Ledbury Food Bank
Lead Team Report November 2022
The last year has been the busiest in Ledbury Food Bank’s ten year history and this has required significant changes in the way that we operate and the services that we offer.
The statistics to start with:
In 2021 we had 1762 visits to the food bank, we distributed 3865 food parcels and had 63 new visitors.
By the end of October 2022, we had 2052 visits to the food bank, we had distributed 5240 food parcels and there had been 86 new visitors.
At the beginning of 2021 we were supporting approximately 70 households every month, that figure has increased to over 100 in the last two months.
As you may recall from last year’s report the figures had started to increase and we reminded you that in 2019 there had been just over 1000 visits to the food bank.
Unfortunately, it seems very likely that the number of people relying on the food bank will continue to increase in 2023. The cost of living and in particular the cost of domestic fuel are the main drivers of this increase.
The move to the new premises was about to happen when we reported last year and that happened in December 2021. Those premises have proved to be very popular with both volunteers and visitors alike.
As a lead team we have had to think of innovative ways in which to help people in addition to the simple provision of food and other necessities and to ensure that we have the funds to enable us to implement them.
We became a Talk Community Hub in 2022. This means that we are part of a wider community of organisations within Herefordshire and have access to the Talk Community website which helps us to advertise our offering more widely.
Other new (or revived) initiatives include:
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Cookery lessons for visitors
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The provision of cooking appliances to visitors*
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Providing supermarket vouchers*
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Obtaining fuel grants
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Obtaining a laptop for use by visitors when they come to the food bank
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School uniforms
These are in addition to the changes that we reported on last year.
*The funding for these initiatives has come from the Government’s Household Support Fund. We had a grant of just under £9,000 in August and have just had a further grant of £24,500 this month to continue and expand that initiative over the next six months.
None of this work would be possible without the efforts of the volunteers. We currently have in excess of 65 volunteers who give their time to help those who come to us in need.
The increased number of visitors inevitably means that we need more food to give out. Donations of food have been generous throughout the year at the various collection points throughout the town and from schools, churches and individuals who bring them to the food bank. Local businesses have also made important donations. These contributions form a vital part of our offering, but they cannot meet the demand and we are dependent on weekly deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables and other staples which we have to pay for. The spending on these items has more than doubled this year.
Financial donations are vital to the continuation of our work, and we are enormously grateful to those individuals, businesses and organisations who have contributed to the food bank.
To enable us to continue and expand our offering we have been given free use of the office premises adjoining the main unit until March 2023 and are in negotiations with the landlord for a longer lease. We are fortunate that we have the support of a very generous donor who has agreed to pay the rent for the new unit for three years. We could not have contemplated this without that support.
The new unit will be used for storage of additional stock and items bought for distribution to visitors and for the storage and distribution of school uniforms. In addition, there is a room that will be used for meetings and as a consultation room so that visitors can be seen more privately.
The advice work that is carried out both through our contract with Citizens Advice and by our retired social workers is another important aspect of our work. To assist our own volunteers, we also have regular visits from representatives of Christians Against Poverty (CAP), Platform Housing and other organisations who can assist visitors with debt and housing problems. The new unit will enable this to be carried out more efficiently.
The next year is likely to be as challenging as 2022 but with the continued support of our donors and volunteers we are sure that the challenge will be met.
ML
24[th] November 2022
LEDBURY FOOD BANK
Registered Charity No 1159727
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022
| RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022 General Account (Unrestricted Fund) RECEIPTS Donations Gift Aid Other individuals groups and corporate Income tax refund on Gift Aid Bank interest received PAYMENTS Food purchases Hall heating Room hire Stationery and telephone Information technology/website Citizens advice Rent New premises set up Premises running costs Maintenance Equipment Training Volunteer expenses Insurance Bank charges Excess of payments over receipts on running c Restricted Funds Community Fund income Community Fund expenses Balance carried forward Household support income Household support exp Balance carried forward Community hub funding Community hub expenditure Platform Housing Grant Platform housing expenditure Surplus/(deficit) ASSETS AT 31 OCTOBER 2022 Bank current account COIF deposit account Cash in hand/net transfers Note Gift aid recoveries of £11,000 are outstanding |
2022 2021 19,267 17,261 35,469 32,989 see note see note 259 5 54,995 50,255 42,632 21,426 3 21 60 2,706 704 92 801 1,700 2,957 2,957 12,081 9,758 1,500 2,495 3,110 425 400 223 42 272 272 87 133 76,007 31,451 21,012 - 18,804 5,000 4,396 604 9,870 9,895 25 - 1,557 1,392 165 3,000 3,000 17,268 - 8,883 28,580 42,923 42,670 2,310 134 54,116 71,384 27,453 8,016 |
17,261 32,989 see note 5 |
|
| 76,007 5,000 4,396 9,870 9,895 1,557 1,392 3,000 8,883 42,923 2,310 |
|||
| 54,116 |
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examinerfs Report Report to the trusteesl members of Ledbury FCKXI Bank On accounts for the year ended 31 Si October 2022 Charity no {rf any) 1159727 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the atK)ve charity (llhe Trust'l for the year ended 3111012022. Responsibilities and As the chartty trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounls in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {'the Acr). I report in resped of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under seclion 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions gtven by the Charity Commission under section 145{5Xb} of the Act. I have compleled my examination. I confirni that no material matters have come to my attention (other than that disclosed below ') in connection with the examination vA)ich gives me use to believe that in, any material respect: accounting rewrds were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete the words in the brackets rf they do not apply. Signed: Date: 30" January 2023 Name: Luke Keegan Relevant professional qualification(s) or body {if any): Associate Member. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Address: Greendawn Accounting Limited 1A The Homend. Ledbury. Herefordshire. HR8 1BN