TAR24-25 ## **BANBURY FOOD FOR CHARITIES** ## **CHARITY: 1159862 : Registered 8 January 2015** We present the Trustees’ Annual Report and the Annual Accounts for Banbury Food for Charities and confirm that they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 and the governing document of the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This Report covers the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 ## **AIMS** - I. The promotion of food waste reduction and the recycling and use of surplus food products within the Banbury area. - II. The relief of the disadvantaged, living in or around Banbury, through the provision of food. ## **OBJECT:** ## **What we do** In order to reduce food waste, we negotiate with food suppliers in the Banbury area to collect their surplus food that would otherwise be lost to human consumption, principally fresh fruit, vegetables and bakery products past 'sell-by', or ‘display by' dates, but still within 'use-by' date. The food is collected from the supplier premises by Banbury Food For Charities (BFFC) volunteers using their own vehicle and then delivered directly to local registered Charities and others to be used by their users and clients, and in their kitchens for hot meals and in the promotion of cooking skills and healthy eating. There are no charges made for either collection or for distribution of the food. ## **Key objectives** - a. To grow the Charity finding new suppliers and volunteers. - b. To ensure we reach charities representing a wide range of vulnerable people - c. To ensure we comply with legislation - d. To promote our presence within Banbury - e. To raise operational funds - f. To work with others to promote recycling ## **Plans for 2024/2025** 1. Together with our volunteers, to consider the on-going viability of BFFC. **2.** To explore wider opportunities to attract more volunteers and to promote Banbury Food for Charities as an entity within Banbury. 3. To work with Oxfordshire Food Hub and other partners and to investigate establishment of a Food Hub for Banbury. 4. Review IT, web page management and fund-raising platform 1 TAR24-25 ## **PART 1 : REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES** ## **Achievements & Performance in the Year Ending 31 March 2025** ## _**Trustee Board:** In support of key objectives and year plan._ The new Trustee Board appointed in June 2023 have met twice this year and keep in regular contact via email and telephone. ## _**Volunteers:** In support of key objectives and year plan_ Our ongoing viability remains solely due to the commitment, enthusiasm, and flexibility of our volunteers: Bev, Catherine, Ed, Jane, Juliet, Nick, Penny and Philip. It is only because of them that the Charity can continue. During this year we have held two faceto-face meetings with the volunteers. ## _**Food Recycled:** In support of all Aims and objectives: -_ As with other food recycling Charities, BFFC has seen a drop in supplies. Customer awareness and improved store stock control means less excess food. At the same time there has been national focus on both food waste and food banks with new organisations set-up to tackle both food waste and redistribution. Using typical months we can estimate that the amount of handled foods this year is on average 6 crates per collection, but this can range from just one crate to as many as 18. ## _**This supports Aim I – the reduction of supermarket food waste - although it does mean less to share among the Charities we support (Aim II)**_ It has been estimated that we save the equivalent of about 6 builders’ skips of food from waste in a year. This food would otherwise have been driven by lorry to land fill or bio-digester with a consequent cost in CO2 emissions and water usage to the detriment of the environment. The main items collected are fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery products and cut flowers. ## _**Suppliers**_ : _In support of our Aim (I), objective (a & f) and Specific Plan (1)_ Excess unsold food has been supplied by Aldi, Produce Warriors, Waitrose, and occasionally Morrisons. Each one of these supplies other Charities as well as BFFC. Regular suppliers are located within Banbury minimising environmental impact when collecting food in vehicles. Only damaged/spoiled food is refused to avoid more waste. ## _**Charity Reach :-**_ I _n support of Aim (II) and Objective (b)_ During the year, we have operated 3 days a week supplying over 16 local Charities who in turn supported a wide range of vulnerable people of all ages within Banbury. Two new organisations asked and were added to our deliveries this year. 2 TAR24-25 To maximise distribution while minimising waste, we delivered according to a rota, levelling out shortages and gluts; liaising with each other and the charities to check requirements, closures, specific events and preferences. In this way volunteers ensure that charities receive a fair share of the reduced collections, even if less frequently. This year, Oxford Food Hub began deliveries to Banbury Charities on Tuesdays and took over delivering to one of our larger charities freeing up our supplies for our other smaller charities. _**Charity Development:-** In support of all Aims and Objectives and Specific Plan 1 & 4_ From an initiative of Cherwell District Council, BFFC has met with and worked with Oxfordshire Food Hub and Cherwell DC to investigate establishing a similar Food Hub for Banbury. This initiative is ongoing. ## _**Risks in Legislation and Guidance compliance:** In support of objective (c)_ _Food Safety:_ Cherwell District Council conducted a Health Protection and Compliance Review in July 2018 and agreed handling procedures. Trustees Riki Therivel and Catherine Leefe hold Food Safety Certificate level 2. Food safety, handling and date information forms part of the Volunteer induction pack and a separate sheet showing meanings of food dates is provided as a quick look up guide. This was also copied to the charities for guidance and display. _Data Protection_ : We have attended OCVA Charity training events including GDPR requirements. Data necessary for communication is controlled by administrator and is not used outside BFFC or for fund raising purposes. Records reviewed and updated/deleted annually. There have been no requests for data held. _Safeguarding:_ Volunteers have no direct or unsupervised contact with Charity service users. Our Induction Pack includes a code of conduct and details of how volunteers can raise concerns or complaints. ## _**Management of Other Risks** objective (c)_ _Reputation:_ The reputation of BFFC stands on the commitment, enthusiasm and reliability of volunteers to deliver services and close contact is maintained by regular weekly or daily emails, telephone texts, and twice-yearly meetings. We have received no complaints either internal or external. Public Liability Insurance is held. _Health & Safety_ : Volunteers are provided with Hi-Vis jackets and name badges. Volunteer drivers agree in writing that they are covered by their own insurance. Food handling and written expiry date advice was given to volunteers. Inedible food or food past its use-by date is refused. _Environmental Costs_ : BFFC operates solely within the town of Banbury to reduce environmental impact of moving food, compared to the cost of transport to landfill or recycling plants. 3 TAR24-25 _Avoiding further food waste:_ On the rare occasions when supply exceeds demand, alternate uses have been found; e.g. forwarding to Oxford Food Hub. _Variations in supplies and Equity of treatment_ : Following a decline in supplies, we continue to operate a group email system to inform volunteers of weekly shortages and which charities, if any, were missed to ensure equity of treatment. ## _**Promotional Activity & Fund Raising:** Aim (I), objective (a, (d), (e), specific plan (2)_ - We have reviewed our online presence and decided against increasing this for the time being. - Marked magnetic signs for volunteers’ vehicles have raised our profile and all volunteers use a dashboard sign when delivering which contains our Charity details and contact information. - We undertook a small fund raising exercise at the end of the calendar year which resulted in some lump sum donations and a regular small direct debit monthly donation. ## _**Working with partners:** In support of Aim (I), objective (d), (f) specific plan (3)_ Apart from the Charities we serve, BFFC has worked with others to reduce food waste: - Referring offers of food to Charity partners where we cannot handle them. - We are advised and supported by OCVA (Oxfordshire Community & Voluntary Action) their seminars and network. - We take part in Good Food Oxfordshire and Cherwell Food Network events and meetings - We explored practical ways of working more closely with Oxford Food Hub as they considered their own long-term plans to extend operations. - We have tried to supply occasional food events organised by charities such as Sunrise Multicultural Centre and OCVA. ## _**Difficulties and Challenges**_ 1. We have just sufficient volunteers to cover our shifts. Recruits largely come from word of mouth and have by luck been found just in time to replace leavers. It would however be undesirable to have too many volunteers, without a regular round to cover. Volunteer numbers remain critical for our future operations. This is an on-going issue, carried forward to 2025/2026 annual plan. 2. Fluctuating supplies affected onward food deliveries, while lack of storage space by Charities means food has sometimes been refused. ## _**Future Plans**_ - a. Continue to explore closer working with Oxfordshire Food Hub to work towards the establishment of a Food Hub for Banbury. - b. Continue to work with Oxford Food Hub regarding deliveries in the Banbury area to ensure equitable distribution of available food. - c. Continue to work closely to ensure fairness in deliveries. 4 TAR24-25 - d. Explore wider opportunities to attract more volunteers and to promote Banbury Food for Charities as an entity within Banbury. ## **PART 2 : STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT** The number and method of appointing Trustees is set out in the Governing document. The Manager since January 2022 is Catherine Leefe. Financial records held by Jane Phipps Trustee Riki Therivel holds ILM level 3 qualifications in volunteer management to act as an arbiter and has attended OCVA seminar on Trustees’ legal responsibilities. Riki maintains the web-site. None of the Trustees has received any benefit from the Charity. _The first formal meeting_ of Trustees and volunteers was 30 June 2015. The Annual Meeting is held in June/July. ## **Trustees** The current Trustees are: Jane Phipps Appointed June 2023 Riki Therivel Appointed 8 January 2015 Catherine Leefe Appointed June 2023 Eleanor Juliet Dessain Appointed June 2023 ## **PART 3 : FINANCES** Note 1: Accounts prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis, as allowed by the Charities Act, since income is less than £250, 000. Note 2: External scrutiny is not required under the Charities Act as income was less than £25,000. Reserves Policy: BFFC looks to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds sufficient to cover expenses and outgoings for two years. The current balance of £173.12 complies with that policy. Items of regular expenditure are Annual Insurance and any Hi-Vis, or promotional signs. There have been no claims for reimbursement of petrol. BFFC is registered for Gift Aid boosting donations from UK tax payers by 25%. Funds are held at Virgin Money where the account earns small monthly interest. There are no restricted funds. 5 TAR24-25 ## **STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 1 APRIL 2024 TO 31 MARCH 2025** ## **INCOME & EXPENDITURE** |**Income:**||| |---|---|---| |Donation|November 2024|£ 25.00| |Donation|December 2024|£ 50.00| |Donation|December 2024|£ 50.00| |Donation|January 2025|£ 25.00| |Donation|January 2025|£ 5.00| |Donation|February 2025|£ 5.00| |Donation|March 2025|£ 5.00| |Donation|March 2025|£ 30.00| |Interest on Bank Account||£ 3.42| |**TOTAL INCOME**||**£198.42**| |**Expenditure**||| |M B Howden Insurance|Dec 2024|£156.06| |**TOTAL EXPENDITURE**||**£156.06**| |**Net Profit for the year**||**£ 42.36**| |**Balance Sheet**||| |Brought Forward April 2024||£130.76| |Net Profit||£ 42.36| |End Balance for the year||£173.12| (Balance Confirmed by Bank Statement Number 56, 1 April 2025 = £173.12) 6