Swansea East Side Food Bank A charity registered in England and Wales, number 1163300
Trustees Report 2021 - 2022
Section A Reference and administration details
The name of the charity is SWANSEA EAST SIDE FOOD BANK
Registered number 1163300
The charity is based at Mount Zion Baptist Chapel 94 Mansel Road Bonymaen Swansea SA1 7JR
Section A Trustees at April 2021 – March 2022
Rev Christopher Lewis
Paul Lloyd
Mandy Evans
Kath Parry
Joanne Stephenson
Geoffrey Roberts
Rachana Patel
Helen McLaughlan
Melanie Nicholas
Adrian Nicholas
Section B
Structure, governance and management
As the charity is small and local, no formal training has been required for trustees as those who come forward have so far, been familiar with the role and induction takes place by working alongside those already in office.
Trustee meetings that would normally have been face to face have been replaced by electronic communications because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The charity receives referrals from about seventy agencies across Swansea and Neath Port Talbot (on which the council ward of Bonymaen borders). These include other charities, local authority departments, workers in primary healthcare, housing associations, schools and churches. We are also making our service available to managers in businesses where they become aware of employees in crisis. Because of the difficulties posed for people in need in obtaining referrals by remote working, we have begun to accept self referrals but try to to put applicants in touch with someone who can support their claim The charity continues to be supported by donations of cash and goods from the local community, businesses and churches.
The charity has one trustee in common with Mount Zion Chapel
Risks Identified:
Heath and Safety : - procedures require:
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that anybody entering the building alone informs an appropriate person of their whereabouts;
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that a minimum of three trustees / volunteers must be on hand before applicants are served; when a support worker collects parcels, this can be relaxed
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working in conjunction with the chapel, general health and safety matters are monitored;
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insurance - the charity has enacted its own public liability insurance for operations and product.
COVID-19 Arrangements
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We discontinued face-to-face services and replaced them with a ‘though the door’ system of distribution.
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PPE and hygiene supplies have continued to be available and warning notices posted.
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We instituted a system of teams for sorting and packing goods and another for their distribution, this remains in force. The teams consisting of up to three people (always 3 for distribution) operate on different days, if extra sorting or other work is needed volunteers do this at other times - this keeps us well within the Welsh Government rule for regulated buildings. Given the limited space in the building we thought it wise to keep precautions in place even as opening up progressed.
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Other Covid-19 precautions such as test and trace, recoding attendance have been withdrawn progressively. – since our teams are small it easy to account for attendances. 4 Service users do not enter the building.
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We believe all of our volunteers are doubly vaccinated and some will be receiving boosters during the autumn of 2021
Data Protection
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No computerized records containing client or volunteer details are kept and such minimal paper records as are maintained for the currency of an applicant’s need are handled with care in use and kept under lock and key, so the risk of a data breach is low.
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Any published statistics are anonymised.
Food Allergies
- This is still a potential concern but as we are no longer distributing surplus ambient bakery goods the risk is reduced. Allergy risks are normally indicated on packaging. All clients are asked about food allergies and advised to check themselves.
Food Handling
- Our principal food handlers have food safety qualifications. Because of delays caused by Covid-19 our volunteers may now need to renew their qualifications. Training is allowed for in budgets and we hope to resume this as the situation eases post pandemic.
Reputation
- We depend on the good will of our donors and for this reason we exercise care in giving assistance to discourage the abuse of our service or over dependence. Applicants referred frequently by a single or by more than one referee are reviewed and the referees contacted.
Covid -19
- The level of the continuing risk is not clear and we are alive to the possibility of new variants and strains.
Section C Objectives and Activities
The object of the charity is to operate a food bank in the eastern part of Swansea.
The objective is achieved by gathering donations of foodstuffs and donations of cash. Foodstuffs are sorted, rotated and distributed to applicants referred by agencies (as above). Appropriate action is taken to dispose of any unfit or out of date foodstuffs to prevent their consumption.
Donations of cash are applied to running expenses (heat & light), food storage equipment (freezer, refrigerator and hygienic storage boxes), cleaning materials, stationery and printing and ‘topping up’ stock shortages. Some restricted funds may be applied as a contribution to building improvements such as making the building accessible for people of reduced mobility.
We consider that these activities are conducted with regard to the guidance of the Charity Commission on public benefit.
Additional Information on Objectives and Activities
The strength of the East Side Food Bank is its volunteer body. Though based at a Baptist Chapel, it is essentially a community activity and has harnessed the social capital of the by its open policy, skills, talents and expertise, experience of working in public office, common sense and good will.
As Covid-19 restrictions eased we have been looking at ways to reinvigorate activities in the community. Though an existing partnership wit the Swansea University Law School we were put in touch with ArtStation Cardiff with a view to developing activities that would encourage community resilience and work towards the other well-being goals of the Future Generations Act (Wales). At the end of the period under review, a successful bid was made to the Welsh Arts Council Connect and Flourish Fund amounting to £150,000 for developing a creative programme around food and energy.
Section D
Achievements and Performance
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Demand on our food bank was reduced, partly due to new food banks opening. Overall, we are now seeing a gradual increase in take up from the lowest point.
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We have loyal donors both of goods and cash and with emergency supplies through statutory agencies, our stock has held up well in general. We have the financial strength to top-up by purchase.
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The real achievement has been to keep going in difficult and uncertain circumstances. This is down to the hard working dedication of our volunteers who have applied their skills, experience and common sense, have been adaptable in their various roles. and have a fund of skills and experience.
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We continue to receive appreciative feedback on the empathy of our team, the efficient organisation of our service and flexibility by which we can respond to some if not all emergencies.
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Statistics are compiled monthly. We continue to feed into the citywide intelligence on how poverty is being tackled, though demands on our volunteers have made it impractical to provide the detail in anonymised analytics that we had previously provided.
Section E Financial Review
See Treasurer’ s Report.
Section F
Optional Information
As mentioned above, the we are looking to the future. The covid-19 pandemic has been challenging to many institutions including the Baptist chapel which hosts the food bank. The vision is create a hub for the community of which the food bank will be part. At the end of the period under review we have begun to tackle the issues such as governance and relationships between partners and practical considerations such as adapting the building to make it a comfortable rather than cold space and accessibility.
As I observed last year, we will have to be prepared for the possibility of future shocks in an environment of ‘permacrisis’ but we are hopeful and look forward to a time of emergence and progress.
Section G
Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees report above
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
| Trustee 1 | Trustee 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Signature | Rachana Patel | Geoffrey Roberts |
| Position | Trustee | Trustee |
| Date | 10 November 2022 | 10 November 2022 |
Swansea Eastside Foodbank Final Annual Accounts 1st April 2021 - 31 March 2022
INCOME
| Cash at 1st April 2021 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank b/f | 38,652.29 | ||||
| Pety Cash A/c | 41.15 | ||||
| In hand | 0.00 | ||||
| 38,693.44 | |||||
| Donatons | Unrestricted funds | ||||
| Corporate Cash/Cheque | £2,908.49 | ||||
| Personal Cash/Cheque | £5,927.96 | ||||
| Donatons in memorium | £1,065.00 | ||||
| Total unrestricted funding | £9,901.45 | ||||
| Restricted Funding Grants | |||||
| Household support fund | £780.00 | ||||
| Swansea Council Period Poverty | £461.50 | ||||
| Total restricted funding | £1,241.50 | ||||
| TOTAL INCOME | £11,142.95 | ||||
| EXPENDITURE | |||||
| Unrestricted expenditure | |||||
| Equipment | £392.62 | ||||
| Repairs/Renewals | £22.00 | ||||
| Contributon to Chapel | £566.64 | ||||
| Supplies | £1,471.08 | ||||
| Grants to other organisatons | £500.00 | ||||
| Sundries | £121.90 | ||||
| Exp Sybil Crouch fund | £743.53 | ||||
| Phone charges | £81.60 | ||||
| Insurance | £196.57 | ||||
| Total unrestricted expenditure | £4,095.94 | ||||
| Restricted Funding Expenditure | |||||
| Household support fund | |||||
| Fare share subscripton | £780.00 | ||||
| Swansea Council Period Poverty | Fund | ||||
| Supplies | £461.50 | ||||
| Total restricted expenditure | £1,241.50 | ||||
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE | £5,337.44 | ||||
| Net Infow/(outlow) of funds | 5,805.51 |
Less cash in hand
| Pety Cash A/c | 37.90 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| In Hand | 0.00 | ||
| Subtotal | 5,767.61 | ||
| Total in Bank 31 March 2022 (per cash rec) | 44,461.05 | ||
| Total in Bank 31 March 2022 (actual c/f) | 44,461.05 | ||
| Diference | 0.00 |
Note to the accounts:
Trustees have agreed to operate a reserve of £10,000.00 on the bank account. The bank account balance cannot drop below this level without the agreement of Trustees. This will ensure the foodbank will have sufficient funds to continue to operate in the event of a reduction in donations and operate whilst trustees seek a solution to the funding issue.
I confirm the above accounts provide an accurate record of Eastside Foodbank's financial transactions for the year 1st April 2021 – 2022
Signed Rev C G I Lewis. Chair 10/11/22