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2023-03-31-accounts

The Hub@BA15 Church Street, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 1LS

Tel. 01225 920748 Charity no. 1160807 Email boacommunityhub@gmail.com Website: www.boahub.co.uk

Annual Report 2022-2023

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Contents

1. Trustees & Management Group

2. Annual report

3. Additional Reports

6. Acknowledgements

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1.

i. Trustees 2022-23

Laurie Brown Town Council - (resigned June 2022) - Jim Clarke Churches Together (end of term March 2023) Angie Hill Co-opted - Volunteer Liaison John Hutchinson BoACAN - Treasurer David Jewell Co-opted - (resigned July 2022) Mike Roberts Town Council Chair (resigned July ’23) - Philip Secretan Co-opted IT & Facilities (new Chair) Alison Wells Churches Together -

Newly Appointed Trustees

Jennie Parker Town Council Graham Dove Co-opted Alison Potter Town Council

Wendy Brown Churches Together (Nominated to take up office April ’23)

ii. Management Group

Trustees The named trustees (as above) Cathy Hearn Hub Administrator

iii. Invited but not attended

Ros Griffiths Wiltshire Council

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Annual Report

a. The Hub @ BA15

The trustees of The Hub@BA15 monitor the statutory requirements needed for running of the Hub to ensure compliance with its charitable status have been met. The annual report and finances for 2021/22 have been submitted to the Charities Commission as the annual return in January 2023. The following insurances have been renewed:

The following policies have been reviewed, and are available for inspection on the premises or on request

A Health & Safety poster and Manual Handling Guide are on display. There is an in-date First Aid Kit, accident book and posters naming the appointed first-aider and safeguarding officer.

The Hub@BA15 was opened in 2015 however the lease on premises now continues until 2025 with option to extend for a further two years. The numbers of people visiting the Hub continue to slowly build since the pandemic although the food parcel requests have increased, as have the benefit and debt enquiries.

The delivery service which began during the pandemic continues; providing enough volunteers are able to respond to the requests for a driver; there is

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less willingness to deliver outside the local area partly as a result of the current financial situation, but also that there is often a nearer local foodbank.

Contact with the agencies remains limited with fewer referrals for the Hub’s services than hoped for. Agencies have been contacted and sent the annual report and newsletter in October and again in January with a copy of the latest newsletter to ensure that all are aware of the Hub and services are offered.

The number of collecting boxes in the community continue to reduce in number but the Bridge Street Coop boxes in particular continue to generate income. Although this decline in financial donations has been offset by the use of the card reader. The Hub was one of three charities (of the year) benefiting from the Co-op and we thank Maureen Breeze who presented the Hub with £300 on behalf of the Co-op with helpers from Mighty Girls one of the other beneficiaries.

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The monthly coffee morning provides the opportunity to socialise and encourage supporters of the Hub and any from the local community to chat and sample fresh coffee and homemade cakes in a safe environment. The themed sales and donations from refreshments throughout the year together with the Christmas events (switch on of town lights with live music performed by our very own John Hutchinson plus the coffee morning with sale and raffle) raised the sum of £1189.37.

The Hub continued to provide holiday food parcels to the schools at Easter, Summer and Christmas, plus additional ones requested for October and February half term. These are not tailored to individual families although schools may choose to give a large families two parcels.

The 2021/2022 Annual General Meeting on 20[th] October 2022 was held at the United Church, Bradford on Avon, where Louis Shortall from Rough Sleeper was the guest speaker. With approximately 35 people in attendance David Jewell presented the annual report and John Hutchinson talked through the finances.

A number of new trustees have been appointed to replace the Town Council representative trustees’ (Laurie Brown and Mike Roberts) who reigned abruptly. We therefore welcome Jennie Parker with her special interest in older people, Alzheimer’s and loneliness and later Alison Potter. David Jewell also resigned his trusteeship; a huge thank you for his past service and he is replaced by Graham Dove who was one of the original instigators of the Hub eight years ago.

The resignation of Avril Clarke the coordinator appointed in 2014 meant that the process of appointing a replacement was necessary and our thanks to the trustee Angie Hill for organising this. We are pleased to welcome Cathy Hearn to the team…

At the beginning of 2023 we appointed a paid part-time Administrator following Avril Clarke’s decision to leave her voluntary post as Administrator at the Hub. She had been its voluntary head since its inception in 2015 and had worked selflessly for the Charity. However, we knew that we would not be able to find anyone willing to commit full time as she had done and it was agreed to offer a part-time paid role for the post. It was agreed that Avril would step down from January 1[st] 2023.

We advertised the post on the website, OCM website for the Council, on a poster at the Hub and among the Churches Together in October 2022 and received many enquiries, resulting in 8 applications. All were of a high calibre but we decided to sift the applicants and interview the top 4.

The sift committee was comprised of Trustees John Hutchinson, Alison Wells and Angela Hill and the sift took place on 23.10.22. The 4 interviews then took place on 5.12.22 and were conducted by the panel of Alison Wells, Angela Hill (Trustees) and Cedric Pierce as a co-opted independent member. The interviews were all scored according to recommended HR advice and the successful candidate contracted accordingly.

We used 2 outside agencies for help with the process: HR Services Bristol who specialise in working with Charities and who sold us a comprehensive Job Application package which proved invaluable and included a draft contract. We also

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employed the services of Butler Crowe Payroll, who also work with small organisations and now process our payroll.

Cathy started work just before Christmas and has successfully taken over the day to day running of the Hub.

The air conditioning units which have been used to supplement the heating failed and the cost of repair was prohibitive so the new wall fan heaters were bought and an electrician organised to install them. An air conditioning engineer was required to de-commission the old units and the three wall fittings and the large unit were taken allowing the upper room to become available as a new store room.

The planned upgrade to replace some of the low IT equipment took place and the debt advice and reception computers were all replaced; together with a large screen for the meeting room and one other computer. Our grateful thanks to the Lions whose donation went towards this.

b. Volunteers

There continue to be a number of regular volunteers who loyally offer their time to the Hub with a few additional volunteers joining in the New Year, the daily team is now usually 4-6. Some of the newer Monday volunteers also collect the food from Sainsbury’s replacing the couple who faithfully provided this service for 8 years, whilst a couple collect o Friday. The volunteers who bring the food in from Winsley have resumed their service and another couple collect the food from Winsley Road Co-op, and they regularly deliver any requested food parcels. Individuals from Westwood, South Wraxall and Bathford all deliver donations of food to the Hub

During the year there have been no training opportunities or social activities for the volunteers, but some sessions should resume in the coming year making use of the new large screen in the meeting room and availing ourselves of the training opportunities offered by Trussell Trust.

c. Digital and Social Media

The Hub has two websites, which are linked which are looked after by a volunteer. They are both fairly static but requested items and special news can be added as an update. A QR code has been generated to take to the home page of the Hub website where current needs are identified, these have been laminated and added to some of the supermarket collection points.

The Facebook Page has a good following and information and photographs are regularly added, in addition to news items, requests regarding stock shortages and a general thank you to any donors; the administrators respond to private messages such as requests for food parcels. A linked Instagram account is now in place.

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d. Future developments & sustainability

3. Additional reports

3.1 Bradford on Avon Foodbank at The Hub@BA15: Annual Report (2022-23)

a) Description

The foodbank continues to operate from the old bank vault within the Hub, and forms both the warehouse and distribution centre which is different from many Trussell Trust Foodbanks. The food is arranged on the shelves in approximate packing order (lighter items on the top shelves) with some toiletries and cleaning products stored under the shelves. There are additional shelves in the old air conditioning room, small room and kitchen corridor for items with a long date and non-food items particularly required for holiday stock.

b)Contributors

Donations are brought direct to the Hub or added to the collection points.

Main donors:-

Sainsburys. Host a collection point which is emptied twice a week by various volunteers. The weight for the year was an incredible 8757.65kg . Thank you to all who have donated.

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Coop, Bridge Yard hosts a small collection point through which 81.25kg has been donated. In addition two collection boxes are hosted, which have raised £175.73 for the Hub

Coop, Winsley Road hosts a collection point through which 1133.65kg. has been donated. This has been collected weekly by Kathy van Griethuysen and her husband

St Nicholas Church Winsley the collection point has reverted back to the church with some items coming from Avon Park and is brought to the Hub by Elizabeth and Phillip Bush. 1266.65kg has been collected and delivered to the Hub

Westwood Stores hosts a collection point through which 277.1kg. has been donated. This has been delivered to the Hub by Sue Field

South Wraxall Residents hosts a collection point through which 123.05kg. has been donated. This has been delivered to the Hub by Frank Garner. Although this has now ceased

Bathford Stores hosts a collection point through which 54.75kg. has been donated. This has been delivered to the Hub

Zion Baptist Church, Trowbridge has brought over 109.1kg of donated food, including seasonal items which are particularly helpful for school food parcels. The Hub is the nearest Trussell Trust foodbank to this church.

St Laurence School once again organised a tin collection and over 100 boxes of food were brought by sixth formers to the Hub in their minibus this totalled 2122.4kg .

A number of local churches, groups and businesses, including the funeral directors, have donated food to the foodbank.

iv. Stock

Additional shelves have been bought to store the increased volume of stock which often seems excessive on the basis of the weekly number of food parcels that go out. However, the stock becomes depleted and the shelves empty after the holiday boxes are packed and delivered. The general public are extremely generous, but do not always supply all items offered by the foodbank, as individuals donate entirely as they wish, some donating out-ofdate items. These out of date and short date items are weighed out and put in a box where volunteers and callers to the Hub can take anything (ideally for a donation) and clients can help themselves on the understanding it is out of date or has even been opened.

At Christmas financial donations were used to buy the items in short supply and to add variety and parity to the school holiday parcels

The total amount of food donated during the past year was an amazing 18041 kg

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c) Vouchers

Total vouchers honoured: 1171 Total adults helped: 1807 Total children helped: 1302

This is 375 vouchers up on last year which is a 32% increase. Around 50% the parcels/vouchers were delivered to families identified by the schools to help during the holiday period.

Schools in receipt of food parcels

Once again holiday hampers for families receiving free school meals were offered, and approximately 120-150 parcels were delivered for each of the three main school holidays. The schools hold foodbank vouchers which can be used any time (and all have been sent the invitation to the e-referral system allowing any nominated teachers or their colleague to issue the voucher/code). The Hub will pick the referral up and deliver the food parcel direct to the family’s home address if it can’t be collected and there are drivers available

d)Agencies who distribute vouchers

There are over 75 local agencies registered with the Bradford on Avon foodbank which hold foodbank vouchers although relatively few offer vouchers to their users. Those who have issued vouchers include:

⮚ Schools

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The agencies’ use of the e-referrals has meant that less food parcels are signed off by the Hub which is really positive. However, as The Hub is willing to deliver food parcels to Bradford on Avon, the villages and some BA14 postcodes, e-referrals received can include a request for deliveries outside these post codes for which it is not always possible to find drivers. Some time is taken contacting referrer and potential recipient alerting them to the fact the Hub is unable to deliver outside our local area (in which case advice is given as to othe.r foodbanks closer to the recipient’s address)

e) Summary

During 2022-23 the financial support by the local community continued to be generous and there can be no doubt the Hub@BA15 is known within the town. The uptake in e-vouchers by some agencies hopefully makes it easier for all concerned and it is planned to continue to promote this system.

Future Plans for 2023-24

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Hope Debt Advice Service

ANNUAL REPORT 2023

Hope Debt Advice Service (HDAS) is an unincorporated voluntary association which was established in 2008. Collaboration with The Hub continues to be a critical feature of our work to provide a complementary array of services to the community. HDAS provides debt, budgeting and money management advice to clients. HDAS is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is affiliated to Community Money Advice (C.M.A.) and AdviceUK.

The HDAS team has 10 volunteers who see clients and support the debt advice regulatory framework. Clients are referred by The Hub, Foodbank, and other agencies including health, welfare and social housing professionals. Clients are seen by prior appointment during The Hub opening hours. All members of the team seeing Clients have taken Debt Management training accredited by C.M.A. and recognised by the FCA.

This year’s activity increased significantly over past years as illustrated by the number of appointments shown below. The appointment dip was largely caused by the Covid Pandemic and associated outcomes including no evictions and increased savings. However, as the nation returned to some form of normality, challenging conditions arose; job losses, cost of living increases, utility cost hikes, and the Covid benefit premium ending are just some of the principal factors.

The hardship experienced by Clients is indicated by the number of food parcel referrals made to The Hub foodbank, which doubled during the pandemic years and in 2022 was 90 a further 20% increase on 2021. The level of priority debt, which threatens personal liberty or basic shelter, also rose dramatically in 2022. As a general observation people’s resilience does not appear to be as strong as it was pre pandemic. This coupled with Clients having the rationale not to address debt issues because of the pandemic has pushed up the complexity and effort required to unravel each situation.

Hope Debt Advice Service Annual Report 2022,V1-0, Issued

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Hope Debt Advice Service

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Other
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significant factors influencing the workload are the

The reality of receiving and responding to digital information whilst actively following a duty of care meant HDAS had to adopt a more systematic approach to daily operations. This was an obvious area to collaborate on with The Hub. “Google Workspace” was chosen because key features were built in, namely:

Collaborating with The Hub also meant backup administrative access could be set up to mitigate a single point of failure of something happening to the administrator.

The transition from a largely paper based organisation to a digital one has had its challenges but a great team effort and huge progress has been made. It has to be recognised that this has not been an easy transition for some team members. However, particularly pushed by the pandemic outcome the world will not return to manual and paper based approaches. HDAS must have the capability to meet up and match this evolving situation. The emerging opportunity is the potential to offer volunteers more flexible times and ways to contribute. In order for HDAS to continue offering its services to the local community in the future HDAS has to remain relevant and connected to the world we live in. Without volunteers there is no service to offer.

Regulatory oversight has increased significantly over the past few years, largely driven by the FCA’s creation of the “Debt Advice Portfolio'' and the major implementation of the “Consumer Duty'' principle. There is no doubt that HDAS’s

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Hope Debt Advice Service Annual Report 2022,V1-0, Issued

Hope Debt Advice Service

ethos, as exemplified by our Constitution fully embraces and is aligned to the FCA’s espoused principles. The burdensome issue is how to evidence we are compliant and that all our approaches and procedures are fit for purpose. HDAS does not have the luxury of being able to resource a dedicated person/group for this. The only workable approach is for all of us to take small targeted steps as close as possible to any event that requires auditable evidence. This in turn requires us all to be disciplined and consistent. The practical outcome is that more time is required (possibly meetings) with Clients not only to discover but also to investigate and record circumstances in sufficient detail. A further complication is this can be counterintuitive to the general expectation of volunteering, causing recruitment and retention issues.

This combination of more acute Client circumstances and the demands of a more structured set of approaches have led to this significant workload increase. It is to the credit of all the team who have collectively stepped up, taken on the challenges and helped our local community. A huge thank you.

HDAS finances remain in good order and annual spend continues to be well controlled and relatively low (see Treasurer’s Report below). A conscious decision has been made to concentrate on debt advice and not fund raising. There are sufficient funds to continue for a number of years. It is prudent for HDAS to seek further sources of funding for 2024/25. Any support that can be offered would be gratefully received.

In 2023 the aim will be to implement and consolidate all the changes to our approaches and procedures. Continued close cooperation with The Hub will contribute to our two organisations success.

Sign
ed:
Dat
e:		 Positi
on:
Coordinator
3 November 2023
Nam
e:
Chris Sanders

Treasurer’s Report

Income

Compared with 2021 – 22 the income was up, over £400 to £2,072. This was in part due to Debt Advisors either contributing or in some cases fully reimbursed the cost of their training. My thanks to them for assisting us.

Interest earned on funds held in the deposit account, increased from £1 in the previous financial year to £22 in the last financial year. This was due to the Bank of England Monetary Committee increasing the base rate over that period.

Expenditure

Compared with 2021 – 22 expenditure was down by some £60 to £2,766. However you will note that was still above our income, leaving a deficit of some £700.

This unfortunately has been the pattern over the last few years and has had to be met from our diminishing reserves. The sole grant from Wessex Water is critical to us but leaves us vulnerable. We are therefore looking at alternative funding streams to enable us to continue providing this valuable service to the local community.

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Hope Debt Advice Service Annual Report 2022,V1-0, Issued

Hope Debt Advice Service

If anyone here this evening feels able to make, either a one off donation, or a smaller amount monthly by Standing Order, then please see me afterwards. Any help that you can give would be most welcome.

Finally I should like to express my thanks to Janet Carpenter for kindly auditing our accounts. A task that she has undertaken willingly over many years.

Mike Turner Treasurer

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Hope Debt Advice Service

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Hope Debt Advice Service

Page 17 of 23 Hope Debt Advice Service Annual Report 2022,V1-0, Issued

st March 2023

4. Treasurer’s Report for the year ended 31

The Hub is now in the eighth year of operation and 2022/23 is the third year of the second

5-year lease which is extendable to 7 years, with Clifton Diocese.

Income from donations has increased in comparison with 2021/22, indicating that continuing public awareness of the financial pressure being placed upon foodbanks is still high.

This Hub is now receiving greater Gift Aid contributions from HM Revenue & Customs.

2022/23 is the second year of the Hub’s use of a contactless machine which enables the Hub bank to receive donations directly from a debit or credit card.

The Treasurer’s Report contains:

The Income and Expenditure Account

The Balance Sheet

Notes to the Income and Expenditure Account

The Independent Examiner’s Report

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4.1 Income and Expenditure Account for Year Ended 31st March 2023

Income
Grants
Other Income
Total Income
Expenditure
Rent
Insurance
Contactless Charges
Printing Postage & Stationery
Payroll Costs
Food for Foodbank
Light Heat & Power
Water
Telephone & Internet
Repairs & Maintenance
Fire Alarm maintenance
Refreshments
Advertising & Publicity
Cleaning
Website Support
Data protection registration
Gifts & donations
Sundry
Depreciation of assets
Total Expenditure
Surplus as at 31st March 2023		 Note
1
2		 2023
£
2500
43845
46345
7000
538
68
83
3162
772
735
303
572
193
413
7
0
1026
58
35
59
92
2575
17691
£28654		 2022
£
7552
34969
42521
7000
442
17
68
0
466
530
191
536
194
317
5
32
2967
70
35
105
104
2015
15094
£27427

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4.2 Balance Sheet at 31st March 2023

2023
Assets
Current Assets
Rent Deposit
1750
Cash in Hand
48
Bank - Coventry Building Society
126469
Bank - Lloyds
49553
Debtors
0
Equipment
At Cost
2347
less Depreciation
1878
Fixtures and Fittings
At Cost
13572
less Depreciation
10421
Computer Equipment
At Cost
8863
less Depreciation
4918
Total Assets
Net Assets
Represented by
Friends of BoA Community Healthcare Capital Fund
Utilities & Trussell Trust Fee Fund
Food for Foodbank Fund
Reserves b/fwd
Surplus for the year
Reserves c/fwd		 2022
177820

1750
172
107247
39590
3500
469
2347
1408
3151
10777
9452
3945
8134
3781
£185385
£185385
39465
831
13600
102835
28654
£185385		 152259
939
1325
4353
£158876
£158876
40000
2441
13600
75408
27427
£158876

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4.3 Notes to the Income and Expenditure Account for Year Ended 31st March 2023

1.
Grants
Holy Trinity Community Fund
Wiltshire Council Area Board
Total Grants
2.
Other Income
Room Hire
Donations and Community Events
Interest
Gift Aid
Total Other Income		 2023
£
0
2500
2500
1100
40311
1247
1187
43845		 2022
£
5052
2500
7552
300
33951
110
608
34969

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The HUB@BA15 Independent Examinerfs report to the Trustees of the HUB@BA15 I report lo the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of TheHUB@BA15 (The Trust) for the year ended 31 st March 2023. 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 malerial respect.. accounting records were not kept in respect of The Trust as required, or 2 the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination lo which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed (A Eric Kirk Qualifi¢ation.' Chartered Accountant (retired) Addres$'. 1 Chestnut Grove Upper we8￿00d Bradford on Avon Wills BA15 2DQ Date.. 22 | Page

Acknowledgements

The Hub is extremely grateful for both the historic monetary donations and the current financial support we receive from within the local community. We are also thankful to the Trussell Trust for all that it does for us and for all in the country who benefit from it.

Special thanks to:

All our wonderful volunteers

All who donate financially

All who contribute to the foodbank

All who host or contribute to the collection boxes All who hold and distribute foodbank vouchers

We simply could not function without the support we receive.

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