2024-06-30-accounts - Hope Nottingham CIO

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INSPIRING & GROWING COMMUNITIES OF HOPE

Carlton Community Hub:

Founded in 2010 with a desire to make a difference,

we now operate 2 community hubs, 14 foodbanks and inspire and grow communities across Nottingham, enabled by 370 volunteers across the city. We focus on lifting people from crisis to hope. A beacon in local neighbourhoods. We don't just provide emergency food.

We open our doors to provide safe and warm spaces, kind voices on the end of a telephone or email. We welcome. We listen. We care.

We signpost. We support. We advise. We build confidence. We empower. We make that difference. And for all this - we thank you.

To our volunteers, staff, trustees, donors, partners, host churches and supporters: We cannot do it without you. Most importantly, we thank our guests,

who are not just service users or beneficiaries. Th ~~ey are our daily inspiration to do more and reach mor~~ e.

WE ARE HOPE NOTTINGHAM

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Hope House: Our flagship
Community Hub in Beeston
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CONTENTS

Annual Report of the Trustees

Part One - Introduction

4 Welcome
7 Our Vision, G.R.A.C.E Mission & Values
9 Our Theory of Change
11 Where We Work
12 Our Staff Team
13 What We Do
15 Key Events and Strategic Review

Part Two - Our G.R.A.C.E Impact

18 Giving
25 Growing
27 Relief
35 Advice
40 Community
48 Empowering
56 Enabling
60 Our Future plans

Part Three

61 Our Governance Structure
64 Trustees Report and Financial Review
68 Independent Examiner's report
69 Financial statements
73 Notes to the accounts
81 Thank yous
85 Contact Information

WELCOME

A WELCOME FROM OUR NEW CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

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‘The unchanged vision of Hope,
could not be more relevant’
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It is my pleasure to introduce the latest Annual Report, which gives a joyful and uplifting insight into the activities and people that make up Hope Nottingham.

It has been a year of change, most notably with our founder Nigel moving to pastures new. For so long Nigel has been ’the face’ of Hope and we miss him, but we remember that Hope is God’s work and there is much more still to do. Paul Kirkwood also stood down as Chair of Trustees after many years, and I thank him for his support and encouragement in taking on this role. I am still learning about the work of Hope, and I look forward to visiting sites and meeting more volunteers and guests.

I would like to thank all the staff and volunteers who contribute to Hope Nottingham. One of our key strengths is the staggering 370 volunteers and I am delighted to see that 98% of those surveyed felt valued. Knowing Dominique, our CEO, she will be pushing to improve this!

Hope has always depended on the generosity of it’s many supporters. We trust in God to provide what we need, to do his work. Please continue to be part of the answer to our prayers. Indeed, I would like to thank all those who pray for the people and the work of Hope - you do essential, unseen work and we are grateful. Please don’t stop!

I am pleased we have moved all foodbanks to use the referral system. Trussell Trust's new focus on the ‘Cuppa Tea’ principle is a helpful reminder that foodbanks can offer much more than food. In my experience at Bilborough food bank, the welcome, kindness and support offered to guests is at least as important. We continue to develop this approach across the sites.

Finally, I thank God for his overwhelming love that inspires us to do more; 'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ Romans 15:13

Sadly, more people are living in crisis, below the poverty line. Money-strapped councils are reducing services and more are struggling with mental health issues and isolation. The unchanged vision of Hope, to inspire and grow communities of HOPE in Nottingham, could not be more relevant. We are making a positive difference in the lives of people across Nottingham!

We are very grateful to Trussell for funding the financial inclusion services, which I believe are an essential component to help more people out of poverty. The encouraging progress is outlined in the report.

Jez Barnard

I hope you, like me, are encouraged to read the many testimonies in this report. If you volunteer for Hope, you will likely know others.

Hope Nottingham Chair of Trustees

A fond farewell to our outgoing Chair, Dr Paul Kirkwood

Dr Paul Kirkwood joined Hope as a volunteer on 1st February 2014, bringing a wealth of experience in multi-national health care, and technical management roles. He became a trustee in 2015 assisting our transition to becoming a CIO and became Chair in 2017.

Paul has assisted Hope to develop, including hands-on support visiting our foodbanks. He has led us calmly through various challenges, including financial instability. Having completed our Constitution’s maximum three 3 year terms, he has left Hope in excellent financial health, with a strong Board and Senior Team. He even ensured the appointment of his successor before chairing his last Board meeting in April 2025.

Forever a dear friend, we thank Paul most sincerely for his faith and commitment to Hope Nottingham over so many years.

INTRODUCTION FROM OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

WELCOME

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‘It is a real honour to share the
work of our amazing volunteers’
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As I look back over the last year which has seen us say farewell to key players in Hope Nottingham’s development, I feel extremely proud of our charity’s achievements, and of the remarkable people who made them possible.

in our team has their own story, and together they embody everything that Hope Nottingham is and seeks to build - a community full of Hope! We cannot thank them enough.

There have been other staff and volunteer ‘comings and goings’, an inevitable fact in a small charity spanning so many activities, which has been through great change and continues to strive to keep improving.

July 2023 - June 2024 was another incredibly busy year, full of challenges as ever, but also full of ‘Hope’. In terms of our charity’s story, the departure of Nigel Adams, our charity’s Founder, was on paper a pivotal moment, but as those involved over the last couple of years would know, something that did not impact operationally. Nigel had long been winding down his involvement, gracefully passing over the reins, knowing his strengths lie elsewhere, whilst his ‘baby’ was left in a great position, ready for a new phase.

We also owe so much to our many supporters and funders. As Hope Nottingham’s work grows year on year, so too, I’m afraid does the expenditure. Whether someone donates a single can of beans, thousands of pounds, or paints a fence for us, it all makes a real and lasting difference.

There are so many wonderful achievements to share, which you will discover as you read on. It has become my personal labour of love producing this report, which grows year on year - a fact I refuse to apologise for! Indeed my aim is that every one of our 370 volunteers can read it and recognise their area of impact, and know that we ‘see them’ and cannot deliver services nor build ‘community’, without them all.

Whilst Nigel and I have occasionally disagreed (usually whilst eating doughnuts), we have each never faltered from wanting to do the right thing. Our commitment is to making a positive difference in the life of those in need, each led by our own personal faith and our founding principles. I am so proud that we remain friends and able to call on each other as needed - something that does not always happen when a Founder transitions and a new face steps into the lead role.

To each and every one who has contributed to this year’s remarkable achievements, and to every guest who has given us the privilege to serve them, God bless you!

At our Volunteer event in June, I challenged myself to introduce every volunteer in the room - no mean feat as I walked table after table! With an occasional helpful nudge, I managed it. Why did I bother with a small gesture in a room full of people, some who knew each other and some who didn’t? I did this because each and every volunteer

Dominique Scott

Chief Executive Officer

Our Founder, Nigel Adams moves on to pastures new

At the end of March 2024, after 12 years as Director, and the last 18 months as our part-time Ambassador, Nigel Adams moved on to pastures new.

“The last 14 years have been the greatest honour and privilege. By the grace of God, Hope Nottingham has grown from nothing more than an idea, to a wonderful network of compassion-filled foodbanks and community hubs, supported by hundreds and serving thousands. I’m exceptionally grateful for all the support and all we have achieved. I leave this work, which is God’s work, in very capable hands.

I am now working at Transforming Notts Together providing support and guidance for churches and Christian charities throughout Nottinghamshire.

May the God of Hope Fill You with All Joy and Peace.”

We sincerely thank Nigel for his many years of dedicated passion and service, as he continues to follow God’s plans for him.

.y ,ol

H o p e N o t t i n g h a m ‘ s m i s s i o n is embodied in our GRACE model

Our Vision and Mission were refreshed in 2021 with feedback from our volunteers and guests, and meet our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, whilst staying true to our Christian roots and culture.

Our Inspiring & growing communities of HOPE in Nottingham Vision

Our To develop and support communities of HOPE where Mission poverty of resources, relationships and spirit are met by local people

Our mission today still fulfils the purposes as set out in the objects contained in the charity's constitution, which are:

the relief of poverty, sickness and distress advancement of the Christian faith

We explain our mission using our founder’s G.R.A.C.E. model

G

R

A

C

E

GIVING - Enabling communities to share time and resources for the benefit of others GROWING - Multiplying our work in our own and in other communities

RELIEF - Management and distribution of essential provision to help people out of crisis

ADVICE - Bringing a wide range of guidance to provide accessible, integrated direction in a supportive environment

COMMUNITY - Enabling all to be helped and to help, to give and to receive

EMPOWERMENT - Enabling people to live more stable, fulfilled lives and to find worthwhile occupation

ENABLING - Developing a robust organisation with effective governance, policies and procedures

H o p e N o t t i n g h a m ' s v a l u e s a r e r o o t e d i n o u r C h r i s t i a n e t h o s

Our Christian faith is at the heart of all we do. We want to share God’s love by showing welcome, care and compassion to all. Our values are central to Hope Nottingham. We respect that each individual will also have their own personal values. However it is also essential that each and every team member believes in, demonstrates and promotes the following core values through their work and everyday behaviours.

Compassion

We are genuinely concerned about others and offer our time, kindness and friendship in safe spaces.

Working Together

We are team driven to identify and nurture partnerships with organisations of all denominations across Nottingham.

Trust

We build relationships and earn trust through our integrity and are committed to keeping it.

Belonging

Faith-focused, we welcome all and provide opportunities for comfort, connection and contribution.

Positive Change

We create new possibilities and embrace ideas, led from and by the community, to lift local people from crisis, restoring hope and transforming lives.

Our Vision

Our Theory of Change

Our Vision is to inspire & grow communities of HOPE in Nottingham, where local people are enabled to support those in need, providing resources, spiritual support & reducing loneliness.

VOLUNTEERING	REDUCED POVERTY	REDUCED POVERTY	REDUCED POVERTY	IMPROVED SPIRITUAL	CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
IS ENABLED	OF RESOURCES	OF RELATIONSHIPS		SUPPORT	DEVELOPMENT
Local people are helped by local people with each benefitting from being part of a community	Local people have increased life skills leading to financial independence and sustainable lifestyles	Local people have improved well-being and overcome loneliness		Local people have increased knowledge of the Christian faith, connection with local churches and increased spiritual resilience	Hope Nottingham is an ambassador for Christian Community Development and the GRACE model
The diverse talent of local individuals and communities is engaged and celebrated	Crisis food & financial support is reduced & local people are equipped with life & work skills	Local people participate with and positively promote their community		Local people explore Christian faith together and/or receive Chaplaincy support	Hope has a network of like-minded Christian community projects supported/enabled
Local people volunteer to support their local communities (time, food, funds)	Crisis food & financial support provided in welcoming,safe spaces & people get the right advice to address future crisis	Local people access and receive befriending and pastoral support safely overcoming crisis and loneliness		Local people experience prayer, see our Christian values in action and have informal faith discussions	Local people are welcomed into & participate in communities that demonstrate & share Christian values
Enabling Volunteering & Community Support, Fundraising and Donating Opportunities	Material relief via Food banks; Food Club; Guest Help, Skills development. Professional advice via partnerships	Social relief provision via Community-driven activities including Befriending, Well-being, Aspiration building		Community and individual prayer; Chaplaincy; Short- term faith based activities; Church partnerships.	Volunteer led & managed initiatives that bring local people together in their neighbourhoods for support
GIVING	RELIEF& ADVICE		C O M M	U N I T Y	EMPOWERMENT

Long term impact

Medium term change

Short term change

What we do

Our GRACE Mission Model

There is poverty in every community due to many underlying and complex reasons - both personal and societal. We cannot fix everything, but we can work to address poverty of resources (particularly food), poverty of relationships (particularly isolation & lack of community), and spiritual poverty via sharing of our Christian faith & values.

THEORY IN PRACTICE The Theory in Practice

Our Theory of Change reflects our G.R.A.C.E model and what we believe a ‘Community of Hope’ is. It is our reference guide of how it can be achieved and tool for easily communicating this internally and externally. It identifies the five key area where we aim to make real and lasting change in the lives of local people. This ‘theory’ forms our everyday activities.

VOLUNTEERING

Through Hope Nottingham, 370 individuals offer their time, compassion and skills to help others in safe and meaningful roles. Empowering and supporting volunteer led activities is one of our key impacts.

REDUCED POVERTY OF RESOURCES

Our volunteer foodbank teams across the city offer emergency food provision and signposting to other available support. In the busiest locations professional welfare and benefits advice is also available.

IMPROVED SPIRITUAL SUPPORT

We have volunteers from all, any, or no faith, but also many who align with our charitable objective to advance the Christian faith. With a part-time Chaplain at Hope House, there are ongoing faithbased activities, but also many volunteers across our foodbank network comfortable to offer prayer.

REDUCED POVERTY OF RELATIONSHIPS

Our two community hubs offer a variety of activities to reduce loneliness and act as community meeting spaces. Our foodbanks also offer hospitality and many host churches provide their own opportunities for community connection.

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Our ‘strapline’ may have changed in recent years but our mission remains the same. We are proud to work in partnership with a variety of Christian denominations. We demonstrate our faith through our daily actions and decisions.

WHERE WE WORK

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Carlton
Aspley Radford Arboretum
Broxtowe
Netherfield
Bilborough
Sneinton
Stapleford
Chilwell Wollaton Beeston Meadows
11
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OUR STAFF TEAM

With paid staffing being our biggest financial investment, we continued to make considered decisions about our employed team. At the end of June 2024, our staff headcount was 12 - reduced from the previous 13 and with a full-time equivalent of only 7.5. This continues to mean many of our staff roles have multiple focuses, which does bring its own challenges. However, we are mindful of not over-committing on expenditure and ensuring our longterm financial sustainability.

Within the year we saw some staff changes and were very sorry to see our Friendship Projects Coordinator move on to pastures new, but delighted her work with our Community Meal had inspired her to pursue her love of catering. With the replacement role, we increased the working hours to ensure we can further develop our work reducing loneliness, as well as to better support Friendship based projects at our Carlton Community Hub.

Our Founder and former Director moved on after two years as our part time Ambassador, but continues to stay in touch, and is promoting Hope’s story of Christian Community Development through his own story and work at Transforming Notts Together.

Hope Staff Team Our team as at October 2024

After many years with a Volunteer Manager, we attempted a ‘tweak’ to the role following a leaver, but realised our real need was senior level support for our remote teams, with a focus on our Foodbanks. We began recruitment for an Operations Manager, and were delighted to appoint a former charity CEO who joined us in August 2024. We believe this will bring a host of additional expertise in the voluntary and community sector.

You will hear more of our team’s work and reflections throughout the report. Details of the experience and skills of our current team is available on our website here.

Jade Lewis-Roe has been with Hope Nottingham since 2018, firstly on a Volunteer Youth Work placement and in the staff team from 2019. In April 2023, her youth and family projects role expanded into leading on our Hope House café and foodbank, which has enabled better connection across our projects.

‘My move to supporting our Café has been a blessing for me personally, as I am able to ’walk alongside’ more guests, but also for helping bring our projects closer. We are now seeing more toddler families visiting the Café and vice versa’ helping build more connections.’

David Cobbin

Our part-time Carlton Community Hub Worker celebrated his 1 year anniversary with Hope in January 24 and shared his reflections on what a year with Hope has brought to him:

H - happiness, help, honesty, heuristic, (discovering or learning for yourself) hands-on, hope giver, hearts, health & safety checks

O - optimism, opportunity, ownership, organised (chaos), openness

P- patience, persistence, pastoral, practical, perspicacious (ready insight and understanding of things)

E - e-vouchers, energy, empathy, enveloping, enfolding, encouraging As well as beans, pasta, jam, milk....

WHAT WE DO

We enable individuals, churches and other organisations to work together to give time and resources to deliver the services that local, isolated and disadvantaged people need. This includes money and gifts in kind - food, time and expertise. Support is provided to all, regardless of faith or beliefs, and we do not charge for any service, although some guests do choose to make entirely optional contribution to help support our work.

We ‘inspire and grow communities of hope’ through provision of safe welcoming environments that build trust and encouragement. In this context people are enabled to accept advice and progress, are encouraged to contribute time and skills to help others and grow in self esteem as part of a holistic community. Our current core activities are:

EAST & WEST NOTTINGHAM FOODBANK

Emergency food provision through 14 foodbanks via our Trussell franchise, utilising many of their systems and working in partnership with The Arches at Trent Vineyard (a Nottingham church ) for bulk food storage.

HOPE HOUSE, BEESTON

Free drop in café, 4 mornings a week, alongside foodbank, with befriending;
Citizens Advice bi-weekly and Debt Advice outreach once a week;
Literacy group and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) group;
Job/computer club twice a week with two extra outreach sessions locally;
Weekly friendship group; Monthly community meal;
Large allotment offering outdoor volunteering and fresh produce;
Weekly food club providing low-cost surplus and fresh food;
Telephone befriending in partnership with Linking Lives / Two’s Company;
Weekly youth well-being café and a parent & toddler group;
Optional prayer and faith-based courses to support individual faith journeys;
Chaplaincy service for staff and volunteers, ensuring their wellbeing and resilience.

CARLTON COMMUNITY HUB

Free drop-in café 2 afternoons a week alongside foodbank, with befriending;
Advice via The Ark and Gedling Borough Council outreach;
Weekly Strength and Balance Class provided by The Active Health Coach;
Work club in partnership with Jigsaw Homes;
Weekly Stay and Play provided by Netherfield Family Hub;
Weekly Arts and Crafts group;
Saturday Friendship group;
Weekly food club providing a fresh food box at low cost.

We also offer advocacy for Acts 435 (an online giving charity) and ad hoc financial support via a small discretionary fund.

You can view the main Hope Nottingham website here and our Trussell seeded East and West Nottingham Foodbank dedicated website here

REAL LIVES

We consciously choose to use the term ‘guests instead of ’service users’ or ’clients’. They are individuals and families with their own stories and we invite and welcome them into our communities, offering compassion and hospitality as we would guests in our own homes.

PAULINE, PROUD TO SHARE SHE IS 85!

Regular guest at café, foodclub and community meal . “My daughter first brought me to the Community Hub in spring 2023, around a year since her Dad (my husband) passed away. She said, “It’s time you started to go out again and meet people” . It was the best thing I have ever done. Without doubt this is one of the loveliest and happiest places I’ve ever been, there’s companionship and friendship all around, plus the kindest volunteers and staff. Thank you so much”.

COMMUNITY MEAL GUEST

“Wonderful, colourful menu...had seconds to take home. Music in the background was correct volume so we could talk over it....appreciate every volunteer that put love into every dish that was made.”

ANONYMOUS, RECIPIENT OF CHAPLAINCY

“The relief of that first asking was immense, I was ready. Lauren who is just lovely, caring, kind and knowledgeable in the Lord. These services Hope House offer are gold. With Lauren’s guidance I could see the path clearing, focusing. Learning more how my faith works, how God works within me, and Lauren has shown me this and more.”

GUEST AT ASPLEY FOODBANK

“I’ve been finding life difficult after I lost my wife. I gave up my job to care for her. I am working with East Midlands Chambers to get back into work but just feel like I’m in catch 22. The foodbank has literally been my life support.”

FRIENDSHIP GROUP GUEST

“I heard about the group through a friend, I really enjoy coming as I get to meet people of a similar age and I enjoy the talks. The group has made me aware of the need to keep in touch more and has helped me take an interest in new subjects.”

KEY EVENTS IN OUR YEAR

QTR 1 - JULY - SEPT 2023

July 23

We were so busy we forgot to celebrate the 14th anniversary of Hope Nottingham! We said farewell to our long serving Volunteer Manager, taking opportunity to try and refocus the role on training and volunteer support.

August 23

We finalised our ‘Advancing the Christian Faith’ policy. An appeal for new Trustees was started. Vic Centre continued raising money for us with a summer ‘ball pit’. We launched our ‘Harvest’ resources on our website.

September 23

Carlton Community Hub Official Launch and Open Day. Our Bookkeeper began working an extra day per week to support on bid-writing. We set up a new Supporter Database. A new Volunteer Manager started.

QTR 2: OCT - DEC 2023

October 23

We were delighted to again receive from Notts City Council Household Support Funds to purchase significant food stocks (Oct 23 and June 24). We began hosting ‘Wise Moves’ at Hope House, an NHS postural balance class.

November 23

Carlton was awarded Runner Up Outstanding Community Project. We launched our first ever Volunteer Survey. Carlton’s boiler failed and Gedling Councillors helped fund a new one. We ran ‘The Shack’ at Hope House.

December 23

Annual Volunteer Christmas Party for our Volunteers. We welcomed two new Trustees to our Board. Mount Zion Foodbank was forced to close due to building works. The Evangelical Free Church offered us a new home.

QTR 3: JAN - MARCH 2024

Jan 24

We were delighted to receive funding to fit an additional boiler and new radiators in Carlton’s church space. We began working on an application for additional funding from Trussell to increase our advice provision.

February 24

DWP changed their policies ‘meaning they could not refer for foodbank. Our long serving Aspley Foodbank leader, June, stepped down after over a decade of dedicated service. Our Friendship Coordinator left for a full time role.

March 24

Farewell to our Founder and Volunteer Manager, welcome to a new Trustee. We closed our Linking Lives project, ran ’Closer’ for Lent. Finalised our first Job Evaluation Salary Benchmarking. Toilets at Hope House were refurbished.

QTR 4 - APR - JUNE 2024

April 24

Our long term Chair stepped down and new one appointed. Bestwood Advice began delivering advice in three additional foodbanks. We held our first Guest Support Focus Group meeting and conducted a staffing structure review.

May 24

Our new Friendship Projects Coordinator completed their induction. We began advertising for a Senior Manager to oversee our Foodbanks, general ops and support our CEO. We launched our first Referrer’s Newsletter.

June 24

We celebrated Volunteer’s Week, ran the ‘Alive’ course and launched Carlton’s first Community Meal. We met with Bethesda Ministries in Netherfield to renew our partnership, honouring Avril stepping down as leader.

STRATEGIC REVIEW

YEAR 2 OF OUR STRATEGIC PLAN What we achieved

Proactively engaging our people to ensure we are living our vision & values

We continued to hold bi-annual volunteer celebration events at Christmas and in June, when we also acknowledged volunteer service with 1, 5 and 10 year badges. We held our first faith based volunteer retreat session at a local church. Volunteers received our monthly external newsletter alongside a regular newsletter from our CEO. We also completed our first Volunteer Survey - see results on our impact reporting pages 58-59.

In this period we also recruited three new Trustees - experienced charity leaders and professionals, as well as appointing a new Chair when our long serving Chair reached the end of his final term. Our staff team benefited from ‘team’ focussed monthly meetings, bi-annual faith based retreat days and we completed a full job evaluation process with salary benchmarking. Our CEO was supported with ACEVO membership and Cinnamon Network Academy.

Reviewing, nurturing and clearly defining our partnerships

We continued to work with our welfare and benefits advice provision partners with regular reviews, supported by our Trussell Financial Inclusion Manager, ensuring the provision was Foodbank Guest focussed rather than general outreach. This also included working with Trussell to gain additional funding for expanded advice in three more foodbanks from April 2024 - Meadows, Mount Zion and Sneinton. Relationships with our foodbank host partners made steady progress - with many conversations about ways of working, including attending governance meetings in Meadows.

We formed a new relationship with the Evangelical Free Church in Radford, who provided a new home for Mount Zion foodbank, delivered our first Foodbank Referrers newsletter with a refreshed handbook and further developed our work with corporate supporters, ensuring volunteering days were suitably productive, risk assessed and opportunities for food and fundraising capitalised.

Delivering quality community led and based services that meet local needsGenerating income to ensure a sustainable future 22,50 In addition to expanding our advice provision and ensuring our foodbank referrers understand that holistic support is required to020,000 help individuals out of crisis, we continued our switch over to electronic foodbank referral. We focused on facilitating relationships 17,50 between our Volunteer Foodbank Leaders, via a team meeting and better communication. Recognising need for wider Safeguarding Support, our Foodbank Coordinator took on additional Safeguarding responsibilities. 015,00

012,50 We finalised our ‘Advancing the Christian Faith’ policy and embedded a Christian Focus Group with regular meetings and to ensure010,00 equal attention to our other charitable objective, we also set up a ‘Guest Support’ Focus group. A New Activity Proposal procedure was developed ready for a focus on developing additional activities. There was a focus on our Job Club, reviewing resources and07,50 approach and we held our first monthly community meal at the Carlton Community Hub in June 24.0 0

STRATEGIC REVIEW

YEAR 2 OF OUR STRATEGIC PLAN

What we achieved

Investing in our marketing and communications, to expand our reach In September 2023 our Development Manager led a very successful Open Day at our Carlton Community Hub, positively engaging local people and partners. Support came from the local Mayor, MP, Councillors, Tesco, The Ark, Jigsaw and other organisations.

We consistently produced a monthly digital supporter newsletter to just under 2000 people, developing an alongside ‘blog’, written by staff and volunteers. Following the departure of our Founder and Ambassador, we again tried to recruit part time marketing and communications staff member in the form of a ‘Support Care and Engagement’ role, to no avail, but continued to take advantage of opportunities to share our work via talks. We also continued to make best use of Canva, our self managed website and social media, where resources allowed.

Our Referral Newsletters also reached 1135 individual foodbank referrers and we ensured our 370 strong volunteer team were kept updated about our work and developments.

Understanding our impact to be informed and agile in our support

Whilst our Trussell data system and other internal systems enabled monitoring of quantitative impact and use of our services, capturing qualitative impact across all our locations remained a challenge.

Our Annual Report July 2022 - June 2023 was again the most comprehensive account of our impact and we spent time reflecting on many of our activities. We also focused on learning more about our impact in enabling volunteering via a detailed online survey. This was intended to help inform work on our first official ‘Volunteer Policy’ and our future volunteering strategy, as well as give all our volunteers, the opportunity to give us feedback on all manner of topics.

In Quarter 3 we undertook a detailed staff job evaluation and salary bench-marking exercise, ensuring each role is clear on its requirements in order to meet the needs of the activities which it supports, as well as to ensure a fair salary.

Generating income to ensure a sustainable future to meet growing local need 22,50 Generating income to ensure a sustainable future To be well informed, we further developed our monthly financial reporting, including improved grant monitoring. We moved our020,000 Supporter Database from Donor Perfect to Beacon and continued to develop our financial reviewing and reporting processes.17,50

From September 2023 we trialled our part-time Bookkeeper working one extra day per week on grant research and bid writing to015,00 support the CEO. This was supported with various training and resources to develop our case for support and was made a012,50 permanent increase in hours in March 2024. Our grant writing attention to detail brought significant successes including a £75k010,00

grant and our previous year’s Annual Report played a key role in communicating our work to a high value donor. A new Assistant 07,50 Treasurer was also appointed to our Trustee Board for additional support and a fresh view at our financial approach. Corporate focus brought additional funds and gift of laptops from Domestic & General.0 0

OUR IMPACT - GIVING

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Inspired by kindness: (left to right) Hilary (befriender),
Ken (foodbank), Eric (Job club), Yvonne (Acts 435) and
Lindsay (befriender) all volunteering at Hope House GIVING
with over 28 years of Hope service between them
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More than just giving time

A 370-strong Hope Nottingham army of registered, regular volunteers were enabled and supported in a variety of volunteer roles - foodbank, our free-drop-in café, befriending, admin, foodclub, community meal, allotment, parent and toddler, youth services, driving and skills sharing. This was 5% up on last year.

Without these generous individuals (just some of our wonderful volunteers shown), we simply could not carry out the work that we do. If a cash value of the hours were calculated, it would amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Inspired by talent, passion and kindness

A TRULY ASTOUNDING XXX 29,422 30+ 370 VOLUNTEER HOURS*VOLUNTEER GIVEN IN KIND ACTIVITIES HOPE VOLUNTEERS OVER 14 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS HOURSACROSS THE YEAR

We are immensely proud of the role that Hope Nottingham plays in providing local people the opportunity to give back to their communities in safe, structured, meaningful and supported ways. Read more about our volunteers’ motivations, feedback and experiences at Hope through our 2023-24 Volunteer Survey results on pages 58-59.

‘I enjoy volunteering. It’s the highlight of my week. I get on with everyone and everyone is nice and I feel like my contribution is making a real difference.’

*Volunteer hours calculated on the average volunteer hours per session, per activity, across our network

OUR IMPACT - GIVING

CASE STUDY

SERVING HOPE BY THE MUG FULL

Towards the end of our reporting year, Dave Lowe, pulled on his waiter’s apron in the Hope café for the last time, reflects on 18 happy years as a volunteer in Beeston

“Hope Nottingham has come a long way since I became a volunteer in 2006. At that time the café was run from a portacabin in the grassed area behind Wollaton Road Methodist Church in Beeston. We boiled water in a kettle to make tea and coffee and there was only one item on the menu – cheese on toast. We welcomed a small number of guests and several were homeless.

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“Perhaps the secret is
that Hope always
puts people first.”
DAVE LOWE|
HOPE VOLUNTEER
2006 - 2024
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After Nigel Adams launched Hope, the project moved to Boundary Road and the drop-in cafe was based in the old kitchen downstairs in the hall. I worked alongside volunteer Barbara Parker, who founded the Hope Friendship Club. More and more people found their way to the café and more breakfast choices were offered.

Indeed, I was impressed and amazed at how Hope expanded in Beeston and in other parts of Nottingham and how rapidly a varied range of activities developed. A feature of the changes at Boundary Road was a shiny new kitchen and a much needed Food Bank.

I will miss everyone associated with Hope, especially the Thursday team. Tilly, Teresa, Gill, Meryl, Andrea, Louise, James and of course Rob – the fastest chef in the West. He somehow knows what people want to eat before they step through the doors, which makes life easy for the waiter. Perhaps the secret is that Hope always puts people first.

----- Start of picture text -----
ROB CARVIN | HOPE VOLUNTEER
“FASTEST CHEF IN THE WEST” 2012 - PRESENT
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By the nature of their roles, the support and office team, especially Lauren, Iain, Claire and Jade, are often on the move. So, when taking breakfast orders, I didn’t put a table number on the order sheet. I simply noted they were floating.

Thanks everyone for lots of laughs and many happy memories. I wish Hope every success and blessing in the future. Before too long, I hope to pop into the café for a coffee and one of Rob’s special bacon and egg butties . . . “

All at Hope Nottingham want to say a huge thank you to Dave - who like all our volunteers - has given up so much of his time to serve others.

OUR IMPACT - GIVING

Corporate Volunteering

Financial Support

As well as our core volunteer team, we also provided numerous opportunities for ad hoc volunteers from local businesses to give back to their communities. We have benefited from allotment days, fence painting, lifting and carrying, manning stalls at our Tesco National Collection days and general help, saving us lots of time and funds, whilst also helping local businesses fulfill their Corporate Social Responsibility in a meaningful and fun way!

DHL and NHS Supply Chain, Cooper Parry, Utility Warehouse, Edge, Nottingham Racecourse, Equifax, Experian and Boots were just some who spent volunteering days with us. Some companies went the extra mile and brought food or small financial donations along with them.

John Deere who repeated their Annual 'Day of Caring', purchasing £5k of food and saw the company's team purchase and pack 180 emergency food parcels for us to supplement our foodbanks. Whilst a logistical challenge to transport such quantities in icy winter weather, we were grateful to D&G who rallied to our aid when we were short of van volunteers, sending a regular stream of volunteers to support us, ensuring our foodbanks were kept stocked.

Left: Michael Page who painted the fence, weeded the play area and helped sort a 500kg donation from Nottingham High school! Right: Volunteers from D&G helping move 180 foodparcels from John Deere!

Left: Trust Alliance who as well as a day spent gardening for us brought our largest Corporate Volunteering Donation yet, of an amazing £3,250! Right: Claire our Foodbank Coordinator thanking Victoria Centre Management

Very generous financial support has been received from a multitude of people and organisations. We are extremely grateful for the generosity of individuals, churches, schools, community groups, businesses and local authorities.

To name just a few examples: We were delighted by Victoria Centre's decision to make us their ‘charity of the year’ for another year. Thanks to various public events they encouraged individuals to donate £9,975, totaling £27,966 over the two years.

Gedling Borough Councillors again donated to our Carlton Community Hub, funding a new boiler.

Russell Scanlan’s quiz night was an amazing fundraiser and our very own Hope Nottingham team came first in the quiz!

Russell Scanlan chose us as charity of the year. Their efforts over the year raised a wonderful £3,000.

All the financial support received has blessed us with a much securer future to further our vision to 'Inspire & Grow Communities of Hope'. A list of our key funders can be found on pages 76 and 83

OUR IMPACT - GIVING

----- Start of picture text -----
Going above and beyond: Andy and his children
‘bucket collecting’ at the Diversity show
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‘I really enjoy getting involved in the fundraising we do at Hope Nottingham, both through grant bidwriting and more on-theground activities. We are blessed to receive support from so many sources and the opportunity to collect money at Diversity's concert this year was fantastic. Lots of people donated both food and money and spoke to us about the work we do. Getting to meet the cast also helped to increase my "coolness" with my children!’

Andy Thomas | Bookkeeper & Administrator

----- Start of picture text -----
& Administrator
Diversity tour supporting Trussell
Hope Nottingham Trustees collecting food and
funds at the Diversity show | April 2024
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Giving alongside entertainment: We took advantage of Trussell-led initiatives such as attending a Diversity Show which raised £796 in funds and 66kg of food donations. When our Carlton foodbank’s shelves ran empty, the volunteers shouted out on social media and our friends at Connect @ Netherfield, (led by Nina who previously ran our Bilborough foodbank), rallied to create a food and fundraising event for us, helping us quickly restock the shelves!

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Netherfield Connect supporting our Carlton foodbank
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OUR IMPACT - GIVING

----- Start of picture text -----
Foodbank donations
Our foodbanks rely heavily on the generosity of local
communities to keep them well stocked with a wide variety
of ambient food and toiletries. Donations come from many
sources. We are constantly amazed to see Permanent
Collection Points in many supermarkets being refilled daily.
Our foodbanks are visited almost every day by local people
bringing food. Schools, universities, churches, businesses
and other community groups collect huge amounts of food,
especially at Harvest and Christmas.
Nottingham Building Society
----- End of picture text -----

‘It is really worrying that donations were down by 31 tonnes compared to the previous year’s decline of only 6 tonnes. Supermarkets declined by 8 tonnes alone, even though our number of stores has increased by 28%. This clearly demonstrates the impact of rising food prices, reducing the extra items shoppers would previously buy and donate. We have been so grateful for the Nottingham City Council Household Support Fund, which has ensured we haven’t had to turn anyone away hungry.’

Claire Fenwick | Area Foodbank Coordinator

Despite a decline, we were still overwhelmed with the generosity ‘Local food heroes of the weight of food our Simon and Linda’ committed army of volunteers donated an amazing processed throughout the year, 1.25 which amounted to a humongous tonnes of food to the 135,427 (39,680 IN 2022) kg Carlton Foodbank!

135,427 kg 164,423 kg

To note, Trussell supplied graphs show April 23 - March 24

OUR IMPACT - GIVING

Foodbank volunteer teams across city and county

We operated our food banks in 14 local communities, including our base at Hope House in Beeston and new Community Hub in Carlton, with others facilitated by partnerships with 11 local churches and one council-run library. From these we supported individuals living all across Nottingham. In some locations we improved our signposting and referral practices, thus reducing the numbers of emergency food parcels issued. In others, local need saw an increase. This is shown below in the comparison of figures to last year (L/yr).

----- Start of picture text -----
‘To each and every
volunteer that has
supported the work of
our foodbanks, a
heartfelt
thank you.
Special appreciation
Aspley St Margarets Beeston Hope House Bilborough Library Broxtowe St Martha's Carlton Hub goes to our
Mondays & Thursdays Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat Wednesday & Fridays Wednesdays Tuesday & Fridays Foodbank
c931 parcels (668 Lyr) c1268 parcels (1172 Lyr) c364 parcels (434 Lyr) c305 parcels (400 Lyr) c1384 parcels (1507 Lyr)
Leaders
also volunteers, and
Host Churches
who go
above and beyond
for our
volunteer teams
and their
local communities.
Chilwell St Barnabas Meadows Bridgeway Hall Bethesda Ministries Radford Mount Zion - moved location mid-year
Tuesday Tuesday, Friday, Saturday Netherfield, Wednesdays to the Evangelical Free Church We appreciate their
c158 parcels (135 Lyr) c1681 parcels (1516 Lyr) c 533 parcels (592 Lyr) Tuesdays & Thursdays c1083 parcels (1161 Lyr) hard work and patience
whilst we juggle so
many locations,
activities and priorities
and encourage them to
always be forthcoming
in telling us what they
need as they are our
vital link to local
people.’
CRA Radford Arboretum Sneinton Salvation Army The Haven, Stapleford Montrose Court, Stapleford Grangewood Methodist,
Dominique,
Saturdays Thursdays Tuesdays & Fridays Mondays & Wednesdays Wollaton, Fridays
Hope CEO
Closed (161 Lyr) c1140 parcels (754 Lyr) c847 parcels (812 Lyr) c186 parcels (111 Lyr) c89 parcels (172 Lyr)
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OUR IMPACT - GIVING

The Evangelical Free Church comes to the rescue in Radford

When our Mount Zion foodbank started major building works, they had hoped to continue their foodbank service from a portacabin. Their insurers however, insisted they leave the site in the lead up to Christmas, causing an urgent local appeal for a new host to ensure Radford was supported with emergency food. We were incredibly grateful the leaders of the Evangelical Free Church offered us a space twice a week with ongoing storage.

Pastor Mark of the Evangelical Free Church said

‘We are looking forward to starting our journey together in serving local people in our area….we are all excited about this.’

Evangelical Free Church

Mount Zion Apostolic Church

Above from left: Karen, wife of the Evangelical Free Church’s Pastor, who quickly signed up as a volunteer, with her daughter, to support the move, with Pastor Trevor of the Mount Zion Apostolic Church.

OUR IMPACT - GROWING

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‘For some people the
community meal might
be the only social
interaction they get and
to be a part of making a
difference to someone’s
life makes it all
worthwhile.’
Sophie | Community Meal
& FoodClub Volunteer
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GROWING

Multiplying our work in our own community and others

In November 2021 we took on the lease of this due to close former Methodist Church, which had hosted one of our foodbanks for over a decade. With the efforts of a fabulous 50 strong army of volunteers and support from the local council, Jigsaw Homes and various other organisations the Carlton Community Hub was born and continued to grow from strength to strength.

Our Carlton Food club launched in April 2023 and membership continued to grow. Following the success of our Hope House monthly meal, we launched Carlton’s Community Meal in June 2024 attended by around 30 guests, initially funded by Gedling Borough Council. We were also proud to receive a renewed 5-star rating from the Food Standards Agency in June 2024, to support our growing food sharing focuses.

‘I volunteered so that I could give something back to the community in which I live. Meeting other local people was also important to me as well as being part of a hardworking team who all support each other with a great sense of humour. The community meal is a fantastic, sociable and worthwhile event.’

Jacqui | Community Meal and Community Cafe Volunteer

OUR IMPACT - GROWING

Raising awareness of our work

In September 2023, to celebrate the great work and popularity of our Carlton Community Hub, we held a very successful Official Launch Day and Community event. It was attended by around 300 people, including (but not limited to):

The Mayor of Gedling Our local MP, Tom Randall Tesco Carlton (providing food for BBQ) Jigsaw Homes The Ark Dancers from Simply Dance Group Music from Jelly

The great work of the staff and volunteer team in making this event happen also helped raise £1200 for the running of the Hub.

‘I first visited the food club in my capacity as a local councillor to find out what it was all about. I enjoyed it so much that I signed up to volunteer every week. The volunteers are so welcoming to the members/guests, and I find it a great opportunity to meet people from the local community. It is now one of the highlights of my week.’

Catherine Pope | Food club Volunteer since Feb 2023 and local Councillor

OUR IMPACT - RELIEF

Powered by kindness: Mary has volunteered in the St Barnabas, Chilwell foodbank since 2020

Each parcel contained at least 3 days of nutritiously balanced food so we provided a staggering

HELPING INDIVIDUALS WITH 3 DAY FOOD PARCELS

9,977 FOOD PARCELS

PARCELS XXX VOLUNTEER 206,415 22,935 EMERGENCY MEALS TIMES HOURS 120 MORE THAN 2022-23 1,080 MORE THAN 2022-23

OVER 14 LOCATIONS

120 MORE THAN 2022-23

228 MORE THAN 2022-23

RELIEF

Management and distribution of essential provision to help people out of crisis

Emergency Food

A huge part of our work is the provision of emergency food via our East & West Nottingham franchise with The Trussell Trust. We believe strongly in their referral system, whereby individuals are referred to us, rather than selfreferred. This ensures we are acting as good stewards of the food donated to us, and provides the information necessary to enable us to support those in need out of crisis.

All our foodbank teams together help make a real difference in people's lives. Whether one or many people arrive at a foodbank session, the most important thing is that our volunteers are there, ready and willing to support, with a warm welcome.

‘I volunteer at the foodbank

because it gives practical help to vulnerable people in a caring way.’ Sue | Hope House Volunteer

Some of our Foodbanks operate for a single session each week, others two, three or four sessions per week. What is most vital and common amongst all, is the continual commitment of the volunteer teams, to keep the doors open, come rain, snow or shine, never quite knowing who or how many people will arrive.

OUR IMPACT - RELIEF

Foodbank referral

Our Foodbank referral system only works thanks to the relationships we build with local agencies and organisations, ensuring food gets to the right people, at the right time. Our foodbank referral relationships also help us to build our local knowledge of the services on offer, enhancing our teams’ ability to signpost guests to additional help.

The Department of Work and Pensions (including job centre work coaches) have consistently been one of our highest referral agencies. They hit the headlines in January 2024 when they decided they had never been ‘referrers’ and would no longer signpost users to us with paper slips that we had always used as referrals.

‘...the Department cannot operate as a foodbank referral pathway, in order to keep the distinction between formal welfare support and the discretionary support provided by charities.’ Letter from DWP

Despite our united efforts with other local Trussell foodbanks, there was no changing their mind and our volunteer teams dealt admirably with the fall out, of signposting guests to other referral agencies. On a positive, this change eliminated the use of DWP’s paper referrals, an ongoing problem, compared to the majority of referrers who welcomed the move to an electronic referral system.

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330 active
referral
organisations
using electronic
referral
with 1,135
individual
referral agents
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CASE STUDY

‘It’s amazing what you guys do for our teenagers. We are working hard with them in terms of money management and some of them don’t have a clue what is priority and some have come from really difficult circumstances. We don’t have budget to help them when their food stocks are empty so this foodbank has been wonderful in supporting our young residents.’ Referral Agency

The above graph highlights a forced move to accepting self referrals during the pandemic and demonstrates our commitment to third party referral and continuing demand on our services from a variety of organisations. In recent years, we have cleaned our database, linking previously individually set up referrers to their organisations, and ensuring our only referrers are those best placed to identify those in crisis and with professional email systems to ensure referrer identity and our guests’ data security.

To note, Trussell supplied graphs show April 23 - March 24

OUR IMPACT - RELIEF

What the data is telling us

Vouchers issued by geographical ward

Whilst there can be valid reasons for using foodbanks out of your home area, Our vision is that people are supported in their own communities, limiting travelling with heavy food bags and transport costs. We will continue to monitor our current locations, opening days and times to ensure those in crisis can easily access emergency food and other support.

To note, Trussell supplied graphs show April 23 - March 24

OUR IMPACT - RELIEF

Frequency of foodbank use

Whilst the media can sometimes present a picture of largescale foodbank dependency, our data tells a different story - the highest percentage of users having only accessed one voucher in the twelve month period and a very small percentage of guests with much higher use. This higher use can often include individuals with very complex mental health needs, and the homeless. We are also seeing increasing numbers of people in temporary accommodation.

We never put a limit on vouchers received, however we do ask referral agencies to talk to us when issuing more than 4 in a 6 month period, so we can ensure individuals are getting the financial advice they need to help them out of poverty. Our referral system is not intended to make accessing food a challenge, we strongly believe it is essential to lift people from crisis to hope, and without such a monitoring system, the reality of food insecurity could be hidden or misreported.

Percentage of guests by numbers of foodbank vouchers issued in the reporting year

58% WITH ONLY 1 VOUCHER

6% WITH 7+ VOUCHERS

ONLY A 64% 2.36x WERE FIRST AVERAGE 2,841 TIME VOUCHER VISIT FIRST TIME REFERRALS FREQUENCY REFERRALS

Help through Hardship

Trussell’s ‘Help through Hardship’ (HTH) helpline, in partnership with Citizen’s Advice, provided guests with a free and confidential telephone option for welfare and benefits checks.

818 HTH REFERRALS

OUR TOP REFERRAL AGENCY

CASE STUDIES

There are real people and stories behind each and every number

‘I’ve been struggling mentally and financially over the past year and I’m not sure what would have happened had the foodbank not been here.’

‘My wife passed away and I was here on a family visa. I had a lot of difficulty changing it over and now find myself in a lot of debt. I’m embarrassed and ashamed to have to use the foodbank, but I need to be at home for my four young children, who’ve just lost their mother!’

‘I get myself sorted with a job and I do OK for a few months, but I relapse back onto drugs when I get stressed and then I lose my job…I wish things were different. CGL are helping me with my problem but without the foodbank I think my relationship with my partner would have broken down completely and I’d be homeless. I’m on my last chance she’s told me.’

OUR IMPACT - RELIEF

OUR IMPACT

Foodbank as the first step to caring and holistic community support

Being referred for an emergency food parcel can often be the first time someone steps through the door of a foodbank. The vision of Hope Nottingham, our volunteer teams and the host churches and organisations we partner with, is not a ‘transactional’ handing over of food. Each location is developing their own activities, in our hubs led by us and in partner churches led by the missional team or local volunteers and community members themselves. Where requested to, we will always aim to help this development, but in many cases, the volunteers are more than capable to lead.

dedicated c179 foodbank volunteers

CASE STUDY

Meadows foodbank

4,221

Our Meadows Foodbank was the busiest of all our foodbanks in this reporting year and members of their volunteer leadership team were keen to offer repeat users and local people more than just foodbank. Following much research they partnered with Your Local Pantry (independently from Hope) offering members a weekly food shop for £5 including fresh fruit and vegetables saving on average £21 per shop.

HOUSEHOLDS SUPPORTED ACROSS THE NETWORK

14,424 ADULTS FED

The pantry now has a good number of regular weekly users. Mark Knowles, pantry coordinator, shared that recent Nottingham Trent University research on the impact of the pantry, showed some members believed being part of the pantry had reduced their foodbank usage, and guests had also shared using the pantry had enabled them to eat more healthily and improved their overall wellbeing.

8,511 CHILDREN FED

1352 foodbank sessions

CASE STUDY

From fleeing domestic violence to finding a forever home

‘Joanne, a single mother with one toddler and child fleeing domestic violence came along to pick up a food parcel and whilst here, I invited her to come along to our toddler group.

She slotted right in. Even with her car broken down she walked with her toddler in tow to attend our session. Joanne’s older child also attends our Renew Youth Group which she absolutely loves!

Joanne was recently given a property near Beeston and still attends both our groups since her children love them so much. We were able to support Joanne not only with a food parcel. With referrals from Acts 435 and The Arches we were able to help set up her new forever home in our local area.’

Jade Lewis-Roe | Youth and Community Worker

Inspired by community: Caroline | Volunteer since 2018 at Meadows foodbank whose 44 volunteers distributed 1681 food parcels in 2023-24

OUR IMPACT - RELIEF

Food stocks on the move

171 Foodbank deliveries 20% up on L/yr

£135,375 of food stocks purchased

Jenny Farrell-Bird Trussell Area Manager

We are indebted to our amazing volunteer van team who tour every part of the city collecting and distributing food. No task is too much trouble for them and as well as food, they have collected items for our allotment, even moving and banking bulk coin donations, as well as delivering equipment and making regular recycling trips.

‘I enjoy volunteering. It’s the highlight of my week. I get on with everyone and everyone is nice and I feel like my contribution is making a difference. It’s also boosted my confidence which I think will help when I finish my studies and start looking for jobs.’ Reece | Van Assistant

The Arches Trent Compassion

Reece and Malcolm | Hope Van Team Volunteers

We could not achieve the safe management of our food stocks without the wonderful provision of huge warehouse space by The Arches and Trent Vineyard, in Lenton. We are very grateful for the support of their staff and volunteer teams.

“Hope has a really good atmosphere, we are left to get on with our work and need to be all on the same page especially date rotation.’ Lynne | Beeston Foodbank volunteer since April 2013

OUR IMPACT - RELIEF

Community Foodclubs

Our two Community Foodclubs - Beeston since Nov 2021 and Carlton since April 2023 - are weekly initiatives that save food wastage and support local people with lowcost fresh food.

In partnership with Fare Share and growing fresh produce from our allotment for the Beeston club, we provide food boxes to local community members. Food provided is varied and nutritious for a very small fee. We have a mixture of completely new guests who attend, and have had guests who originally came in for a food parcel, sign up as members. The attendees are now a little community where they share meal ideas and even check in on each other.

Sarah, a guest ‘loves coming every week as it saves food wastage and it has been a Godsend with the rise costs of living.’

102 sessions & 110 members

KG 22.4 3417 TONNES OF FRESH FOOD SURPLUS FOOD BOXES SUPPLIED SHARED LOCALLY

CASE STUDY

‘Coming to the food club is more than just the great value box of food. It’s a place to socialise and make positive connections and relationships’

‘We have been coming to food club for about a year, it's something we look forward to so much and get very excited to find out what's in the box each week. Since joining food club I have become more adventurous in the kitchen trying out new recipes. We get lots of fresh veg and fruit in our box, some treats and some surprises!

Coming to the food club is more than just the great value box of food, it's also a place to socialise and make positive connections and relationships in the local community. We enjoy being part of the Carlton Community Hub, usually taking the opportunity to stay for a cuppa and some biscuits, getting to know lots of people. Food club has had a positive impact on my family, and I'm sure other families, reducing food waste and saving money on our weekly food bills. It has also improved our diet, nutrition/health and overall wellbeing. ‘

----- Start of picture text -----
Andrea, who attends Food
club every week with her
toddler and Mum who is
also a member.
----- End of picture text -----

OUR IMPACT - RELIEF

Guest Help

Our ACTS 435 Advocacy

‘giving to anyone who has need’ in line with Acts 4:35

Receipt of warm items and slow cookers to be distributed to vulnerable individuals, thanks to the Mayor of Broxtowe campaign.

With many of our guests experiencing poverty, we always endeavour to offer our services without any required charge, although many choose to make small optional contributions. For many in our foodbanks, a warm space, cup of tea and biscuit can make all the difference and in our two hubs we are blessed to be able to provide free breakfasts in Beeston four mornings a week and lunches in Carlton twice a week. Each hub also offers a monthly evening meal.

We are also able to signpost to The Arches, and used our own small discretionary fund (set up in memory of a deceased well loved guest - our dear friend Karl Rowland) to provide top up funds for Acts, emergency dental treatment and a new tent for a homeless individual

‘ I had nowhere to go and I found hope, not just hope in the word, I mean hope - this place. It really inspired me.’ PATROL HOURS Karl, much loved guest, RIP (206,304 IN 2022)

We continued our role as an Acts 435 advocate - a crowdfunding giving website. Donations can be made for urgent needs such as benefit delays/sanctions, bills, clothes, food, heating, fresh starts, goods and furniture and white goods.

Find out more about Acts 435 here

CASE STUDIES

‘Through our partnership with Acts we helped a guest with an asthmatic child purchase a condensing tumble dryer. The family were living in rented

accommodation without outdoor access and drying washing was causing mould in the property and aggravating her child’s asthma. We were also able to support a local single parent who had been rehoused into an unfurnished property from a hostel after fleeing domestic abuse. She was relying on emergency food bank support to get back on her feet and Acts435 funding meant we were able to purchase an electric cooker so she could cook for herself and her children.’

16 WASHING MACHINES 7 FRIDGES / FREEZERS 6 COOKERS 36 £6,035 4 BEDS / MATTRESSES INDIVIDUALS GOODS PURCHASED 1 CARPET FITTED FOR ACTS 435 1 CONDENSER DRIER SUPPORTED WITH 1 TOASTER ESSENTIAL ITEMS

OUR IMPACT - ADVICE

ADVICE

Bringing wide range guidance to provide accessible, integrated direction in a supportive environment.

Signposting

Signposting our guests to other local organisations is a key aspect of our work, particularly for financial and welfare advice. Our mission is to provide specialist advice to reduce debt, maximise incomes and prevent future reliance on food banks,. We have integrated this into many of our foodbanks, and the huge impact is shown in the next few pages. But we also want to encourage local people to seek support from their local communities and this ‘signposting’ is essential. Considered a safe haven, we believe our hubs and the smiling faces and welcome from our volunteers (alongside a cuppa and free hot meal) have a key role to play in introducing supportive organisations in an easily accessible and friendly way.

A variety of regular and ad hoc agencies visiting our hubs have enhanced accessibility of help for our guests offering ‘pop-up’ style sessions. At Hope House this has included local PCSO’s, Framework Street Outreach, Broxtowe Housing team, PA Housing, SEA, Elevate, Better Homes Better Housing, Notts Victim Care, Transforming Notts, and Midlands Women’s Aid. As a Christian Charity we have also welcomed visits from various churches. At the Carlton Community Hub we have hosted Gedling Borough Council outreach, Independent Age - benefits advice for over 65s, Fire & Rescue Service - safe and warm housing advice , Nottinghamshire NHS Talking Therapies advocate , Better Housing Better Health - Home Energy Advisor, and Futures For You (Careers Development Advisor).

----- Start of picture text -----
Liz | Volunteer Foodbank Leader
The Haven Foodbank in Stapleford
----- End of picture text -----

‘Hope offers those in crisis so much more than just foodbank support’

CASE STUDY

‘Katie, a single mum to three children under the age of 5 with no support network, came into our café with the three children in tow, to pick up an emergency food parcel. Kathy our befriender sat with mum at first, who was explaining her situation. Between myself, Kathy and Penny we were able to help mum by signposting her to Citizens Advice for housing issues, Step Forward for debt advice and our own Toddler group for community and just general support.

Katie came for breakfast a couple times a week just so the family had somewhere to go, have some food and it also meant mum could meet with Citizens Advice and Step Forward to talk about her issues. Due to us having these services, mum was able to easily go to her appointments as we are based right round the corner from her. We also helped Katie with form filling, furniture and clothes referrals. Katie was very grateful for the support she had received.’

OUR IMPACT - ADVICE

Financial inclusion Connecting to maximise incomes and reduce debt

OUR ADVICE PARTNERS

We know hunger cannot simply be addressed by an emergency food parcel. While it provides support for the immediate situation someone is facing, it doesn’t address the lack of income to afford the essentials. At the same time, we do not claim to be able to offer professional welfare, benefits or financial advice. However, through Trussell’s Financial Inclusion, we can ensure many people on low incomes have ready access to support, to reduce their food bank need in the future.

These services, are delivered by working with local expert advice providers, which unlock benefits, grants and money that people are eligible for, and connect people to other community services to help with issues like mental health and housing. Around 64% of the food banks in Trussell’s network were offering access to money advice and support and we are delighted to be part of this.

Now in year 2 of our Trussell funded Financial Inclusion project, we continued two sessions a week Citizens Advice Broxtowe outreach and one Step Forward Debt Advice session in Beeston, two advice sessions provided by Nottingham & District Citizens Advice, one each in our Broxtowe and Aspley foodbanks. The Ark also attended our Carlton Community Hub’s two foodbank & café sessions. The total results over the period have been amazing, as shown on page 39.

Phoenix Farm Open Door Project operating The Ark, Gedling

A new partnership

Additional Trussell funding from April 2023 enabled a new partnership with Bestwood Advice to position an advisor in three further foodbanks - Meadows, Mount Zion and Sneinton. In the first 3 months they spoke to 104 guests over the 3 sites to give assisted information and explain their service. Out of the three sites the Meadows is by far the busiest, with many guests having complex needs and needing numerous appointments to get their matters resolved.

Iain Anderson | Support Manager & Claire Fenwick | Foodbank Area Support Coordinator on route to a Trussell Rolling Roadshow

Iain Anderson, our Support Manager collates the Advice partners’ reporting requirements each quarter, to share with Trussell and ready for our CEO’s regular review meetings with each of them. ‘In the two years we have been involved in this project, it still never ceases to amaze me the difference that a short conversation with a trained welfare and benefits advisor can make. A recent story sticks in my mind of a lady with 4 children under 10, but only getting Universal Credit for two due to the two child limit rule. Her youngest son has been in

hospital since he was born with a health condition. Her other children live with her parents who don’t work, as she is always at the hospital with her youngest child. She wanted to know if there was any help available while she stays in hospital with her son. The advisor quickly discovered she wasn’t getting Child Disability Element or Carer’s Element and this should get back dated. Once sorted out she had a monthly gain of £685.89 and lump sum of £9,602.46! I really doubt this would have been identified if the advisor hadn’t been right in front of her at the foodbank.’

OUR IMPACT - ADVICE

----- Start of picture text -----
Heather Morris |
Step Forward Centre Manager
----- End of picture text -----

CASE STUDIES

Struggling with grief and finances

12 months. In those hundreds of have any income himself; he did not even people, one gentleman stands out. The have a bank account. He had some gentleman first came to the hub after serious health problems that his long-term partner passed away. He compounded his issues. On receiving was bereaved and felt lost, he had foodbank support the foodbank team relied heavily on his partner. He did not were able to refer the gentleman to our advisor. Our advisor, in conjunction with social services and a local housing provider were able to help the gentleman find stability and a level of financial independence and more solid foundations for his life. Once his finances and housing situation was resolved he still enjoyed attending the hub for the company of others.’ Joel Baldry | The Ark Project Manager

T he Ark is a community meeting place and advice centre in Gedling, close to our Carlton Hub. They provide advice on a wide range of issues including welfare benefits, housing, eviction, employment, general life skills and community issues. Through the Trussell Financial Inclusion grant, Hope Nottingham has been able to fund an advice worker to be based in our Carlton Hub’s foodbank twice a week.

‘The welfare rights provision at Carlton Community Hub has been a source of support for many people over the last

Adding to a feeling of family and support

because of this doesn’t like to open her mail as she finds it too difficult to deal with, this in turn has caused problems with her finances. We have been able to help her get on top of her mail and work out a budget she can live on, it is a real struggle for her and some months she still needs help with food etc. We have been in correspondence with the people that she owes money to and are in the process of negotiating with them on her behalf. Helping to lift some of the burden she is carrying and walking with her on her journey.’

Step Forward Money Advice is part of Trent Compassion and offers free, friendly and confidential debt and budgeting advice. Heather Morris Centre Manager shares her thoughts, on partnering with Hope Nottingham.

Money Advice in one place, has been so helpful’. For us at Step Forward Money Advice, the relationship part of our work is so important and the setting at Hope House, really adds to the feeling of family and support that we pray our clients feel. We have seen 49 clients through the year, helping some of them have their debts written off which have totalled almost £100,000 and managing other debts of over £100,000.

‘Working at Hope House this last year has been such a blessing for us and our clients. The warmth of the place is almost tangible and one of our clients quoted on their survey they completed that- ‘Having the Food Bank, Citizens Advice Bureau and Step Forward

Ms A came to us at Hope House having been referred by the food bank. Ms A struggles to process information and

OUR IMPACT - ADVICE

Emma | Citizens Advice Central Notts Outreach worker with Hope House team members

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Simon Mee |
Head of Service Delivery
Citizens Advice Nottm & District
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Embedding advice in to the community

CASE STUDIES

signposted to Citizens Advice. This increase is across all offices, not just at the outreach.

financial gains for those we are working with. We have seen an increase in the number of people using our service to request food vouchers. We presume this is because those accessing support through the jobcentre have now been .

Hope has had a long term relationship with Citizens Advice Broxtowe who have now merged with other local Citizens Advice to form Citizens Advice Central Notts. The first of our funded advice Outreach workers, Emma easily fitted in with our team and we were sad to see her move to another location at the end of the year. We wish her all the best.

Throughout the last quarter, we have noticed an increase in the number of households facing eviction. There is a lack of affordable private rented sector property in the local area and this is placing increased demand on the social housing providers.

Yvette Orton, Advice Services Manager shared her summary of the year: ‘The drop in service continues to be well attended and the advice and support provided has produced significant

We are aware that a lack of digital literacy is causing financial hardship for many. This makes the support offered in outreach locations extremely important.’

Benefits error spotted and resolved

“The guest attended outreach as a user of the foodbank and lived in a council rented property with her adult daughter and grandchild . She is a British citizen with a long-term health condition and income is Universal Credit standard allowance and housing costs paid to her landlord (LL). She had been awarded Limited Capability to Work (LCW) by UC and came for help with applying to the council for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) as had previously had this awarded but recently expired. The DHP was helping her afford the shortfall between her rent and the UC housing

client to write a message in her UC journal regarding the bedroom tax should have been removed 6 months previously when the baby started living at the address and the baby had been added to her UC journal as a change of circumstances. The DWP removed the bedroom tax and paid the guest back for the months when she should not have been subject to this. She received £208 backdated pay and better off by £52.04pm (£624.48 per year) making her better off per month to help her afford food/bills.’

costs. The shortfall was due to a bedroom tax applied when her other adult child moved out of the property meaning x1 spare bedroom. She was having difficulty affording food and bills.

Whilst looking at her UC breakdown with her, the advisor noted that the client was wrongly subject to bedroom tax and explained this. The client had updated her UC journal with the baby’s existence within the family, but no change had been made to her UC award and the client did not know about her bedroom entitlement. The advisor assisted the

OUR IMPACT - ADVICE

LIFE CHANGING FINANCIAL IMPACTS

£509,934 TOTAL FINANCIAL GAINS ACROSS ALL PROVIDERS

521GUESTSSUPPORTED 262GAINING FINANCIALLY

£249,520 TOTAL DEBT MANAGED £59,781 OF DEBT WRITTEN OFF

We are incredibly grateful for the support of Trussell and their dedicated Financial Inclusion Manager

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Mary Collier | Trussell
Financial Inclusion Manager
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‘As the Financial Inclusion Manager for the Trussell Trust in the East Midlands, I support Hope Nottingham with their foodbank-based advice service provision. This provision began in February 2022 in 4 of their food bank centres and, due to its success, further Trussell Trust funding was awarded earlier this year to expand the service to 3 more food bank centres. The services have evidenced significant impact for food bank guests in tackling the issues that led to their need for emergency food and achieving greater financial resilience. They have ended the ongoing need for food bank for many. Hope Nottingham’s unwavering focus on supporting their local communities in a compassionate, holistic and personcentred way is very impressive. Their strong partnership-working with local advice agencies exemplifies their commitment to social justice and proactive, determined approach. It’s a privilege to support their invaluable work.’

OUR IMPACT - COMMUNITY

Helping the community for over a decade: Left: Rob - Cafe chef twice a week. Right: Lynne - Foodbank and Foodclub Volunteer

COMMUNITY

Enabling all to be helped and to help, to give and to receive, enjoying both support and belonging

Community Cafes

Our free drop-in cafes, ensure guests are welcomed by true hospitality, food and friendship, all enabled by our amazing volunteers.

Our cafes offer support as part of a holistic approach which can include emergency food provision, benefits and debt advice, signposting plus practical help which includes referrals to The Arches and Acts 435. Most importantly, they give opportunity for connection and we have seen many friendships between guests formed and heard many stories of improved wellbeing as a result.

Hope House Cafe Beeston

Open 4 days a week, the café has seen an average of 130 breakfasts per week, thousands of cups of tea being consumed and hours of talking with our guests. The space was also used for celebrations including our Volunteers’ week and Christmas celebrations.

292

CAFÉ SESSIONS IN BEESTON AND CARLTON

8438 4972 BREAKFASTS LUNCHES IN HOPE HOUSE, BEESTON IN CARLTON COMMUNITY HUB

Hope Cafe at Carlton Community Hub

Carlton’s twice weekly lunchtime café runs alongside the food bank and has a wonderful team of volunteers cooking light lunches including soup, toasties, chip cobs, and freshly baked goods such as cakes and scones - real comfort food!

OUR IMPACT - COMMUNITY

Reducing loneliness

Whilst all our activities are centred around building community connections, we continue a dedicated focus on projects aiming to reduce social isolation.

Hope House Friendship group

Originally only hosted at Hope House, the Beeston Friendship group has now been part of the Hope Nottingham run family of activities since May 2021.

The group aims to provide a space for local community members who may be socially isolated, to meet new people and have a safe constructive space to explore new hobbies and learn about new interests.

Our guests participate in a variety of activities from quizzes, bingo, specialist talks, arts and crafts and board games.

Planned development for this group currently involves creating new links and networks with the local community to boost engagement.

Hope House Tuesday Friendship group enjoying some craft activities

CASE STUDIES

‘I heard about the group through my therapist as I was feeling lonely, I’ve been attending for about 4 months and really enjoy the company. It gives me something to look forward to every week.’

’I really enjoy coming as I get to meet people of a similar age and I enjoy the talks. The group has made me aware of the need to keep PATROL HOURS in touch more and has helped me take an interest in new subjects.’ (206,304 IN 2022)

Carlton Hub Friendship group

The Carlton Hub’s Friendship group was set up in November 2022, in response to local people in Carlton enjoying the activities during the week, but feeling particularly isolated at the weekends.

It has grown from strength to strength often with average of 35 regular attendees on a Saturday. It provides a warm welcoming space for members of the community to socialise alongside a toastie, with Peter and Karen’s revered homemade cakes! We even find time to play bingo and a quiz every week with prizes for the winners, alongside occasional sing-a-long music!

Carlton Community Hub Friendship Group

CASE STUDY

‘I started volunteering in late 2020, early 2021 during Covid-lockdown, initially I was packing food parcels for delivery but progressed to working in the café kitchen on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I felt very isolated during lockdown so the opportunity to meet and volunteer with other people really was a godsend. Helping and supporting other people has always been important to me and coming to Hope was a ‘lifesaver’ for me and I continue to enjoy being a volunteer. ‘

HELPING REDUCE LONELINESS FOR 50 42 FRIENDSHIP GROUP FRIENDSHIP GROUP 50 SESSIONS HELD SESSIONS HELD INDIVIDUALS IN BEESTON IN CARLTON EACH WEEK

OUR IMPACT - COMMUNITY

Arts & Crafts at Hope Nottingham

The Carlton Arts and Crafts group was initially instigated and supported by Jigsaw and is a session run by dedicated arts and craft experienced volunteers. A range of crafts is provided, week in and week out, such as painting, drawing, stencils, sewing, rug making and much more. The group has predominantly used recycled materials and aims to instil confidence and the session breaks in the middle to ensure a focus on connecting with others.

At Hope House, a small but developing card making group on Mondays and knitting group on Thursdays, as part of our usual Café session provided a connecting activity.

CASE STUDIES

‘Sharon: ’I love art, wanted to get back into it, and to socialise and meet people give back to the community. It is a nice relaxed easy-going atmosphere and helps to build confidence, and is good to share ideas and crafts. The thing I enjoy most about the group is the ability to

socialise, there is a good variety of activities, and the organisers work with the group members very well, the group is very accessible for those with any additional needs.’

Lucky: ‘I joined the group as I didn’t have much to do, needed to get out and socialise and make some friends. My uncle told me about the group after hearing about it through a social prescriber or something. I love the group as it’s a great opportunity for social connection, I’m really made to feel like part of the community. I really like art and love getting in touch with my creative side. I like to encourage others and offer support, offering guidance through activities as well as life Friendship etc.’ XXXX

‘H aving founded the group in 2022, I have loved being able to give back to the community and provide a safe space for people - some with additional needs - to get in touch with their creative side.’

Christine | Arts and Craft Group Lead Volunteer

‘I’m pleased to join the Hope team and am so impressed with the dedication of the volunteers across all the friendship projects. Loneliness can have devastating consequences on people’s wellbeing and I’m excited to increase our community based offerings, so we can continue to reduce loneliness for our guests.’

HELPING REDUCE LONELINESS FOR 20 INDIVIDUALS Liv Hunter | Friendship EACH WEEK Projects Coordinator

47 ARTS & CRAFT GROUP SESSIONS HELD IN CARLTON

OUR IMPACT - COMMUNITY

Hope Community Meals

Left: Some of the Hope House Community Meal team; Right: Celebrating a guest’s birthday at the meal; Far right: Hope House Community Meal

On the second Tuesday of every month, we offer a two-course cooked meal for anyone in the local community, on a 'pay what you can afford' basis. Our aim is to provide community connection as well as a hot meal in a warm, safe, and friendly space, also providing cooking and volunteering opportunities. We take into account dietary requirements, always including vegan and gluten-free options. Where possible for key months, entertainment has also been provided such as music and quizzes. Christmas saw the busiest meal with 76 guests attending. In June we launched the same event at our Carlton Hub.

‘Loved the food, very well cooked and presented. Can’t wait for the next one. Met some lovely people. Thank you!’ Carlton Community Meal Guest

OUR 2nd 12 385 ANNIVERSARY COMMUNITY MEAL 2 COURSE MEALS CELEBRATED IN EVENTS PROVIDED PROVIDED MAY 2024

CASE STUDY I In spring of 2022, Heather Sarno (shown below left), a local community member approached our then Director to talk about the benefits of social eating and home grown food. A member of Incredible Edible Beeston, she has also been involved in our Community Allotment. In May 2022 our first meal was launched and Tilly (our employed Housekeeper who has never missed volunteering for the meals) presented her with a celebratory birthday cake, (below right) which was shared by all.

‘ I enjoy feeding other people, greeting and meeting them, seeing them mingling and smiling. Sometimes my own dinner accidentally ends up in the bin, as I like the focus not being on me, and being on helping everybody else!’

Tilly | Employed Housekeeper and Volunteer in our Hope House Community Meal, Café and Foodclub!

OUR IMPACT - COMMUNITY

Connecting local families with young children

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Hope House Little Angels Toddler Group
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The extra mile: Right - Eleanor, dressed for the
toddler Christmas party; Left - Chelsea, John and
Eleanor - our main volunteers for the reporting year
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We provided 36 sessions of our Hope House Little Angels Toddler Group , at Hope House led by our Youth & Community worker alongside our dedicated volunteers. A consistent group of around 8 families attended on a weekly basis which has helped create a wonderful little community where parents who met each other at this group, now go out to the park or other activities together. Support was received from The Arches, Tesco Beeston and Toton in giving clothing, baby items and other items to our parents.

CLOSELY SUPPORTING 36 LOCAL SESSIONS 8 FAMILIES

‘I t has been a real personal blessing to be able to help out at Hope House Toddler group....... So many of the parents are dealing with difficult circumstances and their positive attitudes and sense of humour as they navigate through and the fact that they felt in a safe environment to share with others has been a real encouragement. Jade has fostered an accepting non-judgmental environment and the love of Jesus she has shown to all at the group has shone through. Because the group is quite small, many of the toddlers have gained confidence in their interactions with others and it has prepared them for going to pre-school. We all feel sad when they leave us but also blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time with the lovely parents and toddlers and plenty of laughs together along the way.’ Eleanor | Little Angels Volunteer

CASE STUDIES

A local Korean family attending our toddler group has been supported on their journey with food parcels and baby clothes, but gaining so much more through the deep and meaningful conversations that the small group setting allows. As an older couple, they had never felt they belonged anywhere but since joining our toddler group in 2023, they attend weekly, with everyone so happy to see them. Their toddler was very shy in the beginning but is now much more confident.

Their daughter is now going to be in full time education in September, so the family will be sadly missed, but we are very grateful that we walked alongside them for the past year. This family also took advantage of our food club as they were relying heavily on food parcels so having the option of buying a box full of fresh produce at a low cost price has been a godsend to them. Mum of this family said:

‘We thank you for everything that you have done for us as a family, a welcoming place, advice, support and most importantly for the prayers.’

OUR IMPACT - COMMUNITY

Carlton Hub ‘Stay & Play’ in partnership with Netherfield Family Hub

We are grateful to be able to partner with other local organisations, drawing on local experts to provide additional services without incurring significant running costs. Our Carlton Hub continues to offer our facilities free of charge for an afternoon a week for Netherfield Family Hub for a ‘stay and play’ service for pre-school aged children and their parents and carers.

Both the Beeston and Carlton activities provide families with an important access point to other services, such as drop-in cafes, foodbank and food club, helping local people build wider community connections.

CASE STUDIES

‘Carlton Hub benefits me and my child. It helps my child to socialise in groups with peers, helps develop my child’s fine motor skills, speech and skills such as turn taking, and provides fresh emotional and psychological stimuli midweek. I enjoy socialising with the other parents and sharing parenting ideas, swapping positive and negative tales, the social aspect benefits my mental health and keeps me motivated. The staff facilitating the group are knowledgeable and helpful and provide helpful child raising tips, above all the group is fun for myself and my child!’

‘I have brought both my children here over the past two years and I have always found it to be a friendly and welcoming environment, with staff taking a genuine interest in each of my children. They are always happy to assist with any issues you may be experiencing, offering advice or direction to helpful advice or direction with helpful resources.’

‘Activities are always varied and safe for all ages and children are consistently engaged, I have with my

UP TO children made many happy memories here FAMILIES and will continue to attend as the afternoon SUPPORTED is a winner.’ 15 EACH WEEK

‘Two's Company’ Befriending

In partnership with Linking Lives' Two's Company’ befriending project since 2020, we supported 'Link friends', providing training and support to appointed befrienders, who made weekly calls to reduce loneliness and isolation in our community.

Those needing support were either referred or selfreferred. We also produced monthly activity packs to send out to provide both a talking point and distraction from feelings of loneliness.

Our Friendship Projects Coordinator resigned in February 2024 to pursue a full time catering role. Though sad to lose her, we were pleased her experience with community meal, had helped her discover a love of cooking for others. It also kickstarted a review of our approach to loneliness. In overseeing the projects and making befriending calls herself, Rosie highlighted the increasingly complex mental health support needs of those being referred. Whilst telephone-based was a perfect scheme to launch during the pandemic, attempts to move to a more hybrid scheme with ‘link friends’ meeting at our hubs in line with our community based approach, and to reduce key person dependency of the support offered, simply wasn’t working. Therefore, following consultation with our volunteers and trustees, we stopped accepting new referrals and officially ceased the scheme in March 2024.

‘Souls connect with each other – to help one another better understand and walk this life together – with trust. That is why Hope is here and we’re all in each other’s lives – to help each other better understand ourselves and our pasts.’

Rosie Allen | Coordinator who brought many ‘cups of kindness’

20 LINK MATCHES

Success of the scheme to date, was demonstrated by the friendships made and that were to continue, even without Hope’s supervision, albeit we ensured those continuing calls still knew we would continue to support with any challenges. This then enabled us to release capacity for our new Friendship Projects Coordinator to provide more support to Carlton and begin researching other potential projects.

500+ BEFRIENDING CALLS MADE

OUR IMPACT - COMMUNITY

RUNNER UP ‘OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY PROJECT’ AWARD

In November 2023, our Carlton Community Hub was nominated by one of our guests in the ‘Outstanding Community Project’ category at the annual Pride of Gedling Awards. Read Colin’s reasons for nominating the Hub on the next page. The team were delighted to be confirmed as a runner-up out of 25 nominees.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER CELEBRATES 10 YEARS SERVICE

2023 was also a significant year for Carlton Hub’s staff lead Michael Singh, our Development Manager who received his ‘10 year Service Award for bringing HOPE to Nottingham’. Michael then stepped down in 2024, his legacy to Hope including not just Carlton, but many other continuing projects including our allotment, job clubs, literacy and ESOL group, and will always be a welcome and dear friend.

‘Carlton Community Hub is more than just a physical space; it’s a shelter where the power of the Community and the compassion transforms lives. In the heart of this this hub, it feels like God’s Embassy, where the warmth of God’s Love envelops those who enter, especially those burdened with despair. As they walk in with heads bowed and eyes dulled by life’s challenges, a remarkable transformation begins. Over time, you can witness heads slowly lifting, eyes sparkling with newfound confidence, and hearts rekindled with hope.

This place isn’t just about individuals finding comfort; it’s about fostering connections and breaking down the walls of isolation. The team at Carlton Community Hub, with the help of God and his guidance, orchestrates growth and healing. Through their efforts, people are not merely restored but renewed as active member of the community, ready to contribute, positively. Carlton Community Hub is an oasis of change, a beacon of opportunity, a testament to the power of compassion and unity. It is a place where lives are rebuilt, and the community is strengthened, one soul at a time. We give glory to God for his work in the success of the Hub. Without Him and the gift of the volunteers, it would not have been possible to achieve.‘

Michael Singh | Hope Development Manager (2014 - 2024) and Carlton Community Hub Lead

OUR IMPACT - COMMUNITY

CASE STUDY

PUTTING CARING AND EMPATHY BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY

Colin is 74 and lives in a supported apartment provided by Jigsaw Homes, in Carlton. Below he shares why he decided to both nominate and promote our Carlton Community Hub for The Pride of Gedling Awards, Outstanding Community Project.

“There should be a service like this in every town, supported by the NHS as part of their social prescribing programme. I believe that loneliness and isolation is a big issue in society. The benefits to society of The Carlton Community Hub model would in my opinion be immense”. Colin | Guest at Hope’s Carlton Community Hub

“I first discovered the organisation about 2 years ago after enrolling on a falls prevention exercise class and I still attend every week. It was around this time “Hope” decided to launch The Community Café running in conjunction with the Foodbank on Tuesdays and Fridays. As my life no longer has the structure that employment provides, I am always on the look out for social interaction and mental stimulation. I was consequently immediately hooked and have hardly ever missed a session since.

I have made so many friends and acquaintances since. On top of this there are advisers available from Gedling Borough Council, The Ark (benefits advice) and Jigsaw Homes. So many have been helped, including me with a financial issue for which I am eternally grateful.

The usage of all the facilities available has grown, mostly through word of mouth and like so many people I just do not know what we would do without The Carlton Community Hub now. It is a place of true fellowship, providing an opportunity to talk, have fun, socialise and develop new friendships. The snacks and drinks served by the most wonderful, friendly, hospitable and fun volunteers is just an incredible bonus. The Friendship Club turned out to be the icing on the cake, so to speak. This

was much more of a social club with the emphasis on fun. It is like one big family with such a wonderful atmosphere. We have light snacks, play Bingo (a must), try to answer questions on Tony’s crazy quiz and even have a sing song if we have time. All is extremely informal, light hearted and soon became the place to be on a Saturday. Again we are so grateful to all the volunteers that make this happen, in particular Tony and Karen. Like so many others this has helped me personally so very much. Giving me somewhere to go, people to meet and have fun with. This service helps bring the local community together. It gives a focal point for local issues to be discussed and fed back to the local authority.

A massive thank you to the finest group of staff and VOLUNTEERS we have the good fortune to be served by, in so many ways. Let’s face it without them none of this would happen. Finally I also need to say a great big thank you to all the organisations and people that provide funding in order to keep things going. I can honestly say that none of your money and donations is wasted. On the contrary it goes a long way to trying to put empathy and caring back into the local community.”

OUR IMPACT - EMPOWERING

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Empowered by their supportive
volunteer team: Aspley St
Margaret’s Foodbank.
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arrived on station in May
2023
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EMPOWERING

Enabling people to live more stable and fulfilled lives and find worthwhile occupation

We continued to provide multiple opportunities for local people to volunteer, reducing isolation, helping individuals gain confidence and make connections in their local communities, as well as providing safe and meaningful opportunities to support others.

In line with our Theory of Change, we believe in volunteer led activities, facilitating the power of communities serving their own communities.

Our staff roles provide wraparound support for both the volunteer leaders and their volunteer teams, assisting with recruitment, training, coordination of activities and supporting with any challenges for example food stocks, advising on additional support for guests and of course incidents and safeguarding.

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June led the
Leading from the front:
Aspley Foodbank for well over a decade,
with the support of Alan, her husband, Alan
before retiring in early 2024. We sincerely
thank them for all their efforts, going
above and beyond serving those in need.
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40
50
VOLUNTEER
VOLUNTEER
LED SESSIONS
LEADERS
EACH WEEK
thank them for all their efforts, going
above and beyond serving those in need.
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A Church committed to their mission supporting their local community: Bethesda Ministries, in Netherfield, with Pastor Ogle and his wife, Sylvia (left). Front Centre is Avril, who led the foodbank for over a decade. At the end of our reporting year, we met to share news of her retirement - another leader with over a decade of dedicated service. We are delighted that Val (right of Avril) is stepping into the Volunteer Leader role, with the support of the amazing team of volunteers.

OUR IMPACT - EMPOWERING

Literacy Group ’The best thing is how impressed I am with all the students and the results they produce. I enjoy volunteering each week.’

SESSIONS 30

Our Literacy group volunteers provided around 30 group sessions on Monday afternoons at Hope House, during term time. Offering kind and tailored support to local people wishing to expand their 4 literacy skills in a safe environment, a core group of around 15 guests attend.

VOLUNTEERS

GUESTS 15 SUPPORTED

Focus has been on creative writing, poetry, and improving their literacy skills, as well as building a sense of community and enjoyment around learning by exploring language together.

AND COUNTLESS CREATIVE IDEAS!

Over the year, guests have worked on a wide range of activities, covering everything from spelling, grammar and letter-writing through to poetry and creative writing. Catering for a range of levels of literacy and interests, the group continues to offer both support and encouragement to people of all abilities. They have also enjoyed social meet-ups in the holidays.

CASE STUDIES

English for Speakers of Other Languages ESOL Group

‘In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well..... If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach them well’ Romans 12:6-7

Hope’s ESOL classes have continued to provide support for local people learning English as a second language since 2022. Guests attending the sessions over the year have included refugees and asylum seekers from a range of nationalities and backgrounds including Ukraine, Syria, Pakistan, Turkey and Hong Kong.

Teaching takes place in small groups depending on their level of English to tailor to individual need, and allows guests to develop their written, and spoken English in a friendly and informal atmosphere. Most guests are regular attenders of the sessions.

We have also accepted new referrals from both within Hope and from external agencies (e.g. Belong, local councils and churches) and recruited and trained additional volunteers to enable this work to continue.

‘You gave me confidence in my ability to use grammar and you took away the barrier I put there myself.’

‘You helped me understand advice people gave me without context; which I now understand.’

‘ ‘I put pen to paper more than I did at the beginning and we always have a laugh.’

‘It’s never the same sort of thing to write about. The helpers are PATROL HOURS lovely.’ (206,304 IN 2022)

GUESTS PER WEEK THANK YOU 14 ON AVERAGE WITH SESSIONS FOR YOUR 35 UNIQUE GUESTS EXCELLENT 29 ASSISTED OVER VOLUNTEERS TEACHING 6 THE YEAR

OUR IMPACT - EMPOWERING

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“I really enjoy
gardening and
enjoy growing
fresh fruit and
vegetables for
people to eat”
Margaret P
volunteers
alongside her
husband James
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Margaret (left) and Rose (right) Rose is also a lead volunteer at our monthly community meal,

Hope Community Allotment

We have been blessed permission to operate a large allotment on unused council land just down the road from Hope House in Beeston for a number of years. Throughout the last 12 months, our allotment team have worked through all weathers to ensure a continuous supply of fresh produce, at times benefitting from a boost of labour from corporate volunteer days.

Our Tuesday Hope House food club receives a fantastic harvest each week of vegetables, salad and fruit allowing food club members to enjoy a wide selection of freshly grown and picked items. The freshly grown produce has included strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, gooseberries, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, apples, courgettes, tomatoes, squash, and chard! Our monthly community meal also benefit from this, with allotment produce being used each month.

This year has seen hard work in clearing and replanting sections of the allotment as well as the lifeboat today development of a new watering system in our two polytunnels. We are currently hoping to set up a second volunteer growing team to help us make maximum use of our allotment space and keep on top of the weeding and watering! Knowing the benefits of sharing growing skills, the outdoors and physical activity, we are also looking forward to developing other activities which can make use of this fantastic space on other days.

‘The aim of the allotment team is to provide fresh food for the Hope food club and community meal. However, there is a lot of time to chat and share with the team which is good for our mental health” Graham, Allotment Lead Volunteer

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12
CORE 52
VOLUNTEERS SESSIONS
WITH THEIR COME RAIN
WELLIES ON OR SHINE Graham - our Allotment Lead
Volunteer, who is never
afraid to muck in!
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OUR IMPACt- EMPOWERING *p' y4 +-.IL_"," 11:": 51

OUR IMPACT - EMPOWERING

HOPE JOB & COMPUTER CLUBS

‘A lady came in to say she’d been offered a job and was accepting it! She had come a couple of weeks ago when we helped her with her CV and some applications – one of which was successful - so that’s great!’

Hope Nottingham’s job clubs based at Hope House, and Beeston and Stapleford libraries have continued to support local people who are looking to get back into work. The dedicated one-to-one support provided by our volunteers include job searching, CV writing, job applications and interview coaching as required, tailored to the specific needs of each individual guest.

‘As well as assisting customers at the Carlton Hub with Employment & Skills support, my fortnightly sessions there have enabled Hub volunteers both here and at the Beeston base access our Level 2 Food Safety training. It is also an opportunity for me to signpost some of the numerous Jigsaw tenants that attend to other local services and work with partners on wider initiatives such as the Carlton Art Week.’ Martin Curtis, Neighbourhood Engagement Officer, Jigsaw Homes

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Our Hope House based sessions run alongside our community café and foodbank, offering support with getting back into work as part of a holistic approach which can include emergency food provision, benefits and debt advice. Our sessions at Beeston and Stapleford libraries, run in partnership with Inspire, provide a drop in service in easily accessible locations, and regularly receive guests referred from local Job Centres.

We look forward to continuing to assist those looking to get back into work and are currently working on recruiting a more diverse volunteer team to help support as wide a range of guests as we can.

We also continued our partnership with Martin Curtis of Jigsaw at our Carlton Community Hub providing a fortnightly work club. We also appreciated his professional advice and time given to meet with our volunteers, sharing his expertise and resources.

129 A STAGGERING 190 AVERAGE OF UNIQUE SESSIONS PROVIDED AT GUESTS SUPPORTED13 INDIVIDUALS HOPE HOUSE & BEESTON SUPPORTED WITH JOB SEARCH, EACH WEEK & STAPLEFORD LIBRARIES CV WRITING & INTERVIEW SKILLS

OUR IMPACT - EMPOWERING

OUR ‘RENEW WELLBEING’

YOUTH CAFE

We continued our partnership with Renew Wellbeing to offer a Thursday early evening Youth Café, to young people aged 9 - 14 years. Our focus is on providing a safe, calm space where 'it's ok to not be ok' and the five areas of wellbeing: connection, being active, taking notice, learning and giving.

Our Youth & Community Worker serves alongside a small team of volunteers to provide a safe and calm space, with shared food prepared together (supported by the local Tesco), craft and games, alongside optional reflection and prayer.

Although spaces are limited, and attendance sits between 10 and 12 young people each week, we believe this has greater impact than a traditional high attendance youth group. Many of the young people face individual challenges such as ADHD, autism, eating disorders or general mental health concerns, and our approach enables sharing of concerns.

We have provided lots of activities such as baking, jewellery making, card making and even played a live action game of ‘Among us’ – these activities are all underpinned by the five ways to wellbeing which ensure each young person is looking after their health whilst attending the group. The group set up enables the leaders/volunteers to be present with each young person which is vital build purposeful relationships. The young people have grown in confidence and are passionate about their life choices which is amazing to see. We look forward to continuing with this group, with plans to recruit a more diverse volunteer team to help support our young local people.

Pizza making night with food donated by Tesco Beeston

YOUNG PEOPLE SESSIONS

WITH FOCUSSED & SHARED SUPPORT MEALS

CASE STUDIES

David, our longest serving volunteer with 12 years service sadly relocated at the end of the year shared his experience at Hope: ‘As many of our young members are becoming adolescents, they are presenting some challenging behavioural issue and persist on pushing limits. Jade is coping well with these issues in a manner appropriate to the postcode.’

Jade - our qualified Youth Worker - is proud of the impact changing to a smaller group approach, seeing many young people flourish.

‘One young person has been coming to our Youth Café from the age of 9 and has struggled with mainstream school and has additional needs. Crowded places are a challenge and she needs lots of reassurance therefore the small, calm group suits her well. Sometimes she does ‘act out’, but since we know her, we can help settle her emotions and work with her in a positive way. If we had a room full of 30 young people that wouldn’t be possible. We can see each young person as an individual and put out activities that they have chosen. This once shy, worried child is now growing into a confident young lady.

Another young person aged 13 struggles with social anxiety and is currently under CAMHS to help manage her stress and anxiety. She loves coming along to the group helps with the younger attendees, realising she would love to help others with their mental health. Recently she has been looking at different career paths to do that. The Youth Café is a good starting block for her to explore and develop her skills.’

As part of our vision to ‘inspire and grow communities of Hope’ we have also welcomed visits from local churches and organisations interested in setting up their own Youth Cafe’s including Waymaker Church. Hope Long Eaton, St Barnabas, Chilwell (where our foodbank is based and we have supported development of their ‘Hope Hub’.)

OUR IMPACT - EMPOWERING

CHRISTIAN PRAYER AND FAITH BASED ACTIVITIES

We endeavour to support the spiritual wellbeing of those in our community (whether guests, volunteers or staff). To do so we recognise the role of chaplaincy, in being present with and alongside people, is one key way of doing this. At Hope House, our employed Chaplain leads on our rhythm of prayer, where we offer a short morning and lunchtime prayer Monday to Thursday, at the start and end of café sessions. Entirely optional and low key, it has benefited guests, staff, and volunteers, as a moment to pause and reflect, regardless of their faith.

Guests and volunteers had opportunity to share in watching the eight session series three of ‘The Chosen’, a story about the life of Jesus. It facilitated ‘faith in the everyday’ conversations, with an average eight guest/volunteer attendees. We also offered ‘The Shack’, a three week series discussing themes of grief and loss and were delighted with the attendance of a Muslim lady and her son who shared faith thoughts and experiences going to the Mosque, fasting in England during Ramadan. They were moved to tears by the film and greatly strengthened by it.

‘Helping at the faith-based sessions is always a blessing to me. I find the atmosphere encouraging and inspirational.’ Bob | Friendship club volunteer

Another three session series explored themes of ‘Advent’ in a prayerful, reflective way including craft, planned uniquely for Hope. ‘Closer’ was our Lent series over five sessions, tailor made to explore the journey to Easter together, with creative prayer. Finally, ‘The Alive’ series was five pre-planned sessions exploring the journey of the first followers of Jesus in a modern everyday context, their challenges reflective of the difficulties facing many of our guests. One volunteer supporting the sessions, grew in confidence and we are delighted she then went on to be part of bringing the series to her own church.

All sessions truly felt the safe environment they were intended to be, with welcome to those of any faith or none.

Throughout the year, our Chaplain also supported staff and volunteers’ wellbeing, offering ‘as needed’ and ‘second level’ support to guests referred by our volunteer befrienders, in single or up to six session blocks. We also offered our usual bi-annual staff retreats and our first volunteer retreat which included prayer stations, craft and worship.

‘I am so thankful to Lauren and Hope House that I can now easily open up and talk not only to Lauren but to my family and others. My life path has got easier, my community commitments are easier to manage and I can give so much more to them all…it’s to help me find time for Jesus in my life, I need, want to learn more about Him…it help{ed} me to open up freely without judgement…where I can see more clearly and God is definitely taking centre stage in it all. Lauren is such a wonderful listener, compassionate, friendly soul who is also bringing me closer to Jesus who is ever present in my life and I know how precious this is to people like myself. Thank you.’

350 prayer sessions at Hope House

24 faith sessions and 2 retreat days

Sharing a prayer request at Hope House, Beeston Maggie | Regular Guest

OUR IMPACT - EMPOWERING

CASE STUDY

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERING FAITH

David is a regular guest at Hope House and has enjoyed chatting to people about faith and attending our short prayer times, as well as the Alive series, led by our Chaplain.

‘My life before meeting Christ I’d describe as dark and painful. My life was full of a lot of anger and spite lots of hatred towards everyone around me. I tried things like paganism which really didn’t help, it made things a lot worse and the darkness increased. I tried to keep myself alone to manage the anger and hatred so it wasn’t going everywhere on everyone else.

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“The darkness is lifting.
Already on this path I
feel happier.”
David | Hope House Guest
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Hanging out at Hope, Lauren the chaplain gave me a bible. I’d go on YouTube to look up pagan stuff and usually come across more Christian YouTubers. I’d end up on there. Initial reaction was that it calmed me down and gave me a bit of peace and made me happier. I really wanted to move away from the pagan thing so I moved in the Jesus direction. I became happier and calmer. This is much better for me.

A friend of mine at Hope gave me quotes from the bible that helped me. He encouraged me to speak to Lauren. It took me a lot to swallow my pride and speak to her and ask for help. She led me in a prayer called, ‘A prayer to be born again,’ where I thanked Jesus for dying on the cross for me, asked him to forgive me, received him as my Lord and Saviour, and committed to live the rest of my life following him.

Those at Hope introduced me to a local Church. The gathering at Derby was my first time in church, I want to follow this path, it’s helping me out a lot so I want to get baptised and progress down this path. Already on this path I feel happier. The darkness is lifting. It’s there but it’s slowly lifting up. I used to have quite a few demons and I don’t feel them around me that much anymore. They seem to have gone. I want to say thank you to Jesus for getting me out of the mess and hole I was in.’

David asked for us to share that he was baptised on 7th July 2024 and now attends his new church every Sunday. Lauren our Chaplain shared: ‘ David was already on a journey of discovering faith really, I just responded to his questions and what he wanted to do making sure he understood what he was asking for. I love being able to walk alongside people in our Community of Hope, the good, the bad and everything in between, it’s such a privilege; one that I feel honoured to be part of’

OUR IMPACT - ENABLING

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Turning their hands to whatever is needed:
Tilly, our Hope House Housekeeper with her ENABLING
line manager Louise - unblocking drains!
Developing a robust organisation
with effective governance,
policies and procedures
Policy Development
We continued reviewing and developing our suite of
policies and procedures. Our existing policies
include: Financial Control and Reserves; Equality,
Diversity & Inclusion; Whistleblowing; Safeguarding;
We made full use of our Trussell funded
membership of Croner-i and CIPD HR Inform to
support with policy development and HR advice.
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We continued reviewing and developing our suite of policies and procedures. Our existing policies include: Financial Control and Reserves; Equality, Diversity & Inclusion; Whistleblowing; Safeguarding; Driving & Vehicle Safety; Staff review; Leaves of Absence; Lone working; Domestic Abuse; Personal Relationships; Health & Safety; Supporting & Maintaining Staff Attendance; Induction & Probation, Code of Conduct and ‘Dignity at Hope’; Financial Reserves; Incident Management & Reporting; Resolutions policy (Grievance and Mediation) Compliments, Concerns & Complaints, ‘Advancing the Christian Faith’ policy.

Governance

Our Board met 8 times over the course of the year and we operated the following sub committees:

Finance - Chair, Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, & CEO

HR - HR Trustee and CEO

As well as conducting policy reviews as due, we focused on further developing our Managing Performance policies for both Conduct and Capability, to ensure effectiveness of our small staff team and their line management support.

Christian Faith Focus Group - CEO, Support Manager, Chaplain, Trustees by open invite, rotating guest staff attendees

‘ Every day is different and a 'typical' day could include setting a new referrer up on the Trussell Trust food voucher system, giving directions over the phone to someone who is looking for a food bank, overseeing a corporate group painting fence panels and arranging a gas safety inspection! I enjoy being part of a fantastic team of staff and volunteers, all committed to making a difference in their community.’ Louise Lawrenson | Admin & Facilities Coordinator

We also completed a large project on our Pay and Remuneration policy. As a small employer, and conscious of appropriate use of charitable funds, we used Croner-i and CIPD’s Job Evaluation and Salary Benchmarking tools to develop a new and fair pay scale, based on stats locally, by relevant sectors.

Guest Service Focus Group - Support Manager, CEO and relevant staff for the agenda. Trustees as required

Safeguarding - CEO and Safeguarding Coordinators

OUR IMPACT - ENABLING

Supporting our Foodbank Network

Our emergency foodbank network remains a substantial part of our work, and our CEO’s and Area Foodbank Coordinator’s focuses have remained on:

Strengthening relationships with our satellite foodbanks
Ensuring each foodbank has sufficient stocks to meet demand Addressing any high repeat foodbank use with referrers and guests to ensure people are being helped out of crisis
Improving our processes with electronic referral, training volunteers and referrers

Our office deals with general enquiries, setting up new referrers as required following a ‘suitability check’ namely, a registered organisation, no personal email addresses etc and we are now able to direct them to agree to adhere to our updated Referrer’s Handbook, which can be viewed here

Our Coordinator gets great feedback from our volunteer teams, travelling all around the city via bus and van, to support whichever of our 26 weekly Foodbank sessions needs it. We have identified that our CEO has been juggling too many balls, however in line managing this post, and following a review, plans were made to replace our former Volunteer Manager (who left in March) with a Senior level Ops Manager to take a more strategic and focused approach to supporting our foodbanks.

54 161 VOLUNTEERS AREA FOODBANK TRAINED IN E-REFERRAL COORDINATOR SUPPORT TO IMPROVE GUEST VISITS OVER THE YEAR SERVICE & EFFICIENCY

Sharing Hope Nottingham’s Good News

Marketing and communications impacts both internally and externally, and we are proud to share the great work of our staff, volunteers, and partners, and their impact on and support of our guests. Our activities remained ‘in-house’ including the management of our two websites -- one branded Hope Nottingham and the other being a Trussell seeded ‘East and West Nottingham’ foodbank website. You can view both websites here: Hope Nottingham and East and West .Nottingham Foodbank. Our CEO produced our Annual Report, which we know from feedback has been a tool for funders and key new recruits - both staff and Trustees.

With the departure of Nigel Adams in March 24, who had acted as our ‘Ambassador’ attending talks and speaking to the media, alongside our struggles to post consistently on our main social stream - Facebook - we attempted to recruit a Supporter Engagement Coordinator, but without success. This led us to reconsider our approach and being ever mindful of managing our operating costs, we plan to continue using a mix of staff and volunteer support.

Monthly Supporter Newsletter

We continued creating and sharing our monthly digital newsletter with supporters and volunteers. You can read back issues here and sign up to receive your own copy direct to your mailbox each month here

OUR IMPACT - ENABLING

HOW DID OUR VOLUNTEERS RATE US

‘I have been volunteering since July 2022 and like to think I am giving back to the community as I feel it is a valuable, and sadly necessary service to those who are in financial and/or social need. I really enjoy my volunteering day each week among all the other friendly volunteers and thank Hope Nottingham for giving me the opportunity to continue to do this.’

Since 2010, volunteers have been the life blood of Hope Nottingham. Indeed there would be no Hope Nottingham without them. Whilst we do have a core staff team, ultimately our volunteers ‘make it happen’ with our staff roles being designed to ‘enable’ them in safe and meaningful roles.

In November 2023, we launched our first ever Volunteer Survey. We know many of our volunteers are not really interested in things like surveys. By their very nature, they are the kind of people that want to get stuck in to practical tasks that make a difference, don’t want a fuss and often don’t want to be centre of attention! Despite this, we were pleased 88 of our volunteers took the time to complete a detailed survey about their experience. You can watch the full results herehere

Jenny - Volunteer Foodbank Befriender, Tuesdays at the Carlton Community Hub

often don’t want to be centre of attention! Despite OUR VOLUNTEERS BELIEVE believe their this, we were pleased 88 of our volunteers took the 88%

time to complete a detailed survey about their AFLOAT INJURIES PER 1,000 LAUNCHES volunteering experience. You can watch the full results herehere IN 2022 h a s i m p a c t IN 2023 5.9 4.5 injuries per 1,000 injuries 93% launches per 1,000 would launches 88 r e c o m m e n d Despite a small increase during the summer COMPLETED period, we have seen a consistent reduction in volunteering with us to the number of injuries occurring while afloat,

compared to last year. Introduction of an someone else VOLUNTEER SURVEYS equivalent metric for lifeguarding is in progress.

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Supporting at Sneinton: We always make time for a cuppa:
Maz turns her hand to anything Patsy and Yasmin at Meadows
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HOW DID PEOPLE FIRST HEAR ABOUT VOLUNTEERING AT HOPE NOTTINGHAM?

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Personal
25% Through their
recommendation
34% church
11%
30%
Other -
such as local
adverts, NCVS or
as a result of a
Hope website
visit
or facebook
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OUR IMPACT - ENABLING

TOP 5 MOTIVATIONS TO VOLUNTEER

1 Helping my local community Giving back to 2 society Christian faith 3 Being active in 4 retirement Personal 5 satisfaction or purpose

‘’Volunteering is one of the most rewarding gifts a person can have. I feel blessed.’ Hope Volunteer

of Hope Nottingham volunteers feel 96% ‘totally’ or ‘mostly’ trained for their role

No one feels out of their depth. Preferred training is on the job, in groups or training to watch/read in own time. We have learned we need to invest in more one-to-one time.

Nearly 40% give 3-4 hrs a week and 34% give 1-2 hours. 11% give over 4 hrs per week. 69% attend one session every week

of Hope Nottingham 98% volunteers feel valued

96% feel supportedin their role

OUR PLANS

Looking forward 2024-2025

Continuing our 3 year Strategic Priorities (Year 3)

Our Vision will continue to be that local neighbourhoods in Nottingham are inspired and supported in their growth to become Communities of HOPE, addressing poverty of resource, relationships and identity, via provision of our GRACE model of Christian Community Development, enabled by volunteering.

Having recruited three new trustees, and with a change of Chair, it remains essential to focus on our Governance, ensuring new members of our Board are embedded and get to know Hope Nottingham well and in time for work on our new 3 year strategy from July 2025. In order for us to pursue our vision for year three of the current strategy, we continue our strategic phase to reflect, review and strengthen our existing activities and ways of working, focusing on the following priorities:

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We will stabalise and refresh our Volunteering strategy,
Positively engage with further developing training, engagement and resources.
Engage our our people (staff, Our HR policies project must be completed with line
People volunteers, Trustees), to mangers suitably trained to provide appropriate
management and support to our staff team. We will
ensure we are living our
continue working on ensuring all basic and mandatory
Vision, Mission & Values
training is completed across the network. We will further
strengthen our Board, utilising sub - committees, and
Living our values of
skills audit to identify any gaps. Most important is
Working Together, Belonging & Trust consulting our people to inform our next 3 year strategy.
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Invest in our
Communications
marketing and
communications to
deepen and expand
our community reach.
Living our values of Working Together,
Belonging & Positive Change
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We will endeavour to become more ‘proactive’ rather than ‘reactive’ in our communications. A review of our websites is needed to refresh and develop key areas e.g. fundraising and corporate support. We will need to determine best use of resource allocated to supporter care/engagement, continue our monthly digital mailings, making effort to grow our mailing list. Our aim is to digitise volunteer comms and training via a portal and develop other forms of engagement e.g. videos etc.

We will complete stakeholder mapping and review, Review, nurture and Our specifically for our foodbank network, exploring develop our Partnerships partnerships to ensure foodbank specific partnerships including schools and they are well defined corporates. Work will continue developing and finalising and in line with our MoU’s with all our host foodbanks. Our closed foodbank Vision, Mission & values - CRA - will be addressed. Advice provision will continue to be reviewed, with new SLA’s put in place for Year 4 Living our values of Trust, Continuation funding. We will consider our communications with churches in shared social action. Working Together & Positive Change

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Understand the
Understand impact of our work
and interactions so
our Impact
we can be informed
and agile in our
support of local
people.
Living our values of Compassion,
Trust & Positive Change
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There will be further staff training in understanding impact. We will develop feedback systems and complete listing and learning, alongside networking, to inform existing and future activities. This will involve actively seeking volunteer and guest feedback, building a portfolio of ‘case studies’. We will ensure our Annual Review remains ‘impact focussed’ with supplementary info available e.g. video/infomercial style. We will maximise use of Trussell data and resources.

Our Guest Support policy and procedures will be Deliver quality strengthened, including standard operating procedures. Quality community led and Youth services and Carlton will be reviewed. Research on Services based services that Social Isolation will be completed and a clear strategy to meet the need of each gain full benefit from increased investment in hours for Hope Nottingham our Friendship Projects post. We will complete our location. Feeding Broxtowe project to support Broxtowe Council and further our local relations. We will continue improving Living our values of Compassion, support of Volunteer leaders and upskilling teams, Belonging & Positive Change particularly in befriending and signposting.

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Generate income and
Financial fundraise to ensure a
sustainability sustainable future so
Hope Nottingham
can meet growing
local need.
Living our values of Working Together,
Trust & Positive Change
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Focus will remain on financial monitoring and developing the presentation of information to our Trustees. We must address the significant budget deficit through proactive fundraising. This will include developing corporate and ‘Charity of the Year’ resources, as well as investigating and developing digital and community fundraising opportunities. A clear food stock generation and fundraising review and plan is required, to include nurturing of donors.

GOVERNANCE

OUR GOVERNANCE

Hope Nottingham (also informally known as Trussell’s East and West Nottingham Foodbank’) is a registered charity. We are headed by an independent Trustee Board and rely on our dedicated volunteers and staff. This section provides information on how the charity is run, how we engage with our stakeholders, manage our risks and ensure that we are building a sustainable organisation that will be fit for the future.

LEGAL STATUS

Hope Nottingham is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales number 1161248. We were established in 2010 and incorporated in 2015. We are governed by our Articles of Association, last reviewed and adopted on 13 April 2015.

GOVERNANCE

The Trustee Board are the charity's governance and legal directors. They make all major decisions, and meet 6 - 9 times a year to discuss and agree policy and the strategic direction of the charity.

Members of the Board serve a threeyear term, after which they are eligible for re-appointment for two further three year terms. They have the responsibility for governance and strategic direction of Hope Nottingham, ensuring we uphold our vision, mission and values and deliver on our key objectives. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity.

Hope Nottingham aims to have a range of skills on the Board and uses a skills audit to identify and address any skills deficits. Existing volunteers can elect new trustees.

TRUSTEE RECRUITMENT

Trustees are recruited via

advertisements and by word of mouth. Applicants are asked to complete an application form and then shortlisted.

Applicants generally have an informal visit, tour and chat with the CEO and are then interviewed using a structured interview format by the Chair and at least one other Trustee.

TRUSTEE APPOINTMENT

Prospective appointees are then DBS checked and references sought. Required Charity Commission checks and declarations are completed. If successful, they are then invited to attend a Trustee meeting as a guest at which the other trustees can vote.

TRUSTEE INDUCTION

New Trustees receive an induction which includes a visit to, and tour of Hope House, to familiarise themselves with the charity and its operations. They are also invited to complete appropriate external training and cascade the learning as appropriate. New Trustees are required to read the Charity Commission document CC3 - 'The Essential Trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do', complete a Declarations of Interest and sign the charity's Code of Conduct.

Our Organisational Purpose is: ‘the relief of poverty, sickness and distress, and to advance the Christian faith.’

GOVERNANCE

OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Jez Barnard CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

Jez joined in February 2023, bringing twentyfive years experience in leadership and management roles for multi-national engineering firms.

He previously led a local charitable social enterprise, spent 5 years as a Business Manager in a local school and still provides consultancy.

Jez volunteers at Citizens Advice, Bilborough food bank and maths tutors at a local school. He lives in Beeston and worships at St Barnabas in Lenton Abbey.

‘It is my privilege to help with hands on in the Bilborough foodbank, contribute as a trustee to support this great work, and help discern Hope Nottingham’s way forward.’

Anne Willmot SECRETARY

Anne brings twenty years of charity experience, working

with business leaders, Government and voluntary sector organisations at the Prince of Wales Responsible Business Network, and Business in the Community. Anne lives in Nottingham, is a Church Warden of a local church and joined Hope as a Trustee in 2020 taking on the role of Secretary.

‘Food builds community and faith! I’ve made great friends being part of the Hope family, which brings life and hope across our city.’

Christiana Zowonu TREASURER

Christiana has thirty years experience in Accountancy and Finance, currently working as a Financial Controller. She has been involved with various charities for over 10 years as both Treasurer and Fundraiser, and is enthusiastic about passing on her knowledge of accountancy. Christiana lives and worships in Nottingham, and joined Hope as Assistant Treasurer in 2020 and overall Treasurer in Feb 2023.

‘What I admire about Hope is the inclusivity, coming to the community meals where there are different nationalities, religions, young, old, sharing meals and laughter together. ‘

Charlotte McCourt HR SPECIALIST

Charlotte joined Hope in February 2023 and is an

accredited member of the Civil Mediation Council, experienced workplace mediator and level 7 HR Management lecturer. She manages her own HR Consultancy supporting organisations with HR training and projects. Her passion is people engagement. Charlotte has previously worked for a Catholic Schools Trust and lives near our new Carlton Hub.

‘I’m proud to support the amazing work that the team at Hope do to make a difference to our local communities.‘

Martin Buckle

ASSISTANT TREASURER

Martin has a thirty plus year career in commerce

and industry, managing change across financial services, aerospace, communications and oil & gas. He has been trustee of a city social enterprise offering café bar hospitality and a stage for the performing arts. He has served as a borough councillor, with an interest in housing provision. Martin lives in Rushcliffe and joined Hope in 2024.

‘In my role as trustee, I want to help the many wonderful volunteers to continue their essential work, as they offer a warm and practical support to all our guests.’

Kevin Pallister

Kevin was managing partner of a law practice before recently retiring.

Studying chaplaincy, he is called to related ministry in community settings. He joined Hope as a trustee after some years as a volunteer (now chaplaincy volunteer) at the foodbank based at the Salvation Army Centre in Sneinton. He enjoys playing in the Salvation Army band, golf, football and being a first -time grandpa.

‘I’m convinced that the ministry of Hope in meeting practical need and serving the whole person is ‘of God’, which is vital in a community context.’

Helen Crandley

Helen is Regional Director of a national charity which supports isolated families to

find hope and belonging connecting them to local volunteers. Key to the role is working with local councils and churches. She brings wide ranging experience in senior level charity and change management, partnerships, HR and strategy. A former school teacher, Helen has had a heart for Hope Nottingham, since the early days, even helping with an early Christmas dinner!

‘I love seeing how the work of Hope Nottingham enables generous and inclusive communities; where simple acts of kindness show people the dignity and worth they have.’

GOVERNANCE

OUR OPERATIONAL TEAM

STAFF TEAM

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Operational management is delegated by the Trustees to the Senior Management team, who are accountable to the Trustee Board for the stewardship of the charity. During this reporting period the Senior Management Team consisted of: Dominique Scott - Chief Executive Officer and Michael Singh - Development Manager (left Oct 24)

We are committed to our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion policy and procedures, ensuring Equality Impact Assessments are now included in the development of all policies.

In this period Hope Nottingham employed a total of 13 staff, ending the year with 12.

With only 2 being full-time and the rest part-time, this totalled a full time equivalent of only 8.3 (310 hrs per week) to oversee the activities of the 370 registered volunteers, 14 foodbanks including two community hubs and numerous activities.

We also promote 'Dignity at Hope' with clear guidelines on expected standards and how to report concerns.

ORGANIGRAM FOR 23-24

REMUNERATION

Our pay rates have historically been based on the National Joint Council (NJC) pay scales in terms of definitions of responsibilities. In Quarter 3 of the reporting period we undertook a full job evaluation review using CIPD Croner-i tools and completed salary benchmarking against other similar charity averages. We developed this into a new points based pay scale as part of our commitment to fair and equitable pay. We are committed to providing the Real Living Wage as stated by the Real Living Wage Foundation, and any spine points which fall below this are uplifted accordingly. If a post's levels of responsibility change significantly, we will review the salary to ensure it is appropriate and revise it if necessary. We reserve the right to re-evaluate our pay structures, but will do so in proper consultation with our team. The Trustee Board oversees the pay, pension and benefits of all staff. We endeavour to provide an annual cost of living increment, although this cannot be guaranteed. The increases are researched and determined by the Trustees bearing in mind affordability for the charity and economic factors.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011, to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Guests can come to any Hope Nottingham activity or event and receive various kinds of help and support without any charge. We have considered the information contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives, and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set. All our charitable activities further our charitable purposes for public benefit, focusing a wide range of activities that address both immediate needs and seek to move people towards personal growth and fulfillment.

RISK MANAGEMENT

We have a risk management policy and register to ensure identified risks are monitored and mitigated. The CEO and Trustees consider new risks at each Board meeting. Our key risks and their mitigation are:

Loss of or significant decline in fundraising in 2024-25. We will continue our Fundraising review focusing on all income streams; Large unforeseen building expenditure - we continue to take a proactive approach to building upkeep and maintenance; Significant financial investment in acquisition and running of the Carlton Community Hub - clear budgeting and proactive fundraising;

Key person (be they staff or volunteers) dependency - we ensure robust systems to understand roles and standard operating procedures, ensuring good management of our people, and are focused on supporting their well-being and contribution; Reliance on the Household Support Fund for food purchase - alternative food sourcing planned;

Staff and volunteer training - investment will be made to ensure our people are as engaged as possible to deliver quality guest service; Disconnection with our remote locations - we continue to work to avoid this through operational support, communications and engagement.

SAFEGUARDING

We recognise our legal and moral responsibility to protect everyone involved in Hope Nottingham from harm. In this period we had appointed staff as Designated Safeguarding Lead and Safeguarding Coordinators.

We are members of Thirtyone:eight, an Independent Christian Charity, who provide advice, resources and training in Safeguarding, and facilitate our DBS checks.

We review our detailed Safeguarding Policy annually in March which is available to view on our website here

Iain Anderson

LEAD SAFEGUARDING COORDINATOR (ALL ACTIVITIES)

Claire Fenwick

SAFEGUARDING COORDINATOR (FOODBANKS)

Louise Lawrenson

SAFEGUARDING COORDINATOR (GENERAL SUPPORT)

FINANCIAL REVIEW

SATELLITE FOODBANK FUNDS

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The financial position of the CIO is strong at the end of the year, being blessed with £304,579 in general funds, following the various support detailed.

The day to day finances of our remote foodbanks - eleven based in local churches and one in a council run library, are organised by location, reflecting their unique situations.

The trustees are very happy with this position, which will help with our increased running costs and achievement of our strategic objectives, particularly:

The trustees are very happy with Bilborough library and Wollaton this position, which will help with (alongside our owned hubs Beeston our increased running costs and and Carlton) have been reported under achievement of our strategic Hope Nottingham since 2022-23, and objectives, particularly: from December 2023, we also began managing Aspley’s funds. The
the continued development of remaining are handled by their our Carlton Community Hub; respective host church. Meadows, the strengthening our Satellite largest of the foodbanks in terms of foodbank relationships and income, runs its own constituted operational management; leadership, but with funds reported responding to increased under Bridgeway Hall Methodist demand; Mission. food stocks sustainability in light of the unpredictability of Finances are under ongoing review the Household Support Fund and we will support with management and declining food donations; and reporting as needed. Our and focusing on our strategic foodbank hosts do not charge us any priorities. rents and we are very grateful to be

Finances are under ongoing review and we will support with management and reporting as needed. Our foodbank hosts do not charge us any rents and we are very grateful to be able to assist in these communities, providing food and distribution and staff support, in this reporting period predominantly via our Volunteering Manager, Area Foodbank Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer.

FOOD STOCKS

Our foodbanks could not operate without the generous volumes of food and essential items such as toiletries, laundry, hygiene products and nappies which are donated to all of our foodbanks.

We are truly blessed by the individuals, groups, schools, colleges, Universities, workplaces and businesses supporting us.

As required by the Charities SORP, we have included the equivalent cash value of donated food for the foodbanks whose finances we manage (detailed left), as an income and direct expenditure of £186,928 in our formal accounts.

We are keen to highlight this, alongside the Household Support fund that has also inflated our income by another £207,000 with £195,000 restricted for expenditure entirely on food and which is not a guaranteed income stream.

Hope’s compass for 3 terms of 3 years: Paul Kirkwood our outgoing chair and his wife Gill who hosted many Board meetings

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FINANCIAL REVIEW

FUNDRAISING

We are incredibly grateful to our financial supporters for their continued generosity. Without them, we couldn't continue our work. Our voluntary income comes through a wide range of sources. We have recognised our reliance on grants and, as part of our strategic priorities will continue to focus on raising awareness of our work and providing more opportunities to support our fundraising efforts.

Hope Nottingham does not engage professional fundraisers. We currently use a number of fundraising platforms, the most popular being Local Giving, CAF and Stewardship.

INDIVIDUAL GIVING

Individual giving accounted for £128,542 (compared to £144,703 last year which included a £10, 000 legacy). £17,016 of this was restricted, largely to the Carlton Hub, Food or Satellites. Individual giving was again boosted by all the

activities of our partnership with Victoria Centre whose efforts in encouraging donations from individuals, through various events, amounted to £9,975 (£17,991 last year).

GRANTS

The large unsolicited Household Support Fund enabled us to meet foodbank demand, and our financial position would be very different without it. We also received significant funds from local councils, other charities and funders (full details shown page 76). £9,900 from National Grid was entirely spent on a new boiler for Carlton.

We were significantly boosted by the UK Government Cost of Living Fund of £75,000. We were delighted that Beeston Consolidated renewed their funding of our Support Manager for another 3 years.

From Sept 23 we trialed our Bookkeeper working one extra day per week on bid-writing to support our CEO.

CHURCH & COMMUNITY

Donations via local churches amounted to £17,982 (compared to £26,512 last year) £1,220 being restricted. We have many volunteers from different churches and are proud to help different denominations to serve local need.

Various community groups also supported us donating funds of £3,185 unrestricted, and £3,053 restricted for Carlton and £104 for Wollaton.

CORPORATE SUPPORT

We were delighted to be supported with £6,595 from John Deere for their Annual Day of Caring (with £5784 spent on food), £2,000 from LDC (food), £3,000 from Russell Scanlan, £3,250 from Trust Alliance, Eon donated £2,500 and we received £1,000 each from Argento, Hilltop Audio and Amptron Electrical Services, and many other small corporate gifts through the year, alongside food donations and volunteering.

Volunteers at our Grangewood Methodist Church Foodbank in Wollaton

TRADING INCOME

To assist in funding our running costs, and where it doesn’t interfere with services, we will take room bookings at both Carlton and Beeston, which generated £6,423 (compared to £4,266 last year). Our Foodclubs - where fresh food boxes are sold for £3.50 (but with value of £15-£20) brought in £14, 259 an increase on last year’s £8,570 due to Carlton’s trading the full year. This covered FareShare foodcosts and consumables, with limited surplus towards overheads such as utilities and staff support.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FINANCIAL REVIEW cont’d

INCOME BREAKDOWN

In the year July 2023 - June 2024 our financial income amounted to £728,343 - an increase of £19,897 on last year’s £708,446. This excludes the donated food value of £186,928 (compared to £167,305 in the previous year).

Our income mix was significantly impacted by the Household Support Fund total £207,000, Trussell Advice funding of £88,858, a Cost of Living grant of £75,000 and an anonymous donation of £25,000.

EXPENDITURE

Salaries and staff costs account for our biggest expenditure, and our full-time staff equivalent at the end of June 24 had dropped from 8.3 last year to only 7.6

We are pleased this remains low despite our management of two community hubs, 14 foodbanks, and oversight of a volunteer team of around 370 individuals. We had planned and failed to recruit a Supporter Engagement role following our Founder & Ambassador’s departure, however have currently paused to review again at a later stage.

Our annual staff pay review was in April to align with Minimum Wage Changes. We followed a comprehensive job evaluation and salary benchmarking on all posts and then added a 3% inflationary award to all points on the new scale. However, this still meant some roles did not qualify for an increase, so these were awarded a nonconsolidated £500 pro rata payment to bridge the gap in realigning the pay points.

Premises costs and general running costs were the next biggest expenditures, and additional costs were incurred for the continued development of the Carlton Hub, making building improvements such as lease required roof works and new heating systems to ensure warn space provision. A part grant funded refurbishment of our lower hall toilets was also completed at Hope House.

Restricted funds were all spent as intended including for food, advice provision, and for specific staff roles and activities.

We remain incredibly grateful for the extensive volunteer commitment which enables us to deliver our services and support at overall minimal cost. At the same time this allows us to offer so many volunteering opportunities across our numerous activities, in line with our mission for inspiring and growing communities of hope.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FINANCIAL REVIEW cont’d

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS

Unrestricted funds are those unspent funds which have no restriction on how they are spent and can be allocated to Hope Nottingham's general operations.

As at 30th June 2024 these funds sat at £304,613.

RESTRICTED FUNDS

Restricted funds are those unspent funds which have been allocated for specific activities as opposed to Hope Nottingham's general operations. At 30th June 2024, the value of those funds was £172,358. This included the following restricted funds:

Hope House (including advice provision funds) of £69,049 Carlton £6,347 Food £83,429 Satellite foodbanks £13,533

CUSTODIAN FUNDS

Our partnership with the Acts 435 charity enables Hope Nottingham to assist individual guests. Acts 435 is

a national charity that provides small scale grants for specific items/costs for individuals in need. The Acts scheme works by posting the guests’ need (without identifying details) on their website, where members of the public can choose to donate to any specific need they wish. When the target amount is raised, Acts send the funds to Hope Nottingham who contact the guest to arrange the purchase and delivery of the item(s) requested.

The funds Hope Nottingham receives are therefore managed on behalf of Acts 435 and are shown in their accounts. The year began with an opening balance of £200, with £5,005 (compared to last year £5,970) paid in for guests during the year. Expenses of £5,030 were paid out therefore £175 was carried forward at 1st July 2024. The individual amount received for each application was usually £150.

On occasion guests contribute additional funds for purchase of items with opening balance of £50, £206 received and £256 spent in the period, with a closing balance of £0.

FINANCIAL CONTROLS

We have a detailed Financial Controls policy and accompanying Financial Controls manual. This is reviewed annually before our Charity Commission Return is made.

RESERVES

In past years, the aim of the CIO was to have a minimum of 3 months of free reserves in line with Charity Commission guidance. This is to mitigate against the risk of unexpected events that may put us in financial difficulty. For example, a serious decline in expected income levels, a premises issue requiring significant financial resource to rectify or that closes a premises for significant time, or an event affecting our reputation. However, being in a strong financial position has allowed an in depth review. With increased liabilities, including lease commitment through the Carlton Hub, and general staffing, our position on necessary reserves has changed considerably. For Hope Nottingham we have now considered how we would meet all our financial liabilities should the organisation cease

trading, including lease exit costs, staff notice and redundancy payments, and close down costs. These have been estimated at £108,000.

Therefore, the amount in our emergency fund, which can only be released with the agreement of the majority of trustees, has been increased accordingly.

At the end of the year we held an additional £196,613 in general unrestricted funds, which is a position the Trustees are confident will provide some stability in an increasingly competitive funding environment.

Conclusion

The Annual Report of Hope Nottingham was approved by the Board of Trustees on 10th February 2025 and signed on their behalf by

J eremy Barnard Hope Nottingham Chair of Trustees

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and applicable law and regulations.

The law applicable to charities requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgments that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the applicable Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Approved by the Trustees of the charity on 10th February 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

TRUSTEE APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATIONS DURING THE REPORTING YEAR

Kevin Pallister (Appointed 12 Dec 23)

Helen Crandley (Appointed 12 Dec 23)

Martin Buckle (Asst Treasurer Appointed 5 Mar 24)

Paul Kirkwood Chair (23 April 24)

Jez Barnard (new Chair from 23 April 24)

Jeremy Barnard Chair of Trustees

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Hope Nottingham CIO (the Charity) for the year ended 30 June 2024.

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

Since the Charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member and Fellow of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners, which is one of the listed bodies.

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:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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.

John O’Brien MSc, FAIA, FCIE, employee of Community Accounting Plus Fellow of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners Date: 11th February 2025

Units 1 & 2 North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30TH JUNE 2024

CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH JUNE 2024

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the second edition of the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

BASIS OF PREPARATION

Hope Nottingham CIO meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction values unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

GOING CONCERN

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The trustees assess whether the use of going concern is appropriate i.e. whether there are any material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the

ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The trustees make this assessment in respect of a period of one year from the date of approval of the financial statements.

INCOME & ENDOWMENTS

Voluntary income including donations, gifts, legacies and grants that provide core funding or are of a general nature is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability.

DONATIONS & LEGACIES

Donations and legacies are recognised on a receivable basis when receipt is probable and the amount can be reliably measured.

GRANTS RECEIVABLE

Grants are recognised when the charity has an entitlement to the funds and any conditions linked to the grants have been met. Where performance conditions are attached to the grant and are yet to be met, the income is recognised as a liability and included on the balance sheet as deferred income to be released.

EXPENDITURE

All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading that aggregates similar costs to that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of resources, with central staff costs allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of the asset's use. Other support costs are allocated based on the spread of staff costs.

CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

GOVERNMENT GRANTS

Government grants are recognised based on the accrual model and are measured at the fair value of asset received or receivable. Grants are classified as relating either to revenue or to assets. Grants relating to revenue are recognised in income over the period in which the related costs are recognised. Grants relating to assets, are recognised over the expected useful life of the asset. Where part of a grant relating to an asset is deferred, it is recognised as deferred income.

TAXATION

The charity is considered to pass the tests set out at Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Taz Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Individual fixed assets costing £500 or more are initially recorded at cost, less any subsequent accumulated depreciation and subsequent accumulated impairment losses.

DEPRECIATION AND AMORTISATION

Depreciation is provided on tangible fixed assets so as to write off the cost or valuation, less any estimated residual value, over their expected useful economic life as follows:

ASSET CLASS & DEPRECIATION

METHOD AND RATE

Motor vehicles - 20% straight line

Computer equip - 33% straight line

Leasehold improvements up to June 2023 - straight line over remaining term of the lease.

Leasehold improvements from July 2023 - in compliance with Hope Nottingham’s updated Financial Control procedures, expenditure on leasehold improvements is no longer being capitalised.

TRADE DEBTORS

Trade debtors are amounts due from customers for merchandise sold or services sold or performed in the ordinary course of business.

Trade debtors are recognised initially at the transaction price. They are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less provision for impairment. A provision for the impairment of debtors is established when there is objective evidence that the charity will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables.

CASH & CASH EQUIVALENTS

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.

TRADE CREDITORS

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from the suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as current liabilities if the charity does not have an unconditional right, at the end of the reporting period, to defer settlement of the creditor for at least

twelve months after the reporting date, they are presented as non-current liabilities.

Trade creditors are recognised initially at the transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

FUND STRUCTURE

Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees’ discretion in furtherance of the objectives of the charity.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds and resources set aside for specific purposes, at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted income funds are those donated for use in a particular area or for specific purposes, the use of which is restricted to that area or purpose..

PENSIONS & OTHER POSTRETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity.

Pension costs charges in the Statement of Financial Activities represent the contributions payable by the charity during the year.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

2. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

4. INCOME FROM OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

5. INVESTMENT INCOME

Value of Donated Food

A reliable value of donated food stock can now be calculated.

The reported figure equals the total weight donated to the 5 locations where Hope Nottingham manages the foodbank funds (Beeston, Carlton, Wollaton, Bilborough, and Aspley) x £2.37 (a figure provided by Trussell as the current fair value of food per KG). The other 9 satellite foodbank locations, where the host churches manage the foodbank finances, have been advised of their own SORP obligations.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

6. GRANTS AND DONATIONS

7. EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Value of Donated Food: given to beneficiaries

Food is distributed to beneficiaries in crisis, via a robust referral system. However, due to limitations of a volunteer led operation and volumes of food involved, plus the limited short life of donated food, we cannot currently rely on the accurate recording of weights distributed, held or disposed of. Therefore the ‘Value of donated goods’ figure has been used to provide an estimated ‘Value of Food given to beneficiaries'’ in accordance with 6.26 of the Charities SORP.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

8. STAFF COSTS

9. INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S FEES

10. TAXATION

11. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

12. DEBTORS

14. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WUTHIN ONE YEAR

13. CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

15. OBLIGATIONS UNDER LEASES AND HIRE PURCHASE CONTRACTS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

16. FUNDS

Previous year comparison

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

17. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

PREVIOUS YEAR FOR COMPARISON

19. 3RD PARTY FUNDS

20. TRUSTEES’ REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES

18. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

OUR GRATITUDE

THANK YOU

Thank you to our amazing Supporters, Volunteers & Staff

Hope Nottingham could not carry out its work without the support of individuals and organisations across Nottingham.

We are so grateful to everyone who has been involved in the period July 2023 - June 2024 - be it volunteering, in a staff role, donating food, funds, resources or expertise, fundraising, partnering with us to provide better services or helping us raise awareness.

We also sincerely thank our Trustees for their commitment, guidance and direction.

Thank you all.

CASE STUDIES

‘I started to volunteer at the Food Club in February 2024 because I wanted to give back to the community and be a part of making a difference to people's lives. I have loved every minute of volunteering, working with an amazing group of people who made me very welcome from day one.‘

‘We are helping people who require help without reward or gain. It makes me feel useful and gives me a sense of great satisfaction when helping others.

It brings me closer to God, and I know that he is guiding my actions and inner spirit.’

Sam | Hope House Food Club Volunteer

Sophie | Carlton Food Club and Community Meal Volunteer

We scored in Carlton!

Our friends at Parkdale Primary School in Carlton found another great way to show their support and raise awareness of our work. Their school football team kit proudly displays the Hope Nottingham logo, highlighting our Trussell foodbanks and our vision to 'inspire and grow communities of Hope' across Nottingham. When the new kit premiered, the boys team recorded impressive 10-2 and 6-1 wins! Students and staff at Parkdale have been fantastic supporters of Hope Nottingham and our Carlton Community Hub and we hope to keep cheering on their teams, inspiring the volunteers of the future.

OUR GRATITUDE

THANK YOU

Thank you to the many organisations we partnered with in 2023-2024

We are blessed to have worked in partnership with:

Acts 435 Active Health Coach Bags of Blessing Bestwood Advice Bethseda Ministeries, Netherfield Bilborough Library Bridgeway Methodist Mission Broxtowe Borough Council Citizens Advice Broxtowe CRA, Arboretum Radford Fareshare Gedling Borough Council Grangewood Methodist Church Inspire Libraries Jigsaw Midlands

Linking LIves Main Street Methodist Church Montrose Court Church, Stapleford Mount Zion Apostolic Church Netherfield Family Hub NCVO Nottingham & District Citizens Advice Nottingham City Council Renew Wellbeing Salvation Army, Sneinton St Barnabas, Inham Nook, Chilwell St Margaret's, Aspley

St Martha’s, Broxtowe Step Forward Debt Advice Tesco The Ark, Gedling The Haven, Stapleford The Trussell Trust Thirty-one Eight Transforming Notts Together Trent Vineyard / Trent Compassion Wise Moves (NHS) Wolvern IT

In addition are the many local schools, charities, churches and organisations who are registered as referral agencies for our food banks. We are grateful to them too.

OUR GRATITUDE

THANK YOU

We are grateful for every gift we receive, big or small and sincerely thank the Funders who supported our work in 2023-2024

We are blessed to have received financial support from:

These are just some Amptron Electrical Services Garfield Weston Nottinghamshire County Council of our funders and Argento Contemporary Jewellery Gedling Borough Council Nottingham City Council donors and in Astley Charitable Trust Gedling Road Methodist Church Nottingham West Lions Club addition are the Aviva Broker Community Fund Gilbert Lodge Retirement Housing Oasis Church many individuals, Bank of England Community Team Hilltop Audio Visual Ltd Parkdale Primary School churches, Beeston Consolidated HIS Church Radcliffe on Trent Methodist Church businesses and Redeemer Church small group Beeston Methodist Benevolent Society Hope into Action Beeston Methodist Church Hope Vineyard Bramcote Russell Scanlan organisations who have contributed to Boots Charitable Trust John Deere Sage Trust the running of Hope Bramcote Farm Shop John Clifford Baptist Church Salvation Army, Stapleford Nottingham. Broxtowe Borough Council Keltruk Ltd Sharing Sherwood Community Kitchen Carlton Christian Fellowship Lloyds Bank Foundation Sherwood Methodist Church We also received Carlton Metals Lloyds Development Capital Ltd Springs of Life laptops as Gifts in Carlton Rotary Club Midfix St Barnabas, Lenton Abbey kind from Domestic Charities Aid Foundation Mount Zion Apostolic Church St James Place & General Charities Trust National Grid St Paul’s, Carlton Connect Netherfield Newton Community St Peter’s Church, Toton We thank everyone Domestic & General Nottingham Bramcote Walking Football Tesco (Top-up) most sincerely Efficiency East Midlands Nottingham Building Society Trussell Trust Eon Next Victoria Centre

OUR GRATITUDE

THANK YOU

And thank you to our Guests, who are not just ‘service users’ or ‘beneficiaries’. They are our daily inspiration to do more and reach more.

‘May I say how very lovely, kind, thoughtful and helpful the whole team at the food club have been since my family (2 daughters) and I have been coming to the club - since day one of its opening. It's lovely to see and talk to David and his team each week and it is always a delightful surprise to see what we are getting in the box. Always great value with a mix of fresh and frozen tasty food.’

‘It gives me encouragement to get out of my flat and while I am working it gives me an escape route from the reality.’ Literacy group guest

‘This is the most important day in my week at the moment - You guys see me.’ Friendship Group Guest

‘’I love that there was someone at the foodbank who could speak Turkish and help us understand what was going on. We had a lot of troubles in Turkey and have had to claim asylum…its not easy and when you come here with nothing (especially in winter) the money doesn’t really cover clothing or electronic devices; which we have found are absolutely essential in the British way of life.

Jackie | Food club member since April 2023

‘I’ve been finding life difficult after I lost my wife. I gave up my job to care for her. I am working with East Midlands Chambers to get back into work but just feel like I’m in catch 22. The foodbank has literally been my life support.’

The foodbank tied us over for when we needed to buy those extra items. We have got better at English and are looking forward to the English café.’

‘I’m really grateful for how Hope have supported me, they have helped me so much. Hope genuinely feels like my family. Hope has opened doors for me, to support my community elsewhere alongside Hope.’[Guest who now volunteers in multiple activities]

CONTACTS

CONTACT INFORMATION

Independent Examiner

0303 040 1110

hope@hopenottingham.org.uk

Hope House, Boundary Rd, Beeston, NG9 2RF

www.hopenottingham.org.uk

Sharing our good news

Stay in touch with all our latest news and events by subscribing to our monthly digital newsletter here or follow us on Facebook

We always welcome visitors, and are proud to offer tours around our community hubs to show our work in action.

John O’ Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus Units 1 & 2 North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL

Solicitors

Ellis-Fermor & Negus 2 Devonshire Avenue Beeston Nottingham NG9 1BS

Bankers

Barclays The Co-operative Bank 1 Churchill Place 2nd Floor, St Pauls House London 10 Warwick Lane E14 5HP London. EC4M 7BP

If you would like to arrange a visit or a short talk at your church, school or organisation about our work, please get in touch.

14 FOOD BANKS, 2 COMMUNITY HUBS, 370+ VOLUNTEERS, 400 REFERRAL PARTNERS, THOUSANDS OF SUPPORTERS, COMMUNITY CAFES, JOB CLUBS, FOOD CLUBS, RENEW YOUTH WELLBEING CAFE, TODDLER GROUP, ESOL CLASSES, LITERACY CLASSES, COMMUNITY ALLOTMENT, FRIENDSHIP CLUBS, COMMUNITY MEALS, HOLISTIC SUPPORT, ADVICE PROVISION, PRAYER. WE ARE

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HOPE
NOTTINGHAM
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“ ‘For I know the plans I have for you’ says the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future’ “[Jeremiah 29:11]