Annual Report 2020 - 2021 TM fe.dish REOISTRIBUTING GOOD STUFF AROUND REDDISH food + clothing + furniture + skills
Contents
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Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ ..................................3
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Our Principles and Aims .......................................................................................................................................................................5
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Our Trustees ................................................................................................................................................................... ..........................5
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Projects ................................................................................................................................................................... ..................................6
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Food Action ................................................................................................................................................................ ......................6 Foodbank ............................................................................................................................................. ............................7
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Common Ground .............................................................................................................................................................. ..............11
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Youth ................................................................................................................................................................. ................................12
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Growing Group ................................................................................................................................................................. ..............13
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Skillshare .......................................................................................................................................................... ................................14
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Community Champions ........................................................................................................................................... ....14
| ....14 | ....14 | |
|---|---|---|
| | Wellbeing.......................................................................................................................................................... | |
| ............................... 15 | ||
| | Exercise | |
| Classes................................................................................................................................................. | ||
| ..........15 | ||
| | Dementia Friendly | |
| Café...............................................................................................................................................15 | ||
| | Goodshare........................................................................................................................................................ | |
| ............................... 16 | ||
| | The Re:dish | |
| Shop..................................................................................................................................................... | ||
| .....16 | ||
| | Hub | .................................................................................................................................................................... |
| ............................. ...18 |
- Exercise Classes ................................................................................................................................................. ..........15
Our Partners and
Funders ................................................................................................................................................................... 19
1. Introduction
Dear Friends and Supporters,
During difficult times we learn things that otherwise we might not - and this year the Re:dish charity, along with people up and down the country, has gone through a difficult time. Yet we have learned about the commitment of our volunteers, the resilience of our staff, the desire of the Reddish community to
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support us, the kindness of strangers, and the continued need for our services within our community. So it is with gratitude to all of the above that I write this reflection on behalf of the Re:dish Trustees.
Our year began in lockdown; the Shop, the DFC and all our other services required to close, but the Foodbank immediately taking on a greater importance for the community. Our staff and volunteers quickly designed new practices to keep themselves safe, follow Covid regulations, and deliver the same consistent and friendly service as ever. We were grateful for all the sunshine as our clients queued outside the Bairstow Centre. Above all we were grateful for the continued support of Stockport Foodbank, and the incredible generosity of the Reddish community who found many ways to support our ongoing work.
Several Foodbank volunteers were required to shield themselves at this point, so we were thankful that some of our other volunteers were happy to learn the ways of the Foodbank, and be temporarily ‘transferred’. Whilst the Shop was closed, Judy our manager was furloughed, along with Kelly our Community Development worker. They were both ready for a return when restrictions were lifted and we set about making the Shop Covid-compliant. The Reddish community were happy to see the Shop open, and as trading increased once again, we temporarily needed a Deputy Manager. James was recruited, he spent 6 months with us, and we wished him well as he left us at Christmas.
Although much of our Community work was still suspended, Kelly found herself doing quite a variety of tasks, from organizing the future development of the Growing Group and its move to St. Agnes Church in North Reddish, to being Santa’s Little Helper, and virtually living in the Shop’s front window throughout December.
January saw Lynn and the Trustees embark on a very interesting journey: we began what would be a 9- month relationship with Pilotlight – a national charity who had selected our application for their strategic support. ‘Pilotlighters’ from various professional backgrounds began to meet virtually with Lynn and Trustee representatives to help us take a deep dive into our organization – our values and purpose, our management structure, our vision and intentions. At times it was a challenging and humbling experience, at times insightful, funny and encouraging – we are looking forward to reaping the rewards of that relationship in the coming months and years.
As the year closed, we were in the second national lockdown, and once again we were unable to open the Shop. This was the time that Judy, who had been Shop Manager for 3 years, decided she would like to
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move on. We are enormously and forever grateful to her for the passion and dedication with which she designed the working practices of the Shop, led the volunteers, engaged the community, and recognized that the Shop was more than a place to buy quality used clothes and appliances – it was a community hub, a place to chat and to look for support – a place to be proud of in the heart of our community. All the Trustees wish Judy well.
As the year ended the Trustees were planning for the next: commissioning a Community Consultation ahead of opening new services in the space above the Shop: engaging a new Shop manager in Yazz: extending the support for the Foodbank through a relationship with Fareshare, planning for the re-opening of our services to young people, and welcoming new Trustees to our Board - the youthful Chris Hill who had been part of the original group of people who conceived of Re:dish back in 2014, and one of our volunteers, David Leach, who is taking over the Treasurer responsibilities.
Once again the Trustees would like to thank our volunteers, without whom we are nothing, our supporters, without whom we could not offer our services to the community, and all our partners, for their encouragement and support.
Rev’d Angie Stanton Chair of Trustees
2. Our Principles and Aims
Our aims are rooted in Christian and co-operative values, and the belief that communities themselves know best what they need and how services and projects should be delivered.
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Our projects are working towards meeting at least one of these aims. The Board of Trustees actively encourage projects that cross the boundaries between our aims. Any new proposals are thoroughly explored by our Trustees and are only taken forward if there is a clear alignment with our aims.
Working together we aim:
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To improve the quality of life for the people living within the wards of Reddish North Reddish South and Heatons North, in the Borough of Stockport.
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To create a sense of community pride
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To become known as the place to go to for support if you have a problem or crisis (and offer either signposting or our own services to help)
3. Our Trustees
During 2020/21 the membership of the Board of Trustees
was:
Rev’d Angie Stanton (Chair) Sandra Gaskill (Treasurer) Andrew Verdeille Frank Dean Rev’d Alison Mitchell David Leach (recruited February 2021 to become Treasurer) Christopher Hill (recruited February 2021)
4 . Our Projects
During 2020/21 many of our projects were disrupted due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The initial 3 month lockdown impacted on all of our activities: our charity shop was closed, two of our staff were furloughed
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and our face to face projects were postponed with support being provided to clients remotely where possible.
We focused on ensuring we could provide essential food to our clients via the foodbank but had to change the operation significantly to protect the safety of volunteers and clients. We were able to open the charity shop for some of the year and have continued work on the hub ready for it to be used when restrictions are lifted.
During this year we have also benefitted from taking part in a project called Pilotlight. This is a scheme that helps organisations to grow and develop by matching them with experienced business professionals who provide coaching and support on agreed focus areas. We began our Pilotlight journey during the lockdown in January 2021 with all of the meetings taking place remotely. The Pilotlighters have helped us with our refining our objectives, prioritising our business plan, creating a marketing strategy and improving our governance. We are looking forward to seeing the positive impact of this work as we move forward with our plans.
4.1. Food Action
Food Action is the overarching theme of work which aims to identify and reduce food poverty by providing no-cost and low-cost food, by using local expertise, in encouraging healthy nutrition and educating the growing and cooking of fresh foods.
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4.1.1. Foodbank
During the past 12 months the Re:dish Foodbank had to change its’ operating model significantly to comply with Coronavirus restrictions. This involved a number of changes to the Thursday and Saturday sessions:
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increased hygiene measures (more handwashing and enhanced cleaning before and after sessions as well as between clients)
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minimising contact time with clients (no longer providing refreshments)
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observing social distancing by spacing out tables, creating an outside waiting area and creating a temporary stock area in a larger space to prevent volunteer bottlenecks in the store room,
Volunteers adapted well to the changes and clients were grateful that we were still able to continue to operate.
Volunteers
Unfortunately, a number of our older and more experienced volunteers were not able to help us during the initial lockdown due to the guidelines on those considered vulnerable or clinically extremely vulnerable. Our Saturday team leader stepped in to cover the Thursday sessions as well for 3 months and our SEO took on a more operational role. We were also fortunate to find help from others who were furloughed or who were new to volunteering. A number of these new volunteers have continued to be involved with Re-dish and our foodbank. .
We are proud and grateful for all those who helped us to be to open throughout and to offer this service within Reddish.
Referrals
As well as adapting the physical delivery model of the foodbank we also had to adapt to a new referral process. As many of the referring agencies were closed or no longer offering face to face contact with their clients. Stockport foodbank put in place an electronic referral process similar to that already used by the CAB. This provided clients with an electronic reference number
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which could be presented to us at the session. Volunteers then completed a simple spreadsheet collecting the name, address, date of birth and household size of the client to enter into the Trussell Trust database after the visit.
In addition to this Stockport foodbank opened a dedicated phone line manned by volunteers across the Stockport foodbank network including some from Reddish. The purpose of this was to ensure that clients were able to access food even if their usual referral agency wasn’t open or accessible to them. Foodbank volunteers took the details of clients and issued an electronic voucher number to clients for presentation at their nearest foodbank.
Additional Services – Home delivery / Holiday Hunger / Fuel Vouchers
As well as changes to the foodbank operation due to the Covid restrictions we also saw the introduction of a number of new schemes to help those most in need. This included an option for home delivery for those isolating or shielding at home. This service was centrally co-ordinated by Stockport Foodbank and provided initially by British Gas who used their available vehicles and employees to help with the distribution. After their time with us came to an end, this service has been maintained by Stockport Foodbank volunteers.
During the summer of 2020 the council introduced a holiday hunger scheme to provide food for families who would normally be in receipt of free school meals. Families were referred by schools (or other organisations) and received a food parcel each week for the duration of the holidays. As a result of the Marcus Rashford campaign this was also offered during the other school holidays although a simpler system has now been adopted which is less reliant on clients having access to email / smart phones.
Early in 2021, due to funding from Stockport Council, we were able to issue eligible clients winter vouchers to help towards fuel costs with clients receiving £49 to use for their gas and /or electricity.
In summer 2021, again linking in with SMBC funding, all the Stockport Foodbank centres were able to issue School uniform vouchers to qualifying families to the value of £20 per child.
New Fresh Food – FareShare / Fridge
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In 2020-21 we began to receive a regular weekly delivery of fresh food items from Fareshare funded by financial donations to Stockport foodbank. The delivery arrives during our Thursday foodbank session and includes fruit and vegetables, bread and items such as eggs. We use a chalk board to detail the items available that week and a volunteer serves the client with the items that they would like and will use. We then store any leftover items in our newly fitted foodbank specific fridge (as appropriate) so that they can be used on Saturday.
This addition to the foodbank offer has been really well received by clients and it is a welcome addition to be able to provide access to healthier products.
Donations
During 2020 – 21 we have been amazed at the generosity of our community. At the start of the pandemic we received cash and food donations from individuals, businesses, organisations and local community groups all of whom want to ensure that those in need didn’t go without. We have continued to receive this support throughout the year with large harvest and Christmas donations. We have also continued to receive regular donations from local residents.
We have also benefitted from the support of Morrisons who have continued to donate both essential items and treats to our foodbank. This has both been indirectly from clients purchasing items and donating them in the Re:dish bin at the store or via their warehouse.
Outcomes
Circa 1800 adults and 1500 children redeemed vouchers between April 2020 and March 2021. Some of these were new clients many of whom had been directly impacted by the pandemic and had either a temporary or permanent change in their circumstances.
We continued to signpost clients to other agencies such as Citizens Advice and The Prevention Alliance to get the support they need. Unfortunately, these agencies are very busy and have considerable waiting lists. As a result we are working with Stockport foodbank to see what support could be provided in future.
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4 .1.2. Fit and Fed Programme in conjunction with the Cherry Tree Project
During the summer holidays in 2020 Re:dish worked with the Cherry Tree project delivering their Fit and Fed programme to families in Reddish and Brinnington. The Cherry Tree provided a bag of fresh ingredients to cook a meal with and there was a fun cook-a - long on zoom to take part in. Families signed up in advance with packs delivered on Fridays to participants. By the end of the summer we were delivering parcels to c. 20 families – not only providing food, but improving their cookery skills and a free activity to take part in.
4.1.3. Future developments
Re:dish continues to acknowledge the fact that the existence of foodbanks in the UK is unacceptable, but that the emergency food provided by foodbanks offers a lifeline for people experiencing food crisis.
It remains an objective for us to set up a food pantry / social supermarket in Reddish to provide low-cost food to our community. However, this will depend on the right premises being available in the right location. We would also want to identify and work with a partner who has had experience of setting up and running similar projects. We will continue to explore opportunities as they arise over the next 12 months.
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4.2. Common Ground
Our Common Ground project offers friendship and support to the most isolated in our community. It is pre-dominantly an in-home visiting scheme that helps to tackle loneliness as well as helping people to connect with wider networks of support.
During 2020-21 we have not been able to offer face to face visits with clients. Instead, our volunteers left their contact details with clients and have kept in contact with them by telephone wherever possible. This has enabled the relationships to continue so that we can re-start visits as soon as it is safe to do so.
4.2.1. Future Developments
The services offered by Common Ground will likely expand and develop once the facilities offered by the new Re:dish Hub are ready for use. We are also continually expanding the referral network and will continue to expand the visiting scheme in accordance with demand and the number of available volunteers.
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4.3. Youth
In 2020 -21 we worked with R-Time / Life Leisure / Mancunian Way to bring an outreach project with young people in Unity park into the Reddish Youth club. A regular group of around 8 /9 young people met during the Autumn term enjoying sporting activity and some food together. However, the increasing tier 3 restrictions prevented this from becoming established. Instead we began to look at funding more outreach work so that we could build up relationships with young people in a Covid safe way. We commissioned Mancunian Way, in March 2021 for a 12 week project. We focused on areas of high anti-social behaviour covering Reddish North park, Unity park, Gregg St park and Reddish Vale amongst others. This engagement enabled us to undertake a mini-consultation with young people on the type of provision that they would like to see for them in future (post pandemic).
4.3.1. Future Developments
We continued the consultation into 2021-22 and will use the outputs to shape a proposed free weekly youth provision in Reddish where young people can socialise and take part in a variety of different activities.
We have successfully secured funding from the Skelton Charity and Stockport Homes Group for this and will be working with R-Time and a youth worker to set this up in early 2022.
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4.4. Growing Group
Our growing group is in the process of being re-sited to a new larger and more accessible location. We will be developing the garden at St Agnes church which will not only provide a more accessible place for our community but will also benefit the existing groups that meet at the church including the Re:dish Dementia Friendly Café.
4.4.1. Future Developments
We have received funding and support from Virgin Media / 02 as a result of our involvement with the Pilotlight programme and have a 4 stage process in place to develop the garden over the next 12 months. We look forward to being able to develop this further and ensure that even more of the Reddish community benefit from the opportunity that gardening, growing and being outside can provide.
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4.5. Skillshare
4.5.1. Community Champions
Unfortunately, our community champions’ activity has not been able to continue during the pandemic due to the restrictions in place. We look forward to restarting the activities and looking at new opportunities as soon as it is safe to do so.
4.5.2. Future Developments
Our work on the hub has been interrupted but we still intend this to give our Community Champions a base from which to offer and extend our services. We will also be able to run more of our own events depending on community need and we will look at working with relevant partners to deliver these effectively.
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4.6. Wellbeing
4.6.1. Exercise Classes
During 2020 – 21 our exercise classes were not able to continue but we will be restarting these once restrictions are lifted.
4.6.2. Dementia Friendly Café
The Dementia Friendly Café was also impacted by restrictions. Our volunteers kept in touch with clients and their carers wherever possible to provide a friendly ear, to offer support or to signpost to other agencies.
Given the vulnerability of the clients the plans to re-open are subject to rigorous risk assessments to protect everyone’s safety. Our volunteers are looking forward to welcoming everyone back as soon as they are able to do so.
4.6.3. Future Developments
At the end of this financial year we received funding from Ambition for Ageing to purchase outdoor furniture & outdoor activities for the Dementia Friendly Café so that clients can benefit from the outdoor space when the weather allows. We look forward to being able to use this over the next year.
We also still have an intention to build up a 2[nd] café at a different location but our first priority is to re-open at St Agnes and to build up the relationships with our clients old and new again.
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4.7. Goodshare
4.7.1. The Re:dish Shop
The Re:dish charity shop like many other projects was severely impacted by the Covid restrictions this year. All Charity shops were considered to be non-essential businesses so we were forced to close our doors for almost half of the year – during the initial 12 week lockdown in 2020, for 4 weeks in November / early December and in the second national lockdown for 12 weeks early in 2021.
We were able to open during the summer but had to adapt our working practices to be Covid safe. This included:
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increased hygiene measures (sanitiser stations at the entrance and behind the till, increased cleaning of high contact places e.g. door handles)
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Introduction of card payments to minimise cash handling
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reducing the number of staff and volunteers working in each session to observe social
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distancing
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being unable to accept donations due to the requirement to quarantine and store donations
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before sorting them
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closing the changing rooms to minimise the handling of items
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We were open reduced hours (10-2pm) due to the smaller pool of volunteers who were available.
As a result of this our sales for the year were impacted considerably. However, we were fortunate to receive several grants from the council which partially compensated for the closure of the shop. Our shop manager was also furloughed when we were closed which enabled us to control our costs.
Unfortunately, we were unable to retain our deputy shop manager, James, who had been offered a position in the Re:dish shop just before the pandemic in March. We were able to delay his start until we reopened in June but due to the lower than expected sales were unable to extend his contract beyond the initial 6 months. James left us in December to pursue a career with the ambulance service as a call handler.
During the lead up to Christmas our community development worker, Kelly, and our shop manager, Judy, supported by volunteers ensured that Father Christmas was able to visit Reddish safely. Father Christmas accompanied by his elf took his place in the shop window waving at everyone and creating lots of festive cheer (and some strange looks!). We were visited by our MP Andrew Gwynne and his family who were able to enjoy a socially distanced visit to Father Christmas along with other local residents. It was great to be able to put a smile on children’s and adults faces at a time when many of the planned activities for children were cancelled.
4.7.2. Future Developments
At the end of this year our shop manager, Judy Philips-Whitelegg decided to leave us. We were really sad to say goodbye to Judy who worked really hard along with our dedicated volunteers to establish the Re:dish shop as a central part of the Reddish community and an important income stream for Re:dish. We have found a new manager, Yazz, and look forward to seeing how the shop continues to grow.
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4.8. Hub
Work has continued within the hub with the priorities identified by the council now completed. We prioritised two of the spaces for completing our own cosmetic work. The first of these is the Peacock room on the first floor which has the kitchen attached. The second of these is the interview room on the ground floor (a former storage area of the shop) which will be ideal for one-to-one conversations. We look forward to being able to use these spaces once restrictions allow.
4.8.2. Future Developments
We still have a number of other rooms to finish including the plans for an IT suite. However, before we continue with these we are going to undertake a community consultation to ensure that we are providing the facilities and events that are in line with community needs. We have commissioned an external not for profit organisation, Civil Society Consulting, to undertake a consultation and are really excited to get started with this project.
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5 . Our Partners and Funders
St Joseph’s RC Church
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st*WMon Glatssey Solldtors THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCH FORA DIFFERENT WORLD Sto(kptsrt Porfoj_ts lifeLEISURE foodb Dlocese of manc151 Unlted Reformed Church JULIAN WADDEN Morrisons ravis Perkins 21
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Charity Name Charity No
RE:DISH 1159178
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date To Period end date
from 04/01/2020 03/31/2021
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Endowment
funds Restricted funds funds Total funds Last year
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Diocese of Manchester - - 10,030
Diocese of Manchester CSA - 10,624 - 10,624
GMVCO - 20,000
Stockport MBC 40,938 - 40,938
HMRC Furlough - 10,191 - 10,191 -
Stockport Sports T Life Leisure 60 - 60 920
Wesylan - - - 5,000
Covid Relief Fund 500 - - 500
Community Foundation - - - 4,656
Re-dish charity shop income 14,208 - - 14,208 39,624
Heaton Moor United HMUC -
Cash & Individual Donations 1,541 1,384 - 2,925 2,287
Events 14 - 14 1,446
57,188 - 22,272 - 79,460 83,963
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total receipts 57,188 ### 22,272 ### - ## 79,460 83,963
A3 Payments
Salary & NI 48,921 16,689 - 65,610 59,520
Pension 2,773 - 2,773 2,238
Disclosure Check - - - 114
Furniture - - - -
Banners & Flyers - - - 34
Petty Cash 50 107 - 157 1,625
Public Liability Insurance 1,095 - 1,095 827
IT equipment 741 - - 741 1,779
Caretaker worker - - - 970
Licences 20 - - 20 20
Equipment & Games - - 656
Fixtures & Fittings 1,067 - 1,067 3,386
Heat & Light -
Business rates 1,866 - - 1,866 3,495
Training 360 - 360 95
Mobile Phone 473 - - 473 443
Stationery 416 - - 416 314
Hire of Hall 2,541 - 2,541 907
Loan repayments 3,438 3,438 464
Cleaning contract 419 419
Waste 225 225
Cost of Events 180 - 180 2,240
Sub total 61,147 - 20,234 ## - ## 81,381 79,127
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments 61,147 ### 20,234 ### - ## 81,381 79,127
Net of receipts/(payments) - 3,960 ## 2,039 ## - ## - 1,921 4,836
A5 Transfers between funds - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 12,686 57,890 - 70,576 65,740
Cash funds this year end 52,410 16,146 - 68,556 70,576
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Endowment |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | |
| B1 Cash funds | Lloyds Bank Treasurer's Account Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ 52,410 - - 52,410 OK |
to nearest £ 16,146 - - 16,146 OK |
to nearest £ - - - - OK |
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signature | Name | Date of approval | |
| Angela | Stanton | 23.12.21 |
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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Re:dish
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Re:dish for the year ended
31 March 2021 .
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and 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.
Signed: Michael A. Nardone B.A. ( Econ ) F.C.A.
Name: Michael Nardone
Address: 20 Hollow Vale Drive ,North Reddish,Stockport,SK5 6YH
Dated:30 November 2021