Chair of Trustees Annual Report 1st September 2021 to August 31st 2022
Over the course of this reporting period we continued to adjust to the “new normal” imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic in conjunction with the clients, volunteers, referral agencies, local authority, members of the public and our retailer partners. Mass testing and vaccination programs had both been well underway in the first half of 2021 and everyone had become used to social distancing and masks. It wouldn’t be until January 2022, after the Omicron variant gripped the nation, that the gradual relaxing of rules would begin.
The beginning of our reporting year showed a continued year on year increase in the number of people supported by the Foodbank which can be attributed to structural adjustments in the job market and the furlough scheme ending in September 2021. At this point we were also anticipating the reduction in universal credit in November. The most common referral type was low income, but we recorded a higher proportion of debt cases
During the Autumn of 2021, Hannah Higginson stood down as chair and was replaced by our vice chair Helen Craig, who took the role on a temporary basis. During this period we experienced a 50% rise in demand from September to October 2021 for our “Fuelbank” energy voucher scheme as the winter approached and household energy prices were beginning to rise.
Autumn 2021 was also a substantial period of planning and upheaval as the plans to move from one premise to two premises was put into action due to outgrowing our town centre location and the building being put up for sale. In January 2022 we officially moved our operations premise to a small warehouse called Fredrick House in Winnersh and moved our client facing premise to the newly created Charity and Community Hub in the centre of Wokingham. During this time we recorded our highest ever amount of harvest donations which was greatly received from schools and the local community.
In the lead up to Christmas 2020 we worked on a joint project with Share Wokingham and First Days Children’s Charity to provide Christmas treat hampers to families in need. A year later we extended this project to include working with Wokingham Borough Council, Wokingham Lions, The Salvation Army, Wokingham Churches Together, The Grub Club and Woodley Lunch Bunch. We negotiated a temporary licence for a town centre unit and secured funding from Wokingham Borough Council to cover the costs. The site was visited by families who were referred and selected a collection of stocking fillers for their children alongside a Christmas hamper.
By February 2022 the new Premises were up and running and we continued to serve our clients through both collections and deliveries. The number of volunteers exceeded 100 for the first time which reflected the sustained need to provide food and energy vouchers for our community. Additional, but one-of expenditures were incurred during the move, however our income and reserves remained strong and inline with our forecast. This period placed a noticeable strain on the volunteers which was recognised and dealt with through a review of the hours and responsibilities of the workforce. As a result more volunteers were recruited and hours eased.
The teething issues of the new premises and the new logistics subsided which also helped to reduce the strain.
The beginning of 2022 was a period of stability as the volume of clients levelled, however this stability masked a substantial increase in April 2022 compared to 2019 - 300% increase in the number of people fed. During this time we fortunately experienced an increase in donations.
During this period our volunteer rota became more complicated to manage due to sheer number of volunteers and the need for more flexibility now that we were entering the post-lockdown era. We therefore began using Assemble to organise the volunteer rotas.
The conflict in Ukraine began in February 2022 so we began to see referrals from our partner agencies and made provisions for an increase in demand. As household energy prices continued to increase as a result of the conflict the number of fuel vouchers doubled between February and April 2022.
The Board of Trustees revisit ted the Strategic Plan in May 2022 to review the three main pillars: Client Services and Delivery, New Horizons and, People and Culture. Two trustees also attended the Trussel Trust rolling roadshow which included keynote speakers, practical advice and an opportunity to meet and engage with other Foodbanks.
By the summer of 2022 the number of people supported continued at a steady rate well above pre-pandemic levels, though not as high as the peak in April to June 2020.
Our financial position in August 2022 remained strong due to continued donations from the general public as well as local organisations. Sam Sudlow was appointed as Chair of Trustees taking over from Helen Craig in August 2022.
This year has been the most challenging, but also the most rewarding since we were established. Whilst many records have been broken as we exceeded 100 volunteers, expanded to two Premises and provided food parcels to the most number of people in one year, it was not a year of celebration. The role of the Foodbank appears to be changing inexorably from helping people in crisis to those needing ongoing support. We are committed to providing for those in need through compassion and respect, but we continue to support the Trussell Trust in its mission to end food poverty.
## Sam Sudlow
Chair of Trustees, Wokingham Foodbank.
Wc&iwham
foodb
## **Receipts and Payments**
Income
Local giving Regular donations Trussell Trust Strategic Grants x 2 Gift aid Collections Cotswold Fayre One-off donations Total
Expenditure
Rent Utilities Charis vouchers Petty cash Insurance Rates Refurbishment Salaries Legal fees Other operating expenses Total
Net income from operations
## **Movements in funds**
Opening balance 01/09/2021
Income Expenditure Inter fund transfers: bank 1 to bank 2 Inter fund transfers: bank 1 to petty cash Inter fund transfers: bank 1 to fixed rate deposit Inter fund transfers: bank 2 to Charis fuel account Inter fund transfers: bank 2 to funds in transit
Closing balance 31/08/2022
## **Balance Sheet @ 31 August 2022**
Assets: Cash at bank Fixed rate deposit Petty cash Charis fuel fund Cash in transit (Note 1)
Liabilities: Equity - reserves:
## **Notes:**
**2022**
£68,877.85 £9,679.95 £30,868.99 £1,720.48 £974.31 £14,126.00 £56,048.51 £182,296.09
£59,917.31 £2,517.57 £52,976.60 £172.17 £2,310.91 £4,149.51 £6,607.60 £13,985.90 £2,150.00 £23,386.26 £168,173.83
£14,122.26
|Bank account|
Bank account|
Fixed Rate|Petty cash|Charis Fuel|Funds in|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|1|2|deposit|fund|Account|Transit (Note|
||||||1)|
|£222,467.04|£15,040.52|£0.00|£39.27|£662.00|£0.00|
|£164,484.09|£17,812.00|||||
|-£114,976.06|-£49.00||-£172.17|-£52,976.60||
|-£32,000.00|£32,000.00|||||
|-£150.00|||£150.00|||
|-£100,000.00||£100,000.00||||
||-£53,000.00|||£53,000.00||
||-£2,000.00||||£2,000.00|
£139,825.07 £9,803.52 £100,000.00
£17.10 £685.40 £2,000.00
£149,628.59 £100,000.00 £17.10 £685.40 £2,000.00 £252,331.09
£0.00
£252,331.09
er the end of this accounting period.
## Total
**£238,208.83**
**£182,296.09**
**### £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00**
£252,331.09
||||Fixed Rate||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||No 1 Account|No 2 Account|Deposit|Petty Cash|
|Open|222,467.04|15,040.52|0.00|39.27|
|Close|139,825.07|9,803.52|100,000.00|17.10|
|Movement|-82,641.97|-5,237.00|100,000.00|-22.17|
|In|165,057.87|49,812.00|100,000.00|150.00|
|Out|247,699.84|55,049.00|0.00|172.17|
||-82,641.97|-5,237.00|100,000.00|-22.17|
|Charis Fuel|||
|---|---|---|
|Account|Funds in Transit|Total|
|662.00|0.00|238,208.83|
|685.40|2,000.00|252,331.09|
|23.40|2,000.00|14,122.26|
|54,615.60|2,000.00|371,635.47|
|54,592.20|0.00|357,513.21|
|23.40|2,000.00|14,122.26|