Annual Report
Selby & District Foodbank for The year ending 31[st] March 2023
Registered Charity no. 1169033
September 2023
Chair of Trustees: Nigel Currey Treasurer: David Busfield Co-ordinator: Cheryl Whitton
Selby & District Foodbank
Annual report 1[st] April 2022 – 31[st] March 2023
Created by Cheryl Whitton – Project Coordinator
Aim : To provide food parcels for people in short-term food crisis. To end hunger and poverty in our community.
Our mission : By working and liaising with other Voluntary Services and Agencies to provide practical help with dignity whilst challenging injustice.
1,906 emergency food parcels were provided to local people from April 2022 to March 2023. These parcels provided food for 2968 adults and 1623 children making 4,591 people receiving food for a minimum of three days or at least 41,319 individual meals. This is a large increase on last year.
We have experienced an increase in need throughout the year, as people have struggled with the cost-of-living crisis. Thanks to generous donations we were able to purchase flasks, hot water bottles and blankets during the winter months. We were also able to provide meat and fresh veg vouchers in addition to the food parcels over the Christmas period, meaning people could have a proper Christmas dinner.
We have had the Warm and Well team in foodbank, offering support, advice, and fuel vouchers, for people struggling to heat their home. This is something our Citizens Advice worker has been able to offer too. We have continued to forge good relationships with the major supermarkets within
the town, with a monthly rota ensuring prompt collection from the numerous donation points.
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We have also continued to maintain and grow fantastic partnerships with local businesses, all of whom have continued to provide us with regular donations of food and some financial contributions.
We have developed a welcoming space for clients to discuss their needs and possible further support requirements. The space continues to be developed, to meet the needs of users.
We were delighted to receive funding from Trussell Trust to embark on a financial inclusion project. We have procured the service of an in – house Citizens Advice worker for 18 hours per week. The project began at the beginning of January 2023 and in the first quarter had a predicted financial gain of £250,000 for clients using the service. There were also significant gains in areas such as debt management and homeless prevention. We are delighted that the project has been making such a significant impact on the lives of people using our service. Ultimately these people will no longer need to access our support.
We continue to a have a well-run warehouse, recently receiving a 5-star food hygiene rating for our premises and practice.
We are still making good use of a self-storage unit for later dated goods and have a wellmanaged system of goods in and out of stores. However, our stocks continue to deplete as demand has increased and donations of food have dropped somewhat. Fortunately, we have
continued to be well supported financially and this allows us to purchase regular deliveries of low stock items. Currently we are spending £2,500 - £3,000 per month topping up on needed items.
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In addition to pre-packed parcels, clients continue to be able to select additional items, toiletries, pet food, cleaning products, period products, fresh bread and fruit and vegetables. Allowing people to make choices enhances their selfesteem. Over the Christmas period, we were able to supplement food parcels with meat and grocer vouchers. This was
very well received and made a real difference to those who received them. We had wonderful feedback from service users who said that it had made their Christmas. It is hoped to expand this during next year.
In addition to providing food and household essentials to those in food crisis we continue to provide education and information to groups and schools. Visiting schools to talk about foodbanks, why people need them and how, is an essential part of what we do. Breaking stigma and letting children know that they are not alone if they are experiencing food poverty at home. It also helps to raise awareness and encourage compassionate citizenship. We continue to develop tools to help us in this process including our ‘Food Superheroes’.
The figures below show a significant rise in service users who are single people, and 147 people that we supported were homeless, of whom 12 were children, slightly up on the previous year. Additionally,48 people came to us as they were/are experiencing domestic abuse. Overall, the main reason for need continued to be low income, with people telling us that they just had more going out than coming in.
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Other than that, the other main reasons for clients’ need were benefit changes and delays. the same as the previous year. Our main client group are in the 25 – 64yrs group but we have also given food to over 1,623 children. Huge increases have been experienced for support from young people aged 17-24yrs, and those over 65.
| Reason for referral | Vouchers | Adults | Children | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefit changes | 66 | 105 (62.5%) |
63 (37.5%0 |
168 |
| Benefit delays | 99 | 152 (72.04%) |
59 (27.96%) |
211 |
| Child holiday meals | 30 | 47 (40.87%) |
68 (59.13%) |
115 |
| Debt | 120 | 178 (66.42%) |
90 (33.58% |
268 |
| Delayed wages | 19 | 30 (61.22%) |
19 (38.78%) |
49 |
| Domestic violence | 18 | 27 (56.25%) |
21 (43.75%) |
48 |
| Homelessness | 110 | 147 (92.45%) |
12 (7.55%) |
159 |
| Low income | 1210 | 1932 (64.7%) |
1054 (35.3%) |
2986 |
| No recourse to public funds | 7 | 8 (100%) | 0 | 8 |
| Other | 148 | 212 | 194 | 406 |
| Refused STBA | 1 | 2 (100%) | 0 | 2 |
| Sickness | 78 | 128 (74.85%) |
43 (25.15%) |
171 |
| Family size | Vouchers processed |
|---|---|
| Couple | 358 |
| Family | 258 |
| Other | 185 |
| Single | 701 |
| Single parent | 404 |
| Total | 1906 |
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Ages of people listed as part of a household on vouchers fulfilled.
| Ages of people listed as part of a | househo |
|---|---|
| Age group | |
| Adult (17-24yrs) | 474 |
| Adult (25-64yrs) | 2291 |
| Adult (Over 65yrs) | 169 |
| Adult (Age unknown) | 34 |
| Children (0-4yrs) | 412 |
| Children (5-11yrs) | 464 |
| Children12-16yrs) | 713 |
| Children (Age unknown) | 34 |
| Total | 4591 |
Trustees – Nigel Currey
I am sure that Cheryl and Volunteers generally valued the move throughout this year, of being able to have more contact with Clients, as we were only previously partially fulfilling our purpose, with little possibility of interaction with them during the aftereffects of Covid.
During the year Cheryl put a lot of hard work into a proposal for a joint project with Citizens Advice for one of their Workers to be in Foodbank when we are open, and we were delighted when Trussell Trust agreed to fund this post for 3 years. The outcome for the first 3 months which are reported on above is I think something which is the greatest and most valuable “add on” to Foodbank we have made.
The impact of this new venture will, I feel only really become apparent after several months of operation, but the early outcomes demonstrate the needs clients have, other than for food. Learning that significant numbers should be able to be not Foodbank dependent is wonderful news to Trustees, our Project Coordinator and Volunteers.
As Chair of Trustees, I would like to express my appreciation for the support given by so many individuals, businesses, schools, churches, and other organisations. In particularly to those volunteers who give their
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time each week, as members of our small Management Team, or in sorting, packing, meeting, and greeting clients, collecting, and moving food. Well done, we could not serve out purpose without you. Not least I greatly value the enthusiasm and leadership of Cheryl, out Coordinator.
The 1811 building has seen several changes since we moved in. Comments are regularly made about how welcoming the building and volunteers are. Cheryl has added some further colour during this year, and it indeed does seem to be a welcoming space. That surely must be important for someone whose last wish would be to have to use our resources.
Financially, we are seeing a substantial increase in purchase of stock. Fortunately, we planned to build up our reserves with the possibility of significant increase in demand, so are well placed to fund this for the foreseeable future. Financial donations continue at a good level, as can be seen from the Financial Statement below. My thanks to David for his work as Treasurer and to our Auditor.
As last year, it It feels strange to say that I am proud of what Foodbank has achieved, bearing in mind that none of us would wish it to be operating at the scale we are now experiencing.
Nigel Currey
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SELBY FOODBANK Balanco Statom•nt 01.04.2022- 31.03.2023 OPENING BALANCE 01.04.2022 102279.65 INCOME Donations- general Fund Raising ReseNed Donations Grants Standing Orders Trussell Tnjst Refunds 44897.75 160.00 24965 50 10473.00 2408.43 24.02 82928.70 185208.35 COMMITT D EXPE Tnjssell Trust Fee Printing & Stationery Supem)arket Supplies Mobile Top-up Store Rental LandlinelBroadband ACTS 435 expens8s Stsff wages, pension & Nl Selby Sew Storage Miscellaneous ITURE 0.00 71.35 6148.49 60.00 1923.50 703.87 150.CKJ 14803.51 2843 34 8693.45 TALC MMITTED EXPENDITURE 36397.51 TAL 149810.84 ASSET to date Payment lo North Yotkshire Council, waste cdlectlon 2023-24 465.16 ING BANK BALANC 149810.84 There were no other assets or liabilit18$ as at 31st March 2022 or 31 $1 March 2023 Stslement prepared by.. David Busfield (Treasurer) date". 01 ly.1 JJ2.3