new Financial Inclusion Project. Further information about the donations is given below.

Expenditure out of the general fund was very similar to the previous year (£41,376 against £39,306). Restricted expenditure was much increased due to the Financial Inclusion Project and also due to a donation specifically to pay for throws distributed as part of a Christmas gift.

This chart shows the distribution of the general fund costs:

These costs can be analysed further:

----- Start of picture text -----
EXPENDITURE
£275 £519
£5,215
£6,027
Charity Management & Administration
Food Parcels
Service Delivery
£9,599
Sundry Distribution Costs
Support Costs
Expenditure on Raising Funds
£19,741
----- End of picture text -----

The administration costs remain similar to the previous year, with insurance and telephone costs making the largest cost.

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----- Start of picture text -----
ADMINISTRATION COSTS
Bank Charges
2%4%
Computer Services
23%
Insurance
Licences & Subscriptions
Office Expenses
43%
13% Postage
Printing & Stationery
11% Sundry Expenses
2%1%1%
Telephone
----- End of picture text -----

Premises costs totalled £17,651 of which £16,000 was paid in rent.

The year saw the continued and regular use of van deliveries of seven day supplies including purchased fresh food. The cost of food purchases increased from £4,063 to £8,562. The cost of miscellaneous supplies was largely covered by a restricted donation.

----- Start of picture text -----
Deliveries
29%
46%
4%
5%
16%
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Food Supplies
Miscellaneous supplies
Toiletries
Packaging Costs
Transport Costs
----- End of picture text -----

The net result for the year reserves had risen to £100,879, which is higher than the Trustees

deem to be the minimum required. These reserves represent just under 2½ year’s expenditure. Although the future is still uncertain and the day to day costs are higher than previous years,

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the Trustees are not looking to increase income and are declining offers of grants and other funding.

Apart from the onward transfer of two quarterly payments to Citizens Advice Rutland in connection with the Financial Inclusion Project, the Trustees also approved a further grant of £2000 to Citizens Advice Rutland to enable an extension to the service offered.

Donations and Grant Income

Monetary unrestricted donations were received from 100 named individuals plus an unknown number who gave anonymously, 11 Companies, 7 other Charities, 11 Churches 2 Schools and 10 other groups. Donations were also made via fundraisers including CAF, Give As You Live, Just Giving and PayPal. The total received was £65,700. In addition, Gift Aid amounting to £4,732 was reclaimed during the year.

----- Start of picture text -----
UNRESTRICTED DONATIONS
6%
3% INDIVIDUAL
13% COMPANY
CHARITY
3%
48% CHURCH
AGENCY
16%
SCHOOL
OTHER
11%
----- End of picture text -----

In addition restricted income totalling £23,050 was received from two charities and one other source in connection with Financial Inclusion Project and the Christmas “Hampers”.

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There were quite a number of specific fundraising events. Probably the scariest was watching a team from Henry Spain Finance doing Fire Walking, we’re pleased to report none of the fundraisers ended up with scorched feet.

We also received donations from the Rutland Antiques and Art Centre in Uppingham, D’Ukes of Rutland (local ukulele players), the Rutland Morris Men, the Uppingham and Oakham Rotary Clubs, The Rutland Lions and various other groups.

Fundraising events included The Chater Community Choir Christmas Concert (and food collection) and a Carols by Candlelight concert performed by Arts for the Heart of England in All Saints Church, Oakham arranged by the Lord Lieutenant

Again a number of local individuals undertook significant personal challenges.

We are so pleased that they all chose the Foodbank as their recipient.

Volunteers

Once again we have to record our thanks to everyone who has volunteered during the year. It would be impossible to help as many people as we do without the wonderful team who give their time so freely. Their energy and kindness helps create a charity that truly cares for those experiencing poverty.

During the year we bade farewell to a number of our volunteers who were moving away. Our thanks to them for their help.

We were fortunate in recruiting a handful of new volunteers to help us across our activities. We welcome them and look forward to the support and input.

We also re-started volunteer training events and were pleased that 13 of them gained accredited training in Basic Life Support and use of an automatic defibrillator

All our volunteers have continued to display remarkable resilience and flexibility whilst undertaking the collecting, sorting, dating, shelving, picking and packing tasks.

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Communications and networking

During the year volunteers from the Foodbank have worked with other groups and organisations to raise awareness.

Trustees have undertaken talks to the Scouts, Beavers, Schools, Mothers Union and Rutland charities. This has been an opportunity to raise awareness of the need for the Foodbank explaining how we support local families and households. Many of these groups have also been collecting donations for us and we are very grateful for their support.

Deliveries

Clemmie (the bright orange van) made it through her MOT with a couple of minor repairs and some new tyres (just in time for a couple of snowy days). During the year we made over 750 deliveries and used the van for picking up the donations from local collection baskets in supermarkets, churches and from the villages etc. Having our own transport has given us much more flexibility in delivering and collecting donations during the year. The van’s mileage was around 5,200 during the year.

Referrals

We continued to work with referrers using the Trussell Trust online voucher / referral system and issued a 7-day food and toiletries pack. There were a range of referrers but the main ones remained frontline staff from Rutland County Council, Citizens Advice Rutland, local support agencies, schools and churches. As clients no longer had to attend in person and we continued to call them prior to packing to discuss food allergies, whether they needed nappies, pet food etc. It also allowed the team to discuss delivery arrangements.

We received 776 referrals in 2022-2023, fewer than the first year of the pandemic but more than 2021-2022.

Financial Inclusion project

Following a grant application made to the main Trussell Trust Charity, trustees were pleased to establish a Financial Inclusion Project for Foodbank clients.

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The project began in November 2022 working in partnership with Citizens Advice Rutland (CAR). The CAR advisors are working to offer a wraparound support to Foodbank clients.

The main purpose of the project is to maximise household income by identifying areas where income can be gained in the hope that the client will be able to move away from Foodbank use and regain control over person expenditure.

The CAR advisors also assist clients with other issues such as debt management and signposting to help for managing physical and mental health conditions if they are not already getting specific support.

The project has been funded for three years and at the moment the data received is demonstrating significant financial gains on behalf of Foodbank clients

Activity

Although we were not as busy as 2020-2021 (the first year of the pandemic) we still operated with packing and delivering five days a week and were busier than last year. Some of the sessions were busier than others but the ability to respond to a request for help usually within 24 hours was an important factor in maintaining our operating hours

Year No. of
Vouchers
/ Referrals		 Adults Children Total Meals
Provided
2015 - 2016 300 420 232 652 5,686
2016 - 2017 298 372 187 559 5,031
2017 - 2018 366 594 345 849 7,641
2018 - 2019 484 647 495 1,142 10,278
2019 - 2020 544 652 736 1,388 15,492
2020 - 2021 837 1,137 888 2,025 42,525
2021 - 2022 704 1,011 800 1,811 38,031
2022- 2023 776 1,169 954 2,123 44,583

As part of the process of supporting clients we upload information to the confidential Data Collection System maintained by the Trussell Trust. This anonymous data provides us with an insight to the circumstances of our clients and the primary reason for their referral.

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By far the biggest issue are the number of clients who have low incomes. Unfortunately this category is not sub-divided so it’s not possible to ascertain the primary reason for low income. Some clients only need support for a short while whilst they are starting a new job or their benefits are getting sorted but there are some clients who find they need help for during periods where they have poor health (primarily mental ill-health) or sudden unexpected expenditure such as urgent bills for repairs etc.

Crisis (Primary
Cause)		 No.
Vouchers		 Adults Children Total
Benefit Changes 26 38 49 87
Benefit Delays 18 29 34 63
Child Holiday
Meals		 6 9 15 24
Debt 33 47 40 87
Delayed Wages 10 14 12 26
Domestic
Violence		 12 16 21 37
Homeless 13 21 3 24
Low Income 597 878 680 1,558
Other 50 79 81 160
Sickness 29 38 19 158
Total 776 1,169 954 2,123

We support all ages and families and individuals. Again the database enables us to understand more about the people we help

Age Group No. Of People
Adults (17-24 yrs) 221
Adults (25-64 yrs) 890
Adults (over 65 yrs) 48
Children (0-4 yrs) 273
Children (5-11 yrs) 422
Children (12-16 yrs) 259
Totals 2,123

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Size of Family No. Vouchers
Couple 53
Family 175
Other* 69
Single 241
Single Parent 238
Totals 776

*Other – A household with at least 3 adults (usually multi-generational)

Purchased Items

During the year trustees made the decision to not to renew the membership of the FairShare charity that used to supply fruit and veg weekly that would otherwise gone to landfill this was because there were times when what was sent didn’t really meet the needs of our clients so we ended up creating food waste.

A decision was made to purchase from the Oakham Market, fresh potatoes, onions, carrots and apples. In addition, we continued purchasing fresh bread, eggs, cheese and spread so that every household receiving an emergency pack had these fresh items

We also used some of the financial donations to purchase additional food and toiletries when we began to distribute more than we were receiving.

Collection Points

Our collection baskets in supermarkets and churches and other local venues help us to collect a range of donations.

The Village Collection Scheme remains a much valued source of donations. This year we had to revise the collection schedule so that we visit each village once a month rather than fortnightly due to the cost of fuel. We continue to be well supported and would like to record our thanks to each of the village coordinators who share and update the local community with the Wish List.

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Food and Toiletries Donations

We’ve continued to use Facebook as our main social media again this year. Posting our shortages and Wish Lists helps highlight items which we would like donated.

Again we’ve been pleased to receive donations of dog and cat food during the year which has meant we’ve been able to support Rutland residents to keep their pets.

The breakdown of where our food and toiletries donations were collected from shown below:

Donors (Food & Toiletries) Weight (kg)
Churches 1,539.70
Community Collections (Villages) 4,045.89
Co-op Stores Oakham (Braunston Rd & Burley Rd) 2,981.20
FareShare E Midlands (Charity) 4,487.55
Individuals 3,327.35
Lidl 1,288.80
Aldi – Neighbourly & Community Basket 483.34
QD Stores 109.26
Local Businesses & Organisations 484.41
Other Donors 40.00
Rutland Charities & Community Grps 454.67
Schools 2,312.85
Tesco 11,635.52
Uppingham (various sites) 1,524.85
Totals 34,715.39

We received nearly 35,000 kg of donations during the year. Our thanks are sent to everyone who has helped us. A true reflection of the community spirit we have in Rutland.

Although we experienced a slight drop in donations made for the supermarket, church, and school collection baskets. We were delighted to see that wish lists that we produce are helping people understand what items we would like donated. We do have core items that we always need as these form the basics in the emergency food packs. We prepare.

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The Oakham Tesco store is a Permanent Collection Point (PCP) within the Tesco/Trussell Trust network. The benefit of this is the additional financial donation given by Tesco Corporate based upon the weight of donations collected. This added £1,838 to our income.

We wish to extend our grateful thanks to our wonderful donors who arranged collections during the year of food & toiletries. These include:

Our sincere apologies if we have missed any groups, schools, churches and organisations.

Seasonal Donations

During the year we had generous donations from individuals, schools and churches for Easter and Harvest and Christmas which helped us keep our stocks up and share some treats to households. It was lovely to see so many more churches and schools able to hold Harvest services in all they contributed nearly 1,000 kg of donations.

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Christmas Goody Bags

Once again, we were able to share some joy to households over the Christmas period by packing and delivering Christmas Goody bags. We were delighted to receive a donation of £2,500 from The Rutland Lions that we used to purchase warm throws. We were aware that many households were facing the heat or eat dilemma the throws were chosen to help keep everyone warm during the winter months.

Again we held a very successful Tesco collection weekend and receiving donations from a number of local individuals, schools and companies who collected for our Reverse Advent Calendar we were able to provide a range of food treats but also small Christmas decorations and small gifts. The Uppingham Rotary Club donated a wide range of craft materials.

We packed nearly 300 goody bags, one for every household we had supported since January 1[st] 2022. It was a superb piece of teamwork with a team of dedicated volunteers sorting Christmas treats (sweet & savoury), small toys & stocking fillers, toiletry gift sets, colouring books etc and packing to suit the household size and trying to match to the ages of the children and adults.

Distribution took place over a few weeks. We were helped massively by a handful of our volunteers and their families who undertook deliveries to clients across the county.

Approaching 2023-24

As 2023 began we noticed a decline in the weight of food and toiletry donations we received at the same time as the number of referrals increased. Fortunately, our financial reserves helped us purchase food and toiletries to offset distribution to households in need.

In addition, to ensuring new clients were supported by the Financial Inclusion Project, if they wished ,the volunteers continued to reach out, by including non-food items in the pack ups to help these included small toys colouring books, and for every new household, one of the warm throws we had sourced for the Christmas bags

As we approached the end of our year we knew that the operations of the foodbank needed to maintain the flexibility that had been so apparent during the previous months. Our volunteers maintained their resilience and continued to deal with challenges that arose.

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Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Total Funds
RECEIPTS j.f 2022t23
f		 2021t22
T
lncome from Donations and Legacies
lnvestment GiftAidClaimed
Grant lncome
OtherDonations
Regular Donations
lncome		 4,732
4,518
40,822
19,461		 22,800
250		 4,732
27,318
41,072
19,461		 7,891
1,680
22,395
16,073
lnterest Received
Other lncoming Resources		 578 s7; e6
OtherIncome
TotalReceipts 20,111
23,050		 93,161
43135
PAYMENTS
CharitableActivities
Charity Management&Administration
Advertising
BankCharges
Computer Services
lnsurance
Licences & Subscriptions
Office Expenses		 80
186
2,238
35
67		 8;
186
2,238
35
67		 96
186
2,384
40
77
Postage 113 113
Printing&Stationery 600 600 456
Sundry Expenses
Telephone
Food Parcels		 671
1,225		 671
1,225		 140
1,225
Food Supplies
Miscellaneous supplies
Toiletries
Financial lnclusionproject		 8,562
228
809		 2,700
92		 8,562
2,928
901		 4,063
558
537
Grants
Service Delivery		 9,500 9,500
Donations made
Other Equipment
Other Safety costs
premises		 2,000
90		 2,000
9;		 1,000
130
157
Cleaning
Fire/Electrical Safety
Fittings		 268
162		 26;
162		 88
68
Heating/Lighting
Rent
Repairs		 887
16,000
225		 887
16,000
225		 2,700
16,000
372
WaterRates 109 109
Sundry DistributionCosts
Packaging Costs
TransportCosts
Support Costs		 542
5,485		 224 766
5,485		 590
7,607
Safeguarding
Training		 145
130		 145
130		 125
Expenditure on Raising Funds
Purchaseof Just GivingprocessingFee
Just Giving TransactionFee
FixedAssets		 360
159		 360
159		 400
406
TotalPayments 41,376 12,516 53.892 39,482
AllReceipts
AllPayments
NetMovementin Funds
Total Funds Brought Fonrard
Total Funds CarriedForward		 70,111
__-*___!1316
72,145
28,735
100,880		 23,050
12516
10,534
1,663
12,197		 93,161
53,8e2
39,269
73,808
113.077		 48,135
39.482
8,653
65,155
73,808

).0).3t 2022
Cash atBankand inhand
Bank Balances
CAF Bank(cash) 17,969 13,759
CAF Bank(gold) 70,333 40,007
CAF Bank(gold) 14,085
Petty Cash& Cards 90 42
CAFl2monthFixed Rate Saver 20,000
Shawbrook Bank 60dayNotice 10,000
CAFVouchers 600
Netassets 113,077 73,BOB
TotalFunds
t
RestrictedFunds
ChristmasHampers 1,124 1,344
Toiletries 132 177
Covid19 142 142
Financial lnclusion Project 10,800
Total restricted funds 12,198 1,663
GeneralFund 100,879 72,145
113,077 73,BOB