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2025-04-30-accounts

Southend Q Foodbank Together with Trussell 11111 Annual report l May 2024- 30April 2025 https://southend.foodbank.org.uk Southend Foodbank 15 a registered charity in England & Wales IIL621601. Registered address.. Friendship House, 484 Southchurch Road, Southend-on-5ea, SSI 2QA

Charity Details

Structure, Governance and Management

Southend Foodbank is governed by a group of trustees from each of the churches that host the foodbank and from founding churches.

Tom Vernon stepped down as chair of trustees in August 2024 and Kim Wright was elected as chair.

Trustees:

  1. Kim Wright, chair of trustees

  2. Matt Belcher, treasurer

  3. Richard Sapsted

  4. Helen Wall

  5. Christine Harter

  6. Melanie Venables

Message from our chair of trustees:

As a charity deeply rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus, our vision remains clear and unwavering: Working towards a hunger-free future.

For those of us involved with the Foodbank who share a Christian faith, we recognise God’s Kingdom at work in all we do. Our mission continues to reflect our commitment to serving those in need:

Help for now : Providing urgent food support to those facing crisis.

Change for tomorrow: Offering practical help through signposting and financial inclusion initiatives.

Hope for the future: Equipping and empowering our community through organisation, advocacy, and mobilisation.

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Motivated by Jesus’ call to love our neighbour, we strive to serve with excellence and compassion. We are equally grateful for every staff member and volunteer—whatever their background or beliefs—whose dedication makes this mission possible.

Following a 64.6% increase in access the previous year, we experienced a slight decrease in numbers this year.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the hard work of volunteers and staff, and key grants, we’ve managed to keep pace with rising need. We’ve continued to provide three days’ worth of emergency food across eight distribution centres, and expanded our services in meaningful ways.

This includes:

I am truly thankful for the remarkable commitment shown by our staff, volunteers, and trustees. Your faithfulness and passion are what sustain Southend Foodbank’s mission and allow us to stand alongside people in need with practical help and hope.

As we look ahead, it’s clear that challenges remain. While donations from churches have fallen from 19,742kg to 18,513kg; but in the last financial year, we gave out 162450kg of food. This disparity highlights the importance of continued prayer, support, and action.

Despite the obstacles, we remain grounded in hope. We trust that through God’s grace— and the ongoing generosity of our community—we will continue to be a light in dark places. Thank you for standing with us.

Together, we are making a difference. Together, we are helping local people in crisis.

Kim Wright Chair of Trustees

Objectives and Activities

The charity’s aims and objectives are to provide relief of financial hardship among people living in Southend and Rochford. We do this by providing 3 days of emergency food to people in crisis.

In this financial year, we fulfilled 7679 vouchers. We distributed a total of 18753 parcels of food, enough to feed 11590 adults and 7163 children.

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Our financial inclusion project, funded by Trussell, means that we have a Citizens Advice advisor at 6 of our 8 distribution centres, ready to meet with guests to look into the root causes of their need for a food parcel.

We have also had a signposting co-ordinator, also funded by a grant, to increase the signposting capabilities of our volunteers so that signposting to further help can be given at every distribution centre. This is a direct benefit to the public in the form of the guests who we provide food for.

Achievements and Performance

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Impact on beneficiaries or the community

Quotes from our guests:

“I didn’t know all this help was here to be honest. I was right at rock bottom and thought there wouldn’t be anything to keep us [her family] together. The boys were saying it would be better to go off to care so they could have the heating on. It broke my heart. But then a friend told me this was here and she comes. It took a lot for her to admit it, but she’s a good friend and she could see I was really hitting rock bottom. We came here together the first time I came here. Now I know it’s here I come when I really need it. [and how are the kids coping?] The heating still isn’t on too much and the flat is always cold but it’s easier when we’ve got some food in and the other help [indicating the advisors and extras] that helps too. I could say to them ‘wait, it’s going to get better’ or ‘don’t worry it won’t always be like this’. We’ve still got problems but it’s helped, you know, the food yeah but the other help and just knowing someone wants to help you.”

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Challenges

Plans for the Future

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Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registered Charity in England & Wales (no. 1163160)

Financial accounts

for the year

1[st] May 2024

—

30[th] April 2025

1

SOUTHEND FOODBANK CIO FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 APRIL 2025 £s

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Income

Income was significantly lower than the previous year – at £265k vs. £488k last year. General donations made up 35% of total income, amounting to £94k. This represents a reduction on last year of 25k as the charity saw a continuation of the trend of lower donations. In addition, grant income was substantially lower than the previous year – at £164k vs. £368k. It should be noted that last year the Foodbank received a number of very large grants contributing to the £368k; comparison with two years ago shows £164k this year vs. £50k in the 2022-23 financial year.

The grants received this year included: £61k Financial Inclusion grant covering costs of Citizens’ Advice advisors; £31k Sustainability Grant to fund a Fundraising Co-ordinator; £20k from the National Lottery Community Fund for food purchases; £11k from the Essex Community Fund to fund the Campaigns & Communications Co-ordinator plus additional for staff training; and £6k from Southend Emergency Fund for food costs.

Expenditure

Expenditure was at a similar level to last year – at £366k vs. £353k in 2023-24. Food purchases remained the largest expense – at £148k, which was 41% of overall spend. This expenditure on food was fairly flat vs. last year (£158k) as the charity continues to be required to supplement direct food donations with bulk purchases; around 50% of food given to guests is purchased by the Foodbank itself. Salaries and wages were up on the previous year at £116k (vs. £85k); this was as a result of hiring a Fundraising Co-ordinator following the award of a dedicated grant. Spend on fabric and equipment was down (£7k vs. £41k); the purchase of a van and costs to refit the warehouse in the previous financial year was the main driver of this.

Salaries and Wages accounted for 32% of overall expenditure; Rent and Utility payments for 8%; Food purchases for 41%; costs of Citizens’ Advice advisors for 13%

Funds

Many of the grants received in the previous financial year (and in earlier periods) were restricted to a specific purpose; below is a summary of how these funds have been used over the past year:

Restricted Funds

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Of note in the movements listed above are the following transfers between funds:

Unrestricted funds 2025 2024
General fund 49,013 107,475
Reserves 70,000 25,000

Within a designated fund an amount of £70,000 is held in reserve, in accordance with the Reserve Policy. These reserves ensure that the Foodbank can continue operating (covering payroll, rent, utilities etc.) for a period of 6 months in the event income falls sharply. The level of reserves held has been increased substantially by the Trustees over this financial year to reflect the increased payroll and rent/storage costs borne by the charity. In total £49,013 was held in a General fund at the close of the financial year; £70,000 was held in reserve and £100,490 was held in restricted funds.

Matthew Belcher, FIA Treasurer

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SOUTHEND FOODBANK CIO

FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 APRIL 2025

£s

4

Sectlon B Balanc• sh••t Total lthla y••r Toi•l last y•ar Flxed a88ets Tanglbl• F01 F02 {Not• 81 Inv•strn•nts {Not• 91 rgtal fix•d •wts Currnnt asset8 sta￿ and work In progv•ss D•btor• {Not• 10) (Short t•rni) Inv•stm•nts C•th at bank and In hand 219,526 219.526 320,341 Total curnt ass•ts Credltws: ￿aunt8 falllng du• wlthln gn• y 10 23 81 N•t cun•nl ass•lrfllabllltJ•sJ 219.504 Total •sMts l•M ¢umt U•bMJths B12 219.504 Cr•dttLYS: amounts f•lllng du• aft•f on• y•¥ 1) Provlglons for Il•bllltl•8 and chwg N•t •M•ts 815 219.504 Funds of the Charlty Unrutrkt•d funds DMSAnat•d funds i Totsl unr•strlct•d funds 107475 817 119013 RMtrkt•d In¢4m• funds (Nol• 12 Endawm•nt funds INot• 12 019 Total lunds 219,504

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS Section C Notes to the accounts Icontl Nots5 D•Lg1& of ¢•rtskn It•ms ol •xp•n(4tw• 5.1 Tru•t•• •xp•nM• Pl••s• provld• d•talts of th• amount of •nyp•ym•nt orTrlmburs•m•nt ol DutvoI-pDck•t •Xp•n5￿ mad• to thistw ¢v ¢0 thln partl•s lor •xp•ftS￿ Incun•d by 1ruSt￿ Mno •xp•nw ww• p•ld, pl••s• •nl•r'P4on•' In lh• •pproprf•t• l>oxf•sJ. Thlsy•w Nurnb•r of trust••s wh• ww• p •xp•n••4 N•n• Non• N•n• N•n• Natur• ol th• •xpM• T?tl nount pkl Non• Non• 52 F•ts lor •x¥nkn•thon or •udlt of th• •¢￿￿ntS Pl••s• pmvld• d•t￿ of th• amountp•ld loranysl•tutory •xl•malscwtlny of •ccounts and oth•rs•nrfc prnvld•dbyyourlnd•p•nd•nt •x•mln•r¢v•udltor. ff noththg p41d pl••M •n(•rNONEln th• •ppwA•t• box(￿). ThIBy•X Ind•p•nd•nt •xwnknrfs or •udlt¥)rn' f•M f•r i•portlno on th• •ccaunts ', Oth•r f••8 (for •umpl•: advk•, consumancy, Kcountancy jp4d to th• knd•p•nd•nt •x￿In4¢ or •udlt•r None Sect5on C Noles to the account4 Icontl Nots6 P4kl •mploy•• Pl••#• compl•t• Ihl not• ifth• ch•nTtyh# any •mploy•• 6.1 C••ts y•v Orass ularb• •nd b•n•ffts kn kknd ', Employ•r' Ntlon•l In￿rn￿¢ eot• ' P•n8Son costs HDrMxarla 109,899 2,073 3,428 1(M) 81,%7 Tatl tff eat 12 Av•rng• numb•r ol fuMkn• •qufv•l•nt •mploy••8 In th• y•v Thl•y Nurnb•r Ilumb•r Th• p¥1• of th• ¢hartly In whl¢h th• •mpk+y•ts work Man War•hous• Campalgns *nd Cammunk&tSon• npo8tln Admlnlstratlon Fundr¥ldng CMrtln•tor Total 3.4

Not• 11 Cr•(4tfn and ¥¢cr￿1¥ PIM$• ¢ompl•¢• Ihh no¢• 11 th• ¢h•rftyhu •ny ¢rndltorn w•¢e•v•l& 11.1 Anatysh al ¢f•d￿0￿ Amounts f4llng du• wlthln an• y•v Amount• l•lllng du• •ft•r mor• th•n on• y• Th18 y Last y Thbsy ,' Law• OT4wdr•ft• Trnd• cr•dltorn Amounts du• to sub•ldl*y •Mo¢S•t•d und•rtathqs Oth•r cr•dllo AccNth and d•f•rr•d Incom• 23 81 81 Total

Not• 12 EndtyhTh•nt and r••trlcl•d IK<n• lun Pl••s• compl•t• thls Mctlon M th• charflyhu any •ndowm•nt Orr•st￿t•d Incom• Ivnd 111 Funds h•ld Pl•aH gJv• a brw d•K￿lIk¥￿ ol ￿Y ol th• followbnq typ• of fund• h•ld by th• ¢h¥lty: p•mian•nt •ndowm•nt lunds IPE); •Xp•nd1b￿ •ndowm•nt fund IEEI: nd r•8trl¢t•d Incom• funds, bncluding wdal tru•t& of th• Ghlty {R). oth•r funds. Fund ￿￿• Typw PE. EE. R of oth•r PuTro• rnJtrktlon• Essex C(ThTKxMty F￿1 Stsff trarffMJ, fry Costs f￿ CrtE•ns tkn thar èxx￿8$ Lottwy FLv¥J Or9￿￿¥3 & Local hAobfAsat P05tCC•J8 F88 R03ca Stratwjc R•stysc•8 Fud vc4Khws 122 Iliov•m•nts of mabw t￿￿1¥ Pl••s• BI￿ d•t•lls ol ¢h• n￿¥•￿•￿ts ol th• m•Jorfunds svmmarfs•al In th• mlrfd•al •nd •ndownwit columns of th• Sl•l•m•ftl olFlft•ncWAdfvltl Fund balanc brought Fund Ineomlni Gan* •nd •xp•nd•d Tran•f•rn Fund Esso¥ C￿ft IncktsDn N&t￿)r￿1 Lott￿ CL¥nmunfy Fthd ni & LcKal Mcblsat PostcoJe Pkces Rosca Southgnd Er LStaina Grant Stratagc Ra8￿￿c F￿1 13.775 17 28 17 28 FWKI 111 732 8.612 762 TOLAI Funds 187,785 129,744 1213,8761 13,162) 11)0,490

12.3 Tr•n•f•r• l>•ts•n fwKI• Pl••s• glv• d•l•lls ol•ny tr•nsf•rs b•tw••n lund From Fund N￿•) TO Fund Fina￿￿11 InelusK)n Gffiwal Amount £2￿ kns than expect￿ ty so fiJ¥J sout￿ EmorwKy F￿j WBC L4tCV sp￿￿1 yo that W rK)t J3sywJ to 762 12A An•ly•l¥ ol n•t ••••ts b•tw••n fund• A•¥￿¢t•d Endow•d fvnds Totsl Inv••tm•nt N•t eurr•nt aM•ts 119013 219.504 Crndltt￿ du• kn m•t• thn •n• y•w •nd pro¥lbon 119,013 1￿,4 219.9)4 N¢%• 14 Addltk)nal D￿¢1￿￿•9 Th• lollowlng arn $1gnlfl¢ant matt•r8 whkh ar• not cav•r•d In oth•r not•s and n••d to b• Indud•d to Pff•vld• prop•r und•r4LMdlnq of th• •c¢ount•. 11 th•r• l• Insuffkb•nl vooffl h•r•, pl•M• add a ••pwat• •h••L Thg chwty's xtr4ty is to woYJg foLwJ pwcels to ttwe Fo￿j f￿ th850 pwcfjl¥ i¥ scucod rWy 50% cash dC￿￿￿$s¥ants r￿￿d￿d n ttlese acc(￿lts 50% lts<xW offcxxl dyecty . thii f￿￿L￿teS sYnrfC￿fy OV8f th8 C(Yn8 of yw. Th8s8 thèct frcrfn drff8fènt scwc8s. th8 knted WfTtsr of 8tafffvfknlews avalth to Fix)ts, rt has be￿ F)ssi￿ to 88crb8 a va￿0 to tt¥& fo¢xl . thwgf(Ye, Th) vkn15 T￿￿d￿j Note thwt foLKI is n•vw by th• Ctwty.

Basis of accounts : these accounts have been prepared on an ‘accruals’ basis and accord with Sections 132-166, Charities Act (CA 2011) for an E&W CIO, as well as the Charities SORP FRS102 (2019a).

  1. Approval of accounts : these accounts meet the threshold at which an independent examination is required in addition to approval by the Trustees.

  2. Guarantees and disclosures : the trustees confirm, in accordance with Charitable Incorporated Organisation (General) Regulations 2012, that at year end the CIO did not have any outstanding guarantees to third parties nor any debts secured on assets of the CIO.

  3. The Trustees have prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis, which the Trustees believe to be appropriate. Following a review of the CIO’s financial position – including a review of the cash flow forecasts and available funding for a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of these accounts, the Trustees are satisfied that the charity has sufficient resources to meet its liabilities as they fall due.

  4. There are no related party transactions to disclose for the accounting period 1[st] May 2024-30[th] April 2025. No trustees, key personnel or connected parties received payments or benefits from the charity requiring disclosure under the Charities SORP (FRS 102).

The financial statement relating to the year ending 30 April 2025 are as approved by the Trustees.

Date: 19/02/2026 Signed: (Chair) Date: 18/02/2026 Signed: (Treasurer)

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examinerfs Report Report to the trusteesl members of On accounts for the year ended Charity no (rf any) 30 Set out on pages 2_10 I report to Ihe trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ('the Trusf) for the year ended 3010￿1202 As the tharitsls Irustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wtth the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (Yhe Acr). Responsibilitles and basis of report I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicab￿ Direth'ons given by the Charity Commission under section 145{5){b) of the ACL Independent ￿h6 charity's gross income exceeded £250,0￿ and l am qualified to examinerfs statement undertake the examination by being a qualified member of 4el40 wr &Ccbw<J I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have corne to my attention in connection with the examination d45e18￿￿ which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect". the accounting records V￿re not kept in accordance with sertion 130 of the Charities Act. or the accounts did not accord wth the acccmjnting records: or the accounts did not o)mply with the applicable requirements conceming the fomi and o)ntent of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and RerM)rts) Regulations 2¢)08 other than any requirement th* the accounts give a 'tfue and fairf view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to vthich attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proFer understanding of the accounts to be reached. ' Pl8ase delete th8 w0￿S in the brdckets if they do not apply. Signed: Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body N CfrMA IER Oct 2018

{rf any): Address: SGJ¥Kb-O - Orl- S? S-¥ 4LR Section B Disclosure Only complete il the examiner needs to highlight material matters of conTrrn (see CC32. Independent examination of chanty accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018