2023-03-31-accounts - Ribble Valley Gateway Trust

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	Trustees' Annual Report	Trustees' Annual Report	Trustees' Annual Report	Trustees' Annual Report	Trustees' Annual Report	for theperiod	for theperiod	for theperiod
	From	Period start date			To	Period end date
		01	04	2022		31	03	2023

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Ribble Valley Gateway Trust

Other names charity is known by RVGT Registered charity number (if any)[1167261]

Charity's principal address	15 The Acres
	Barrow,
	Clitheroe
	Postcode	BB7 9BH

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany)
Colin White	Chair		Co-opted
Rev. Andrew Froud		Until Oct ‘22	St. Mary Magdalene Parish Church, Clitheroe
Rev. Michele Jarmany		Until May ‘22	Clitheroe United Reformed Church
Rev. Mark Woodward		Until Sept ‘22	Clitheroe Community Church
Kathryn Weston		Until Feb ‘23	St. James’ Church, Clitheroe
Sion Hall		Until Oct ‘22	St. Michael and St. John’s RC Church, Clitheroe
Jill Downes	Secretaryto RVGT	Until Feb ‘23	St. Paul’s Church, Low Moor
Dr Nick Shelley	Safeguardingofficer	From Feb ‘23	St. James’ Church, Clitheroe
Alan Meyer	Health and Safety Officer		Clitheroe Christians in Partnership
Jean Holmes		Until Sept ‘22	Co-opted
Rev Norman Ivison	Communications Officer	From Feb ‘23	St. James’ Church, Clitheroe
John Keating	Foodbank link Trustee	From May ‘22	Churches in Longridge
Diane Steer	Secretaryto RVGT	From Sept ‘22	St Paul’s Church Low Moor

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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address




Name of chief executive	or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

CIO Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) Charitable Incorporated Association How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Nominated by local churches and Christian groups in Clitheroe, Ribble Trustee selection methods Valley plus up to 2 co-optees (eg. appointed by, elected by)

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

The Trust has established an inclusive organisational structure based on
You may choose to include active and enduring links with Christian churches in Clitheroe and
additional information, where Longridge. This is reflected in strong levels of volunteering, donations of
relevant, about: food and finance and promotion of the Trust’s services within the Ribble
policies and procedures Valley communities. adopted for the induction and training of trustees; The Trust has practical links with around 40 referral agencies and two
the charity’s organisational local authorities. structure and any wider network with which the charity The Trust has adopted formal policies regarding safeguarding, risk works; management and health and safety and has put in place broader policies
relationship with any related and handbooks including staff and volunteer handbooks and a Trustee handbook.
parties;
trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

Section C Objectives and activities

The objects of the charity are for the benefit of people primarily in the area Summary of the objects of the currently administered by the Ribble Valley Borough Council :- charity set out in its governing document

To prevent or relieve poverty including but not exclusively by the provision of food parcels, guidance and support;

To help combat social exclusion and support those who are disadvantaged or with special needs;

To promote good mental health and well-being;

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To advance Christian faith and practice including, but not exclusively, to promote collective and personal training, outreach services and ecumenical worship and mission.

Ribble Valley Foodbank:

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)

Work with local partners to Change Communities , so that we reduce the need for the Ribble Valley Foodbank locally, helping people to access targeted support that addresses the underlying reason for their crisis.
Work with and within the local community to Change Minds and increase levels of understanding and empathy amongst the public, locally and UK-wide, to build a movement that is willing to take action to create a just and compassionate society without the need for food banks.
Work with the Trussell Trust and other partners to Change Policy , as we provide stronger evidence of the drivers of extreme poverty (or ‘destitution’) and pushing for positive solutions that will help tackle these.
Prevention or relief of poverty including but not exclusively by the provision of food parcels, guidance and support with specific reference to locality needs. Clients are provided with food parcels and signposting.
Gateway Trust Counselling : weekly or fortnightly one hour counselling sessions offered by professionally qualified persons to individuals who self-refer having been signposted by doctors, churches, businesses, friends, family and other care agencies.

Ribble Valley Art4All : weekly art classes led by an Art Teacher and Volunteers for students who are disadvantaged or who have special needs and their carers..

Each service is provided to the public at large subject to the recipient’s need for the specific service being clarified on referral in line with Charity Commission guidance.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

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The Ribble Valley Gateway Trust does not provide grants to third parties.

Grants and donations received for each service are restricted to the service specified unless earmarked as unrestricted.

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

The Trust’s services are mainly delivered through volunteers under the leadership of three part time Managers who are paid for their services and are accountable to the Chair and Trustees.

policy on grantmaking;
policy programme related investment;
contribution made by volunteers.

Section D Achievements and performance

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Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

Ribble Valley Foodbank

Appointment of a new project manger 2. Review of strengths and areas for development 3. Creation of the Draft Ribble Valley Foodbank Strategic Plan 2023 – 2024
New referral system, supported for referees with training. 5. Closer working with key agencies. 6. Pilot Mental Health Project weekly in one of the Foodbanks. 7. Fresh fruit and vegetable voucher scheme embedded. 8. Continued partnership development with churches, schools, and other groups both as referrers and donators.
Continued engagement with local supermarkets as locations for public donations.
Continued development of role of the RVGT Trustee and the new Foodbank Manager
31,886 Kg of food, toiletries and household cleaning items were distributed in 2022/23.
2,281 parcels for adults and children in total were provided, up by 579 on the previous year.

Gateway Trust Counselling

Continuing in providing hour long sessions, we have worked with 200 clients since opening.
We now have 1 student doing their placement with us and enquiries pending from 3 more due to start soon.
Three students have successfully completed their placements with us and qualified to level 4 Diploma. They remain on staff.
Counsellor numbers are up to 10 and we are open for another day each week. We now have counselling happening each day Monday to Thursday.
We maintain links with the Ribble Valley Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and a counsellor at Minds Matter in Clitheroe. They often signpost patients to us if they feel that we are an appropriate option for them. Which also means than for the first-time doctors in Clitheroe practices are signposting our service to patients.
We are receiving an average of 3-5 enquiries a week and have a fluctuating waiting averaging 12 weeks wait.
We are now strict about clients being residents of the Ribble Valley Borough Council District to manage numbers and waiting times.
Our formal rental agreement to use the rooms in St James’ Church continues and we have had a sink installed to help staff and reduce safety risks which existed due to carrying water and pots up and downstairs.
To serve the people in our community who have deep and complex needs, due to trauma, we have begun negotiations with a local Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing therapist (EMDR). We intend to fund sessions with this specialist for clients we feel would be helped by this therapy. This is expected to offer faster processing for those coming with increasing complexity of need.
With increased demand for trauma counselling, we are formulating a bursary system, in which our counsellors can apply for funding to extent their skills particularly in trauma counselling, to better serve our clients.
We are increasing our welcomer numbers to shorten shift lengths and provide welcomers in our new extended time slots. We also

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have reserve welcomers to cover shifts when people are unable to work their shift.
We have begun working with a Grant bid writer to help us with our future funding streams.

Ribble Valley Art4All

Weekly art classes continue to be held at The Salvation Army during term times for 26 students. We run 2 classes, from 10am to 12 midday and 1pm to 3 pm.
We have 18 Volunteers who support classes on a rota basis.
We have formed a small finance group to help with administration and fund raising activities holding monthly planning meetings.
Due to art funding grants we have been able to acquire a photocopier and have been able to pay for an artist to come and work with the students over 2 weeks.
Successful grant applications and fund raising initiatives over the last year have helped ensure the ongoing financial viability of the service. However fund raising remains a continued priority.

RVGT trustees, policies and management

A number of Trustees retired from their roles over the last twelve months either because their nine year service period had been reached or because of personal circumstances making it impracticable to continue to serve as a Trustee in the Ribble Valley. The RVGT is very grateful for the contributions made by each person who has served as a Trustee with the RVGT and who has now retired.
New trustees have been appointed either by the Ribble Valley churches or have been co-opted on. Each trustee has taken on responsibility for a specific aspect of the work of the RVGT, often linked to their skills, experience, and interests. These are: Link Trustee for Foodbank (John Keating), Link Trustee for Counselling and Safeguarding /DBS Officer (Nick Shelley), Secretary to trustees and Link Trustee for Art-for-All (Diane Steer), Health and Safety (Alan Meyer), Communications (Norman Ivison).
As there has been a significant turn-over in trustees, a training day was arranged to provide training to all trustees. The Trustee Handbook has also been reviewed and updated and provides key information on the RVGT and the roles and responsibilities of the Trustees.
The RVGT has benefited from the advice and support of Jo Jowett who is an experienced independent trustee who has provided invaluable advice, support and training on all aspects of running a Charitable Trust.
All key policies have been reviewed and updated. In particular the Foodbank policies and procedures have been updated and aligned with Trussell Trust standard policies and these have been reviewed by the Trussell Trust.
We were delighted to appoint Ruth Thompson, a very experienced ex-Head Teacher and Project Manager, as Foodbank Manager in January ‘23. Ruth has brought significant experience, skills and energy to the role and has given fresh strategic direction and leadership to the work of the Foodbank in the Ribble Valley. She has also developed strong connections with local agencies. She has been tasked with developing a far broader role for the work of the Foodbank helping to address broader aspects of poverty and need. John Keating has a played

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an important role in supporting Ruth on behalf of the Trustees in her role.
1. Good financial processes and controls are key to responsible financial management and ensuring the integrity of the RVGT’s transactions and financial records. We are fortunate and grateful to Sue Clark who acts as Treasurer to the RVGT and who manages these processes and controls.
1. The Trustees are currently looking to appoint one or two more trustees to strengthen the work of the RVGT and spread responsibilities.

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Section E Financial review

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There is no formal reserves policy, but the trustees follow good charitable practice to hold at least 6-9 months funding in reserves.

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

Details of any funds materially in deficit

None.

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:

the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.

Principal sources of income are grants, donations and gifts from Counselling clients.

Grants and donations are generally restricted to the specific service for which they are earmarked by the grantor or donor. In each instance such funds are used to meet the running costs of that service including rents, insurance, training, subscriptions and the part time employment of a Foodbank Manager, and Gateway Trust Counselling Manager and the Art4All co-ordinator respectively.

The RVGT is responsible for certain expenditure that benefits all of the projects eg insurance premium, external adviser charges, external accountant costs, and financial administrator costs etc. These costs are recharged back to the projects on a fair and equitable basis.

The Trustees’ strategy is to encourage the proactive promotion of each service to attract local donations and to be alert to opportunities for grant applications so that each service is financed sufficiently to meet at least the next twelve months’ costs.

Section F Other optional information

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Colin White

Full name(s) Colin White

Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Chair

etc)

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Date 9th October .23 TAR io Sept 2023

Charity Name	No (if any)
Ribble Valley Gateway Trust	1167261
Receipts andpayments accounts		CC16a
Period start date 4/1/2022 For the period from	To Period end date 3/31/2023

Section A Receipts and payments

Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Grants - Donations - Clients - Other - - - - - - Transfer out CookeryClub - - Sub total - Total receipts - A3 Payments Equipment - Rent - Salaries & Supervision - Expenses & Materials - Office - Insurance & Overheads - - - Other - Sub total - - - Sub total - Total payments - Net of receipts/(payments) - A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end - Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ *Sub total*(Gross income for AR) A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)	to the nearest £ 11,220 105,093 16,266 - - - - 132,579 - 2,512 - - 2,512 130,067 3,341 14,018 33,473 4,261 2,804 6,031 - - - 63,928 - - - 63,928 66,139 194,689 260,828 Restricted funds	to the nearest £ Endowment funds	Total funds to the nearest £ 11,220 105,093 16,266 - - - - - 132,579 - 2,512 - - 2,512 130,067 3,341 14,018 33,473 4,261 2,804 6,031 - - - 63,928 - - - 63,928 66,139 - 194,689 260,828	Last year to the nearest £
		- - - - - - - - -	11,220	10,508
			105,093	72,615
			16,266	10,447
			-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			132,579	93,570

		- - -	- 2,512
			-	-
			- 2,512	-

		-	130,067	93,570

		- - - - - - - - - -	3,341	7,868
			14,018	8,880
			33,473	32,165
			4,261	3,317
			2,804	2,515
			6,031	4,972
			-	-
			-	-
			-
			63,928	59,717

		- - -	-
			-
			-	-

		-	63,928	59,717

	66,139	- - - -	66,139	33,853
			-	-
	194,689		194,689	160,836
	260,828		260,828	194,689

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees	Details Foodbank Account Counselling Account Art4All Account Details Details Details Details Signature *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))	to nearest £ to nearest £ - 205,870 - 39,874 15,084 - - - 260,828 OK OK to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Print Name Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional)	to nearest £ Endowment funds
			205,870
			39,874
			15,084
			-
			260,828
			Agreement Error
			to nearest £ Endowment funds
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			When due (optional)






			Date of approval

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ members of

Charity Name

Ribble Valley Gateway Trust

On accounts for the year ended

31.3.23 1167261

Charity no (if any)

Set out on pages

Form CC16a

(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 / 03 / 2023

As the charity trustees of the Trust, 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 Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.

Signed:

IER

Date:

08.9.23

Name:

Jonathan frank

Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):

Chartered Accountant, ICAEW

Address:

38 Whalley Road

Clitheroe BB7 1AW Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

IER