Newark Foodbank (Registered charity, number 1160698) Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025
| Page | Contents |
|---|---|
| 2 - 20 | Trustees’ annual report |
| 21 | Independent examiner’s report |
| 22 | Receipts & payments account |
| 23 | Statement of assets & liabilities |
| 24 | Notes to the accounts |
Newark Foodbank Trustees’ annual report for the year ended 31 March 2025
Full name Newark Foodbank
Organisation type Charitable incorporated organisation
Registered charity number 1160698
Principal address
21 Carter Gate, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 1UA
Trustees
Stephen Charnock, Chair Malcolm Jowett Christopher Charnley Cheska Asman, until 24/10/2024 Deirdre Fretwell Margaret Marshal Andrew Ayre Susan Stott
Independent examiner
John O’Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus, Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL
Governance and management
The charity is operated under the rules of its constitution adopted 27 February 2015.
A selection process is adopted for the recruitment and appointment of new trustees and appointment at AGM.
Objectives and activities
To relieve persons in Newark and the surrounding area that are in financial hardship in such ways as the trustees from time to time think fit, in particular, but not exclusively by:
a) Providing emergency food, essential toiletries and household items to individuals and families in need and/or for distribution by charities other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty.
b) Such other means, including (but not limited to) the provision of support or signposting to relevant information and other advisory services.
Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit
Provision of a Foodbank and Social Supermarket.
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Public benefit statement
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit'.
Summary of the main achievements during the period
The following summarise the key points raised in the report. Figures in brackets relate to 2023-2024 and percentage change from previous year.
Foodbank Operations Donations received: 42.4 (50.0) tonnes (-15%) Food distributed: 42.5 (53.16) tonnes (-20%) Number of referrals fulfilled at Foodbank: 1884 (2106) (-10.5%) First Time Referrals: 559 (529) (+5.6%) Unique Households: 960 (977) (-1.7%) Average number of visits per unique household: 1.96 (2.16) (-9.3%) Clients supported: Total: 3642 (4352) (-16.3%) Adults 2572 (2919) (-11.9%) Children 1070 (1433) (-25.3%) Largest group of clients: Singles 58% (52%) (+11.5%) Meals provided: 32,778 (39,168) (-16.3%) Deliveries to Clients: 15% (16%). Front of House Operations: 85% (84%). 57% (54%) (+5%) of unique households visited the Foodbank only once during this reporting period 13% (17%) (-23%) of unique households visited the Foodbank over 3 times during this reporting period Primary reason for referral to Foodbank: Rising Cost of Essentials 52% (62%) Agencies registered with locally with Newark Foodbank: 97 (94) Nos of locally registered agencies that made at least one referral: 35 Nos of external agencies that made at least one referral: 31 Total cost of Operations: £74,847 (£72,880) (+2.7%) Stock Purchases: £28,496 (£28,447) (+0.1%) Cost of each meal provided: £2.28p (£1.85) (+23%) including stock purchases or £1.41 (£1.13) (+24.7%) if stock purchases are excluded Value of Food Distributed: £75,764 (£90,357) (-16.1%) Monetary Value of Food Parcels: Single Person: £32.11 (£30.55) (+5.1%) Family of 5: £78.12 (£75.95) (+2.8%) Number of Volunteer Hours expended: 7450 hrs (6000 hrs) On Rota Hours: 5700 hrs Non Rota Hours: 1750 hrs
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Social Supermarket Current Membership: Existing Household Members: 64 (117) (-45%) Singles: 35 Couples: 17 Families: 12 Expired Household Membership: 214 (83) Total Number of Households supported through Social Supermarket: 276 (200) Support Provided this Year to Total 1639 (2447) (-33%) Adults 1355 (1810) (-25%) Children 284 (637) (-55.4%) Total Number of Household Visits in Year: 836 (1190) (-30%)
Financial Inclusion Initiative Number of Clients Supported: 128 Income Maximisation Achieved: £81,390 Average per client supported: £635
Cadent Winter Support Fund Number of Households Supported: 18 (88) Average Funding of Energy/Food Vouchers per Household: £ 80.00 (£80.00) Total Funds Distributed: £1440 (£7,050)
Summary
Newark and Tuxford Foodbank functions as a franchised operation under the Trussell Trust and aims to provide emergency food relief to those in need. We are not governed by the Trussell Trust but act as an independent organisation that agrees to follow an approved operating model. The Foodbank was set up under the auspices of Churches Together in Newark and the surrounding area and is part of a national foodbank network seeded by the Trussell Trust. Newark and Tuxford Foodbank is registered (under the name of Newark Foodbank) with the Charity Commission and operates as a separate charitable entity. In 2022, the Foodbank expanded its operations to include a Social Supermarket (The Market) which provides clients with longer term support. This is via a membership system. The Foodbank and Social Supermarket operate under the joint name of Newark Community Support. This report covers both Foodbank and Social Supermarket operations between the periods 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
The National Situation
The following information summarises data taken from the Trussell Trust website and paints a picture of the state of food poverty at a national level. As the reader will appreciate in this report, the overall scale of food poverty may not be exactly replicated locally but the trends highlighted by the Trussell Trust are apparent in the locality.
The Trussell Trust runs a network of over 423 foodbanks operating 1,400 food bank centres. In the year 2024-2025 it provided 3.12 million three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis of which over a million were to children. This is the close to the number of parcels that the network delivered last year and represents a 57% increase over a five year period .
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The significant increases in need over the last few years are linked to the rising cost of living and the fact that people’s incomes – especially from social security – have failed to keep up with these costs.
The Local Situation
This report provides an overview of the performance of the Foodbank and the Social Supermarket – The Market which is now in its third year of operation. Unlike the Foodbank which is focused on providing support to those in emergency food crisis, the Market assists in providing support to those with longer term issues. As such it provides those who we invite to become members, access to a range of food and household produce once a fortnight at a significantly subsidised cost. Membership initially lasts 6 months but can be extended if it is deemed necessary or appropriate up to a maximum of 24 months.
The Foodbank commenced operations in late 2012. In this its 12th year of full operations the Foodbank has collected donations of 42.4 tonnes of food. This is down 15% on the amount we had donated last year and is lowest amount since 2021-2022 and brings us back to the levels we saw prior to the pandemic and cost of living crisis. At the same time we distributed 42.5 tonnes. This is down 20% on last year (53.2 tonnes) but matches a decline in the level of support accessed. As a result over the last year we have provided 3 days of emergency food relief to 3642 clients (2572 adults and 1070 children). This represents a significant overall decrease of 16.3% from last year and a much larger decrease of 25.3% in support provided for children. This however correlates to an increase in support provided to single clients who now account for 58% of all referrals – an increase of 11.5% from the previous year. However, these figures do not take into account the number of clients who have migrated from the Foodbank to the use of The Market.
The number of household visits made to The Market in 2024/25 was 836. This is down 30% on the number of visits made the previous year (1190). These visits supported a total of 1355 adults and 284 children. Again the support provided to children dropped very significantly by 55%. Overall the support provided by the Market reduced by 33%. The total number of households that have registered with The Market since its introduction is 276 with the current household membership standing at 64. The trustees are investigating why their appears to be such a large drop off in membership and have put in place arrangement to ensure that all have a longer term need for support can avail themselves of the service. To this end we have increased to 24 months the longest period that membership can last for and are working in conjunction with our Financial Inclusion Initiative with CA to ensure that every client is accessing all the financial support available to them.
Combining both Market and Foodbank usage, Newark Community Support has provided assistance to a total of 5281 clients consisting of 3927 adults and 1354 children with The Market providing assistance to approximately 31% of the total down slightly on last year.
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In last years report we highlighted that the exceptionally high level of demand was putting considerable pressure on the resources of both the Foodbank and the Market. Clearly, therefore the reduction in demand, if indeed it is real, is a welcome change in direction. However, we still recognise that the combined level of support provided by The Market and Foodbank still exceeds the demands we were experiencing at the beginning of the pandemic.
During the pandemic, many of our supporters changed from donating food to supporting us financially with either one-off or monthly standing orders. Over the last couple of years we have had to significantly boost the food donations we have received through purchasing stock using the financial donations received. This dual approach enables us to efficiently manage our stock levels and purchase when required stock in bulk through wholesale suppliers.
We continue to hold at least one Food Drive each year with each of the major supermarkets (excluding Aldi and Lidl) in town and this also significantly helps with donations. Whereas in previous years we have been in a position to support a number of other food relief charities across the district, this no longer is the case, with almost all our donations and purchases being used to support the activities of Newark Community Support.
Since 2020/2021, the number of times a client has visited the Foodbank more than 3 times has slowly decreased from 21% in 2021 to 13% in 2024/25. The number of unique households using the Foodbank in 2024/2025 was 960 – a small reduction on last year (977) and the total number of referrals made was 1884. This is 10.5% less than last year (2106), resulting in the average number of times a household visited the Foodbank at 1.96 which is marginally down on last year. The number of first-time referrals rose slightly from 529 last year to 559, an increase of 5.6%.
Over the last couple of years, the Trussell Trust has made significant adjustments to how the reasons for referral are recorded. This now enables referrers to record multiple (maximum of 4) reasons for referral across a number of different areas including Financial (earnings, benefit and debt related), Personal Circumstances and Health. As a consequence making direct comparisons to previous years is no longer possible. The revised data for this year, suggests that the primary reason for referral to the Foodbank was rising cost of essentials. This was recorded as a factor in 52% of all referrals made, followed by the ongoing impact of health at 26% and priority debt at 21%. The level of priority debt rose significantly from 14% last year.
We presently have 97 agencies registered directly with the Foodbank with 35 of these issuing at least one Foodbank voucher over the last year. Another 31 external agencies made at least one referral to Newark Foodbank over the year.
We are always looking at ways of expanding the services we provide to clients by operating alongside other referral and support agencies and continue to seek support from a number of business partners. Over 95% of referrals made to the Foodbank are now made electronically through the Trussell Trust referral system. This has significantly reduced the admin burden on in particular the Foodbank Manager as well as the Front of House staff and session leads.
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Over the next year, we need to ensure that we have a sustainable base from which to conduct both warehousing and front of house operations. We re-located front of house operations to our current location three and half years ago which enabled us to enhance the services we provided by including the creation of a social supermarket. Although we renewed the lease on our current premises back in October we are continually looking at other options that would allow us to increase the services we provide.
The steering group wishes to thank all the volunteers, donors and all supporting organisations and businesses for their support over the last year. Without their support we would not be able to continue to carry out this work.
Charity Status
Newark Foodbank originally operated as an organisation under the umbrella of Barnbygate Methodist Church. After considerable discussion it was decided that the Foodbank should register as an independent charity. An application was submitted to the Charity Commission to register Newark Foodbank as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) operating under the Association Model. This application was approved and Newark Foodbank became a charity on 27 February 2015 (Charity Nos 1160698). The Charity has a steering group consisting of the trustees and a wider voting membership consisting of all volunteers who are formally registered with the Foodbank. Any volunteer who does not want to be a member can simply inform the Steering Group accordingly. By registering as a CIO, the Foodbank is able to conduct a number of operations which it was previously restricted from doing. These include employing personnel and entering into contracts or lease arrangements for vehicles or property.
In accordance with the constitution of the Charity two trustees offer their position for election/re-election at each Annual General Meeting. The trustees are presently: Sue Stott, Lesley Marshall (Foodbank Manager), Dee Fretwell, Andrew Ayre, Malcolm Jowett, Chris Charnley and Stephen Charnock. The AGM took place on 24 October 2024 at Holy Trinity Community Partnership Centre. Chris and Stephen put themselves forward for re-election which were unopposed.
Foodbank Donations
Our weekly collections from collection points at supermarkets, in Newark, Tuxford & Southwell accounted for 42% of our total donations. A number of organisations and individuals held their own foodbank collection initiatives which accounted for another 21% and churches provided 15%. The remaining 22% comes from purchases that we have to make to sustain our stocks. This is second year that we have had to resort to purchasing stock despite retaining a high level of donations. The total quantity of donations and purchases amounted to 42.4 tonnes. If we exclude purchases and corporate donations from this figure then the level of donations provided through public sources was 30.81 tonnes compared to 34.6 tonnes last year – a reduction of 11%. We are investigating a number of options to try and increase our donations. Over the last year we have held a Food Drive at each of the three main supermarket. At the end of March 2025 the warehouse held approximately 4.2 tonnes of stock. This is approximately 1.5 months’ worth of stock.
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Where our Donations Come From
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2024-2025 2023-2024 2022-2023 2021-2022 2020-2021 2019-2020 2018-2019
Others Churches Community Groups
Corporates Educations Individual
Supermarkets Purchased Totals
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All donations are taken to our warehouse for stocktaking and for preparation for onward distribution. The food needed by the Foodbank is varied but has to be nonperishable to enable us to store the food appropriately prior to distribution. We try and highlight through our website (https://newark.foodbank.org.uk) what products are in short supply and it is important that our supporting organisations use this list to target the food required otherwise there is a danger that excess stock of certain food types may go to waste. While we do not incorporate any out of date or beyond best before date produce in the food parcels themselves, we do provide clients with the option of choosing beyond best before date produce from additional racking which is clearly marked at our Front of House location.
Foodbank Donation Distribution
Since opening in 2012, the Foodbank has received and distributed donations of just under 374 and 372 tonnes respectively. Over 59% of our donations are distributed through our Foodbank Front of House operations at Cartergate. Another 39% is used in support of The Market. However, we also distribute supplies, in accordance with the Charity’s articles, to other support agencies including the Women’s Refuge, Help the Aged as well as to Social, Housing and Hospital agencies and other Foodbanks in need within the East Midlands area. We have continued to support these organisations although the amount we re-distributed has decreased to under 2%.
| Breakdown of Stock Issued | **2024-2025 ** | **2023-2024 ** | 2022-2023 | 2021-2022 | 2020-2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Other Food Poverty Orgs | 2% | 6% | 6% | 17% | 20% | |
| Cartergate Front of House | 59% | 59% | 60% | 80% | 74% | |
| Tuxford Front of House | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | |
| Social Supermarket | 39% | 35% | 34% | 0% | 0% | |
| Spoilt/Out of Date | 0% | 0% | 1% | 2% | 1% | |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
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Voucher/Referral Distribution
The Number of People Using the Foodbank
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Vouchers Redeemed Total Clients Adults Children
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A total of 1884 referrals were fulfilled in 2024/25 issued from a total of 66 different agencies. This represents a decrease of 10.5% over the figure of 2106 vouchers fulfilled in 2023/24.
While the number of vouchers or referrals redeemed provides a good measure of the demand being placed on the Foodbank, the number of referrals on its own does not show how that demand is presented. A better indication of this is through the number of unique households referred and how many of these are associated with first time referrals. The table below show that the number of unique households at 960 has slightly reduced compared to last year at 977. However, the number of unique households utilising the Foodbank remains at an historical high level. The same trend is visible in how many of these unique households are first time referrals, with the number increasing to 559 from 529 the year before. But again this remains at an historical high level. Based on the total number of referrals made, the average number of visits made per unique household over the year has reduced slightly to 1.96. This is relatively encouraging at it demonstrates that while households may need to call on a foodbank in an emergency they are not necessarily becoming dependent on it.
| Voucher Useage | **2024-25 ** | **2023-24 ** | **2022-23 ** | **2021-22 ** | **2020-21 ** | **2019-20 ** | 2018-19 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unique Households | 960 | 977 | 1036 | 656 | 550 | 523 | 448 | |
| First Time Referrals | 559 | 529 | 655 | 395 | 355 | 324 | 276 | |
| Average Nos of Visitsper Unique Household | 1.96 | 2.16 | 2.11 | 2.27 | 2.49 | 2.20 | 2.22 |
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Unique Households & First Time Referrals
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| Unique Households | First Time Referrals
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With the redemption of 1884 referrals made last year, 3 day’s emergency food relief was provided to 2572 adults and 1070 children (total of 3642) or putting it more basically a total of 32,778 meals were distributed. The number of clients supported in each referral has decreased slightly from 2.1 to 1.93. This should not be confused with the previous statistics of the number of times a unique household has visited the Food Bank in the last year.
The Trussell Trust has amended the way it records the composition of households so comparisons with previous years is difficult. However, the table below does show that the biggest category of user of the Foodbank is a single adult with over 58% of vouchers redeemed being in this category.
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Newark Foodbank
The tables below provides a breakdown of the age demographic of clients over the last year.
The Trussell Trust have made significant changes to the way the reasons for referral to a foodbank are recorded. These are now much more comprehensive. Referrals can list up to four different reasons why a referral is being made with the reasons being grouped into categories covering: Financial – Earnings Related; Financial – Benefit Related; Financial – Debts, Costs and Expenses; Personal Circumstance; and Health.
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The most prominent reason given for needing a referral to the Foodbank was the Rising Cost of Essentials which was cited in 52% of referrals made and redeemed. After Rising Cost of Essentials the next two most significant reasons for referral were Ongoing Impact of Existing Mental or Physical Health Condition at 26% and Priority Debt at 21%.
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While the principal purpose of the Foodbank is to provide emergency food relief, many of the reasons for referral would suggest that the crisis that the client is in, is likely to be much more that simply a short-term event. Inevitably, issues with health and debt take some considerable time to resolve and this possibly explains why both these factor significantly in the reasons for why some clients have found the need to be referred to the Foodbank more than three times in a six month period. However, other significant factors attributed to the need to attend the Foodbank more than three times in a six month period were Benefit Delay at 13% and Homelessness at 7%.
The Foodbank recognises that its primary function is to provide emergency food relief to clients and must not been seen by both the public, who generously donate to it, as well as by clients, as a subsidised grocery service. As a Trussell Trust foodbank we follow their general guidance that we should seek reassurance from any client, who arrives at the Foodbank more than 3 times in a six-month period, that they are actively seeking to address their problems from appropriate support agencies. We do recognise that on occasions it may take a considerable amount of time to overcome the particular crisis that a client is experiencing and therefore provided we are confident that they have an action plan in place, we will support those who need assistance over a longer period.
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The following table expands on the three times in a six month period and shows the number of times unique households have visited the Foodbank over the last year. It is encouraging to see that the majority of households only visited the Food Bank once in the year, while only 13% needed to visit the Food Bank more than three times.
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Nos of Vouchers Used in Financial Year 2024-25 2023-24 2022-23 2021-22 2020-21 2019-20 2018-19
1 Time 57% 54% 55% 55% 53% 55% 50%
1 or 2 Times 77% 74% 73% 72% 70% 73% 75%
1, 2 or 3 Times 87% 83% 85% 81% 79% 85% 87%
More than 3 Times 13% 17% 15% 19% 21% 15% 13%
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At the very beginning of the pandemic, all Front of House Operations were suspended and all referrals were satisfied through a delivery system. We were very fortunate to receive funding from Nottinghamshire District Council to help purchase a van to assist with this operation in addition to facilitate collections and distributions. As restrictions have been relaxed, we have re-established Front of House operations for the majority of our clients. Although we continue to move away from a delivery system to primarily a collection operation we do still carry out deliveries to the “outof-town” villages. We have a dedicated set of volunteers who conduct these deliveries once a week although we also cater for emergencies when necessary. We also conduct “in-town” deliveries if the circumstances are appropriate. While we witnessed a significant reduction in the number of deliveries that we needed to make following the pandemic, it is likely that we have now reached a steady state in the level of deliveries needed. This year 15% of referrals redeemed resulted in a delivery. This is only fractionally lower than last year (16%).
The Food Bank’s operating area is extensive covering all of Newark and the surrounding villages and extending SW to Bingham, NE to Swinderby and North to Southwell, Clipstone, Ollerton, Edwinstowe and Tuxford. Some of these areas are also covered by other foodbanks supporting Mansfield and Ollerton and therefore clients may be redirected to other foodbanks nearer to them to satisfy their requirements. Since the pandemic, we have extended our operating area considerably as other foodbanks have not offered a delivery service. Over the last year referrals have been redeemed from a total of 27 wards (plus no fixed abode) within Nottinghamshire. This would not have been possible without creating a dedicated volunteer group and the purchase of a van. Just over 69% of the foodbank clients this year reside within the 4 wards of Devon, Bridge, Beacon and Castle. This is a 4% increase over last year.
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The table below provides a breakdown of client usage by wards:
Agencies
The number of agencies that are registered locally to issue Foodbank vouchers stands at 97. Of these registered agencies, 35 have issued at least one voucher in the last year with an additional 31 external agencies placing a referral with Newark Foodbank. Obviously, personnel changes at these organisations require us to constantly engage with them to ensure that they are comfortable with the procedures in place to manage the issuing of vouchers.
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Inevitably some agencies issue more referrals than others due to the nature of their work, but we are keen to support any agency regardless of the size of their client base if they feel that the Foodbank has a place to play within their support structure. Any agency which is presently not on our registered list but would like to be is asked to contact Andrew Ayre through the Foodbank e-mail address (agency@newark.foodbank.org.uk) to discuss their requirements.
We would like to thank most sincerely all the agencies that issue Foodbank referrals and encourage any that have any issues to contact us to discuss their concerns. Without their assessment of a client’s needs or otherwise the effectiveness of the Foodbank would be significantly decreased.
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Agency Breakdown 2024-2025 2023-2024 2022-2023 2021-2022 2020-2021 2019-2020
Charity Sector 27 26 26 25 23 20
Churches 9 9 8 9 9 9
Community Groups 4 4 3 4 4 2
Statutory Agencies 52 50 49 48 48 49
Voluntary Agencies 5 5 5 4 4 4
Total 97 94 91 90 88 84
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Operating Days
Newark Foodbank operates on Tuesday between 1500 and 1700 hrs and again on Friday between 1300 and 1500 hrs. We continue to support clients at Tuxford and the neighbouring villages through the warehouse at Newark and make deliveries accordingly. Warehouse operations now operate throughout the week with both donations, shelving and bagging operations taking place on multiple days with dedicated teams.
Market Operations
Market operations run on top of the Foodbank operations utilising as much as possible the same infrastructure including warehousing and Front of House locations. In doing so we reduce the cost of running Market Operations. We have a team of volunteers who manage Market Front of House Operations and a purchasing and logistic team that help keep Cartergate, the location for both The Market and Foodbank stocked. The Market operates on Monday and Thursday afternoons.
Market operations started in March 2022 and up to 31 March 2024 we have had a total of 200 households sign up as members. The current membership stands at 64 households. Over the last year we have increased the maximum time a client can have a continuous membership from 18 months to 24 months. Of the 206 households that are no longer members, 123 held their membership for 6 months, 33 had a membership length of 12 months, 40 had a membership lasting 18 months and 10 had a membership last 24 months. At the end of their membership or when their membership is about to expire a routine call is made with the client to advise them of the situation to make sure that they, through our CA advisors, are in receipt of the benefits they are entitled to.
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The number of household visits made to The Market in 2023/24 was 836. This was a 30% decrease in the number of visits made the previous year (1190). These visits supported a total of 1355 adults and 284 children. The existing household membership is made up of 54% singles, 26% couples and 20% families.
Membership of The Market is at the discretion of the Food Bank manager and Market Team but is limited to those who have had a need to call upon the services of the Food Bank in the past. Once a household becomes a registered member of The Market, they are not expected to seek a referral to use the Food Bank except in exceptional circumstances. Members pay a small fee every visit to offset some of our costs. Over the last year these visit fees have raised £4,248. This money is used to purchase additional stock for use by Market clients. Over the year, the amount of stock we have had to purchase to support the Market in addition to the Foodbank has increased steadily. As of April 2025, the Trustees had authorised stock purchases to the sum of £2500 per month. This is constantly under review.
Financial Inclusion Initiative, Cadent Winter Support Fund & Tesco SIM Card Project.
We are into the second year of our Financial Inclusion Initiative with Citizens Advice (CA). This has just been extended to a four-year initiative, mainly funded by the Trussell Trust which aims to maximise the income of some of our clients and thereby reduce the future use of the Foodbank. An advisor from Sherwood & Newark Citizens Advice attends sessions of the Foodbank and The Market and clients can make an appointment with the advisor there and then if they need help. Over the last year, 128 clients have been helped with a total financial benefit of £81,390. Additionally, in conjunction with the Trussell Trust we signed up to be a partner with the Cadent Foundation in their Winter Support Fund. The fund provided £570,000 of support to Trussell Trust Foodbanks through the provision of food and energy vouchers. Newark Foodbank supported 18 households with foodbank and energy vouchers totalling £1,440 or approximately £80 per household.
Over the year we have also provided clients with over 100 smart phone SIM cards. Each card which is valid for 6 months provides unlimited text and phone calls along with a 20GB data allowance per month.
PR and Fundraising
Our PR and Fundraising team have been very active over the year and maintain a good relationship and presence with those organisations who kindly allow us to set up collection points in their establishments. The PR team has also been active in encouraging a number of other organisations in town to act as collection points as well as maintaining our presence on the internet and other social media outlets such as Facebook.
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A number of individuals and companies have created their own fundraising efforts over the year and these have been particularly successful. We would like to thank all those who have both created these fundraising efforts and those who have supported them. Many of these efforts have made use of our JustGiving Fundraising page which has also been a great success.
We must however also thank the people of Newark and surrounding area whose generosity has been truly outstanding. Whether this has been through donating food at our collection points, resulting in the collection of 42 tonnes of food, or through personal cash donations, all these donations help make the Foodbank sustainable.
Volunteer Base
The Foodbank currently has 65 registered volunteers. These volunteers operate in one or more capacities ranging from Front of House (Foodbank or Market), Warehouse, Transport, PR and Fundraising, Delivery Driving, Logistics Support and Management. We have adopted Assemble as our Volunteer Management System which helps us with recruitment and keeping volunteers informed about the activities of the Foodbank. Assemble also enables the Foodbank to record the hours expended by our volunteers. The Foodbank is registered with the ICO (ICO Certification ZA073582). Public Liability Insurance for the Foodbank and its volunteer base is provided by Zurich Insurance.
All areas are adequately supported although inevitably at certain times of the year finding volunteers to fill in the rota for Front of House operations can be difficult. All volunteers have to formally apply and provide references to ensure client safeguarding and confidentiality and to ensure that appropriate training is provided. Applications forms both in paper and digitally are available on the website.
We very much appreciate the time and experience provided by our volunteers. Over 5700 rostered volunteer hours have been expended over the last year in the Warehouse, Front of House, Delivery Driving and logistics teams. Additionally, there has been approximately 1750 hrs on non-rostered volunteer activities covering PR activities, general admin and Steering Group and Coordinator Meetings. As a totally voluntary organisation inevitably without volunteer support the Foodbank could not operate. We try and take all volunteer views and comments seriously. Volunteer comments and suggestions are discussed at regular coordinators meetings chaired by our Foodbank manager, Lesley Marshall. Any strategic issues are then fed up to the Steering Group for discussion.
Quality Audit Inspection – Trussell Trust
The Trussell Trust conducted its last formal annual quality audit inspection of Newark Foodbank in Feb 2024. We have worked closely with the Trussell Trust to ensure that we remain compliant with any new procedures and methods which they have rolled out over the year including changes to the way client referrals are processed.
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Newark Foodbank
Treasurer’s Report
The treasurer’s report for 2024-25 is attached. As of 31 Mar 2025 the Foodbank has funds of £156,221. We have a three-year lease on the property at Cartergate for £12,000 per year. This lease will expire in November 2027. We also continue to operate out of two warehouses at Cressey Farm for which we pay a total of £3,052 per year. In order to be able to claim back some of our costs we are also registered for VAT. As a registered Charity we claim back Gift Aid on any declared donations we receive. Our income and expenditure are broadly in balance leading to small surplus this year of just over £6,087. Overall donations and grants remain strong at £55,675 compared to £50,223 last year. Additionally we received funding from Trussell of £18,512 towards the costs of providing our Financial Inclusion support with CA. Future funding for that program from Trussell is unclear with Trussel only providing 50% funding for the upcoming year. The Trustees need to decide if they want to continue with the program after the end of next year. Stock purchases remain our biggest expenditure. This year’s stock purchases amounted to £28,496 almost identical to last year. This level of stock purchases is expected to continue over the next year. Over the next year, it is hoped that the funds we have available plus any future income generated can be used to take forward some of the strategic goals identified below.
Cost of Operation
The total cost of Foodbank & Market Operations in 2024-2025 was £74,847. During the year we issued 32,778 meals through the Foodbank. This means that each meal provided by Newark Foodbank costs £2.28. This is 23% increase on the year before and reflects the additional cost of stock purchases. In reality the vast majority of these stock purchases were in support of the Market. If stock purchases are excluded then the cost of providing each Foodbank meal is £1.41, a 24% increase in cost from the previous year. Assessing the contents of each of the food parcels provided to clients we estimate the value of each parcel, which provides three days of emergency food relief to be:
We also provide clients with a range of “extra” products which do not form part of the standard food parcel and include for instance toiletries, sweets, sanitary products and pet food.
For insurance cover purposes we also need to make an assessment of the value of stock held in the warehouse unit. As of 31 March 2025 the average value of each kilogram of stock held in the warehouse was approximately £3.25. This suggests that with a stock level at the end of March 2025 of 4.20 tonnes, the value of stock at that time was £13,650.
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Newark Foodbank
Strategic Goals
We have updated our Strategic Goals for the year:
Ongoing
•Sustaining the Volunteer Base and enhancing engagement of volunteers with Assemble.
•Raising Agency Awareness
•Identifying ways of working together with other agencies and activities such as with the Severe Weather Emergency Provision Shelter/Well.
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•Sustaining Operations at FOH and Warehouse Locations.
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•Engaging actively with the Newark Community Network.
2025-2026
•Continue to Participate in the Financial Inclusion Program with the Trussell Trust.
•Provide Face to Face Citizen Advice Support during all Foodbank and Market Sessions.
•Maintain Market sessions at twice a week.
•Enhance range of products provided through The Market including fresh food options.
•Re-establish in some guise a Tea/Coffee and Biscuits facility.
•Evaluate opportunity of engaging in creation of a Community Hub.
•Investigate possibility of acting as a distribution point for Fuel Vouchers in conjunction with N&S DC.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Signed _________ Date 11.9.25 Stephen Charnock, Chair
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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Newark Foodbank for the year ended 31 March 2025
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Newark Foodbank (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2025.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity 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 charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 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 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 in respect of the charity 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 ____ Date _______ 12/09/2025 ce John O’Brien MSc, FAIA, FCIE Employee of Community Accounting Plus
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Newark Foodbank Receipts & payments account for the year ended 31 March 2025
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Newark Foodbank Statement of assets and liabilities at 31 March 2025
These financial statements are accepted on behalf of the charity by:
Signed _____ S CKAarm ox be Date _11.9.25 Stephen Charnock, Chair
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Newark Foodbank Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025
1. Receipts & payments accounts
Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand.
2. Grants & donations
3. Funds analysis
4. Creditors
5. Trustees’ remuneration
Trustees received no expenses, remuneration or benefits in this period.
6. Related party transactions
There were no related party transactions in this period.
7. Glossary of terms
- Creditors: These are amounts owed by the charity, but not paid during the accounting period.
Restricted funds: These are funds given to the charity, subject to specific restrictions set by the donor, but still within the general objects of the charity.
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