**BRIDGING THE GAP (MANCHESTER)** A N N U A L R E P O R T A P R I L 2 0 2 0 - M A R C H 2 0 2 1 STATEMENT ACTING CHAIR The UK has a long standing history of poverty issues within communities. Deprivation is often higher amongst areas with a disproportionately high black and ethnic population. It is often these communities that have been largely affected by decades of public services cuts spiralling families into further hardships. Bridging the Gap (Manchester) operates within the wards of Hulme, Moss Side, Whalley Range and North Trafford all of which are diverse and multicultural communities. The Covid-19 pandemic further contributed to the hardships many people were already facing. Throughout the pandemic we supported families who lost income due to redundancy or who were placed on furlough schemes. Families who’s children were also now in lockdown at home, significantly raising living costs and driving families further into poverty as they were unable to provide themselves with basic essentials. Some faced the harsh realities of deciding whether to pay the mortgage payments or to put food on the table, forcing them to rely upon foodbanks for support. Throughout the course of the year we saw many individuals self disconnecting from energy providers and telecommunications due to lack of affordability and support networks. Children living in poverty are more at risk of being exploited by or becoming victim to criminal gangs, Furthermore those living in poverty are more likely to experience significant health problems, At the start of the Pandemic the Charity had to continually adapt to the everchanging situation, legislations and the change in needs of our clients. This year has been challenging and without the continued efforts of our Volunteers, Staff and Board of Trustees none of the work we do would be possible. The Charity has strengthened the work we do in Partnership with other agencies and is something which we will continue to develop in the years to follow. We are looking at ways to extend our Board to cover a broader skills basis to make us even more robust to enable the Charity to develop further with the aim to help even more clients going forward. We believe it is time for change and that no one should be hungry or unable to afford basics living costs. As a Charity we are committed to supporting an holistic and asset based approach to working with people so that they can build resilience and a life free from poverty. M A R I E H A W K I N S Acting Chair ## **Administration Details** Charity Name: Bridging the Gap (Manchester) Charity Number: 1170592 Principal Address: Wesley Enterprise Centre Royce Road Hulme Manchester M15 5BP ## **Governance Structure** Type of governing document: Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Constitution dated 3 January 2017 ## Previous Organisation: On 3 January 20217 the Charitable Incorporated Organisation took over the assets and activities of Bridging The Gap (Manchester) an unregistered Charity established on 17 March 2014. ## **Our Vision & Mission** ## Vision: Working towards ending food poverty and social exclusion within the communities of Hulme, Moss Side, Whalley Range and North Trafford. ## Mission: We support people on crisis by providing emergency food provisions and beyond this, aim to help them access the support needed to build resilience and to live a life free from poverty ## **Our Board** Evelyn Asante-Mensah Marie Hawkins Gill Darling Michelle McHale Chair Vice (Acting) Chair Treasurer Secretary Whole Period Whole Period Whole Period Whole Period Caroline Wickens Sade Phillip Member Member Whole Period Whole Period Kathryn Bourne Member Whole Period ## **Our Staff** We have four part time members of staff: Jo Warmington (Project Manager) is currently on maternity leave. Her post is being covered by a former volunteer Jon Sands Corinne Davenport (Warehouse Co-ordinator) is supported by Warehouse assistants Mark Styles and Sean Connors both of whom also undertake delivery work. ## **Our Volunteers** We also have a dedicated and diverse team of volunteers (approximately 50) who have assisted our services providing warehouse support, stock management, administration, fundraising and catering services. The Board of Trustees would like to thank all of the Charity’s Staff, volunteers for their hard work, enthusiasm and commitment during what has been an in president year. ## **Response to Covid-19 Pandemic** The Charity has had to make considerable changes to it operational procedures and service delivery as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. ## This included: - Introducing new working practices in line with Covid-19 guidance to ensure our staff, volunteers and clients remained as safe as possible. This included centralising our services to operate from our head office - Moving from face to face service provisions for emergency food to delivery only services enabling those in crisis to remain safe and follow public health advice and guidance . - Taking on a new member of staff to assist with warehouse duties and provide delivery services - Working closely with a wide range of voluntary and statutory services to ensure that the community we support were able to access the essential support they needed. - Working in partnership with corporate partner to bring in much needed donations, collaborative working and the sharing of resources enabling sustainablity across the sector - Rapidly responding and adapting to changes required in an efficient and timely manner. - Purchasing additional items such as foods and packing boxes to meet the demand for our services. - Leasing a vehicle to enable us to deliver food to those experiencing food crisis ## **Our Impact** Our overall impact in helping to reduce food poverty and hunger is summarised below ## **Food Distributed** **----- Start of picture text -----**
5456 Adults Supported
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**----- Start of picture text -----**
4,776 children supported
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**370 Christmas toy sacks provided to vulnerable children** **85 Care Packages provided to isolated older community members** ## **Breakdown of support across all projects** |**Meals**|**Children**|**Adults**| |---|---|---| |**provided**|**Supported**|**Supported**| ## **Emergency Food Parcels** As a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic the demand for our emergency food parcels rose significantl compared to previous year. Throughout the year 2527 vouchers were received from agencies requesting support on behalf of clients. From these we were able to ensure food was provided to 3461 adults and 1,874 children Throughout the pandemic we built upon our connections and partnerships working with specialost agencies to ensure that clients were able to access practical services to assist in alleviating the underlying causes of food poverty. We worked closely with both Manchester and Trafford Emergency Food Response Hubs to provide food parcels to those in need as a direct result of Covid-19. Our standard parcels are three meals per day for three days however, during Covid-19 pandemic we provided an option for 7 day parcels based upon assessments of on-going need. This enabled up to reduce the number of deliveries we needed to undertake. In addition to our emergency foodbank model we also supported a further 221adults with food via our in house provisions, providing 1,400 meals. The main reason for people accessing our services related to low income, benefit delays, ill health/disability and no recourse to public funds. ## **School Holiday Provisions** In the past we have provided face to face holiday clubs for families. As a result of Covid19 and Public Health advice and guidance we were unable to deliver such activities this year. Therefore, we creatively adapted our model and provided school holiday parcels to ensure families remained supported during these periods. The Charity worked closely with pastoral care leads within local primary schools, pupil referral unit and Surestart Centres within the ManChester Wards of Hulme, Moss Side and Whalley Range. In addition the Charity also worked with Trafford Councils Place Based Integration, Early Help Champions. Our package of support included a range of products to enable families to cook together using easy to follow recipe cards and to eat healthily. Over the course of the year through support from partner agencies we were able to develop the offer further to include art packs, science packs and reading books to families. In total the Charity provided 26,794 meals to 1,657 children and 1,149 parent/ carers through our School holiday provisions. The weight of food distributed amounted to 11.2 tonnes of food. ## **Christmas Provisions** Christmas for many families can be particularly financially difficult, especially for families living in poverty. For Christmas 2020 we worked in partnership with pastoral care teams within schools and Early Help Teams from both Manchester and Trafford Wards to ensure parents were provided with gifts for their children. Assisting families from spiralling into further debt in order to afford Christmas. Reducing stress, anxiety and improving mental health and well-being for parents/carers. Our partnership with The Toy Appeal and Rayburn Trading enabled us to provide a toy sack full of gifts for 370 children across our localities. In addition the Charity also provided over 500 seasonal hampers to those in crisis. Hampers included basic food items plus additional seasonal snacks and treat. 85 Care Packages were provided to isolated and vulnerable older residents which included letters and Christmas cards from local nursery and school children, fostering intergenerational work to break down barriers of loneliness and isolation which were compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. 125 ‘Christmas Meal in a Box‘ were provided to individual, couples and families who would ordinarily have had an option to attended our community Christmas Day meal. These boxes included all the ingredients to create a three course Christmas meal at home and a gift card to purchase the desired meat or vegetarian centrepiece for the meal. ## **FINANCIAL OVERVIEW** During this financial year we saw a significant increase in income from our supporters and donors, much of which was as a direct response to the COVID19 pandemic. Expenditure has risen due to our increased activities and staff requirements also as a direct impact of the Covid19 pandemic and pressure placed on services and provisions. This year we have employed new staff members namely a project manager and warehouse assistan. In addition to keep up with demand we needed to purchase much more food than in previous years due to a drop in public donations. The Charity’s accounts were prepared under the receipts and payment method. ## **Reserves Policy:** The Charity operates restricted reserves in the instance whereby funds are raised for a specific activity/service or at a request of a donor. The trustees have ringfenced a dedicated pot of reserves from unrestricted monies to fund salaries and overheads for a period of one year. ## **Principle sources of funding:** Notable source of funding (£1000 and above) for year ending 2020/2021 |Manchester City Council|£14,430| |---|---| |Trussell Trust|£10,545| |Forever Manchester|£8,100| |Local giving grants|£7,130| |Antonia Carluccio Foundation|£5,000| |National Lottery|£4,682| |We love Manchester Charity|£4,000| |MCFC Community Fund|£2,500| |Yapp Charitable Trust|£2,500| |Souter Charitable Trust|£2,250| |Trafford Housing Trust|£2,088| |One Manchester|£1,500| |Trafford MBC|£1,500| |Jigsaws Home Group|£1,000| |Children Relief In Need|£1,000| The Charity relies substantially on donations of food from the general public, including local business amd corporate partners. Donated food for 2020/2021 amounted to 85,922.18kg (85.9 tonnes), at a nominal value of £152,941.48 The trustees are extremely grateful to all our finders, donors and membersof the public. It is because of their generosity and belief in our Charity’s that we have been able to support those in need ## **Feedback Survey** We issued a feedback survey to all referral agencIes supported throughout the year. 13 of which responded. - All agencies agreed that the referral process was easy to navigate. All agencies stated they would work with us again in the future - 8 agencies were supporting vulnerable families - 8 agencies were supporting older residents - 4 agencies were supporting isolated individuals We asked for feedback on the quantity amd quality of our food provisions ## **Quotes from clients** _“I’ve never had anything given to me before. It was a wonderful surprise and to be honest it really helped me out.”_ _”All the support I received over Christmas was a life saver for me and my 4 kids. What we were offered was very thought out amd practical.”_ _”Am grateful for the food parcel, this would tidy me over Christmas.”_ _”Wow first time receiving a gift….I will have a good Christmas.”_ _”This will save me from going without food this Christmas.”_ _”Thank you so much, delivering a parcel has made me smile. My daughter can’t wait to eat the chocolate.”_ _”We have had a difficult year with Covid amd unemployment, this will help.”_ _”Thank you so much. My family have never had a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings before. We really appreciate it.”_ _”What a brilliant reminder that people care about my family. The box of food and goodie lifted our hearts.”_ _”The hamper surpassed my expectations and brightened up what has been an incredibly difficult year.”_ _”It was fabulous. It was good quality and it was greatly appreciated.”_ _”Thank you so much this will come in handy over the holidays’”_ _“Absolutely delighted with the wonderful hamper. Very overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised with the lovely Christmas food hamper.”_ _“Goodnight, I have just stepped in from a long day at court, to find your food gift. Thanks so much it’s very much appreciate.”_ _”Morning just want to say a big thanks for my food parcel yesterday. I appreciate it loads its such a big help for me amd my kid.”_ ## **Recognition** The Charity is extremely grateful to receive letters of recognition for our services to the community. ## **Declaration** The Board of Trustees declare that this is a true reflection on services provided and have approved the report. Signature: Name: Marie Hawkins Position: Acting Chair Date: 05 December 2021 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Indeppndpni E X3fniDpr s Repart Bfldebw ihe Gap {M•fiche￿tt) 31 March 2021 1170952 S•t afi p• I report lo the trustees on my examination of the at¢ounts of the •bI￿ (harlty Ilhe Trustr} for the ytar ended 31 March 2021. A•wMlbl¥il•s •nd b•$h of As the chanty trustees. tmu are responsible lor ihe prep•r•tiDn ol the Kcounts I r•wl actordanc• with th¢ Ch•rities Act 20111.lhe Acf). I Trport in respe￿ ol my examinatbDn ol the T￿5￿5 I￿0unts urrled under rtion 145 of the 2011 Art •nd in COfryin8 my ex•min•tion. I h•¥e followed •N the applicable Directi￿$ 8Nen by the Chrity cornm1￿￿ under sectK>n 14515llb} ol the Act. Ind•pendent examlnees I ha¥e compkneé my examination. I confifrn th* no rnaterial m•NefS hive come io st•t•nMnt my attention in connecrion with the examinawi whKh 8l¥es me uuse to beliEVe th•t in. any rn•teri•l re5pecl: th• •ccount¥¥ rncc¥ds w•r• nrt Jtept ITr Kcord•nce with sertbon 130 01 lh• Act: or the •ccounts did fiot K¢ord wlth ihe •crI￿ntI￿ records: or the ￿OUnt5 did n¢rt comply with the ipplublE fe9ulr•merts wnc•rnin8 tht form and content of accounts sel in thè Charlties (Accounts and Aer*ortsl Re¢ul4tion$ 2(YJ8 other than any requirement thal the accovrts it¥t a 'tfue and la•rf ¥*w which is not • mattef con*dered •$ of an independent ex•minati(Jn. I have Do concerns and coffle acr(￿ no thher rn•tter5 in connection with the examination to whith attention should be dr•wn in this report in wder to enoble • propef under5t4ndin8 ol the acmunts to be ￿Khed. 5 December 2021 FelKTty fir ACA qu•lifi(•tlonl•) w body {M afiy}: De%Ym TQ12 IHT IER **Bridging the Gap (Manchester) 1170952** ## **Receipts and payments accounts** 1st April 2020 31st March 2021 **For the period from To** **CC16a** ## **Section A Receipts and payments** **Unrestricted** **funds** **Restricted funds Designated funds** **Total funds Last year** ||**Unrestricted**
**funds**|**Restricted funds**|**Designated funds**|**Total funds**|**Total funds**|**Last year**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**A1 Receipts**|**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**83,586**
**83,586**
**-**
**83,586**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**645**
**645**
**-**
**645**
**82,941**
**- 82,500**
**17,567**
**18,008**|**to the nearest £**
**14,430**
**10,545**
**8,100**
**7,130**
**5,000**
**4,682**
**4,000**
**2,500**
**2,500**
**2,250**
**2,088**
**1,500**
**1,500**
**1,000**
**1,000**
**1,800**
**-**
**70,025**
**-**
**70,025**
**31,175**
**11,342**
**2,227**
**4,491**
**2,914**
**9,488**
**4,729**
**226**
**779**
**2,697**
**-**
**70,068**
**-**
**70,068**
**- 42**
**-**
**16,024**
**15,982**|**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**82,500**
**-**
**82,500**|**to the nearest £**
**14,430**
**10,545**
**8,100**
**7,130**
**5,000**
**4,682**
**4,000**
**2,500**
**2,500**
**2,250**
**2,088**
**1,500**
**1,500**
**1,000**
**1,000**
**1,800**
**83,586**
**153,611**
**-**
**153,611**
**31,175**
**11,342**
**2,227**
**4,491**
**2,914**
**9,488**
**4,729**
**226**
**779**
**2,697**
**645**
**70,713**
**-**
**70,713**
**82,898**||**to the nearest £**| |Manchester CityCouncil|**-**|||||**4,350**| |Trussell Trust|**-**|||||**8,244**| |Forever Manchester|**-**|||||**1,200**| |Local Giving grants|**-**|||||**-**| |Antonio Carluccio Foundation|**-**|||||**-**| |National Lottery|**-**|||||**-**| |We Love Manchester Charity|**-**|||||**-**| |MCFC CommunityFund||||||**-**| |YappCharitable Trust|**-**|||||**2,500**| |Souter Charitable Trust|**-**|||||**-**| |Trafford HousingTrust|**-**|||||**7,246**| |One Manchester|**-**|||||**-**| |Trafford MBC|**-**|||||**2,167**| |Jigsaw Homes Group||||||**-**| |Manchester Relief in Need|**-**|||||**1,000**| |Othergrants|**-**|||||**9,471**| |General fundraising|**83,586**|||||**14,783**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_|**83,586**|||||**50,961**| |||||||| |**A2 Asset and investment sales, (see**
**table).**||||||| |**_Sub total_**|**-**|||||**-**| |**_Total receipts_ **
**A3 Payments**||||||| |||||||**50,961**| |||||||| |Staff|**-**|||||**7,660**| |Food|**-**|||||**833**| |Other Foodbank costs|**-**|||||**2,453**| |Holiday hunger|**-**|||||**1,546**| |Christmas|**-**|||||**1,358**| |Storage|**-**|||||**6,224**| |Transport|**-**|||||**-**| |Trustees & volunteers|**-**|||||**975**| |Equipment|**-**|||||**576**| |Overheads|**-**|||||**1,360**| |Other|**645**|||||**1,036**| |**_Sub total_ **|**645**|||||**24,021**| |||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment purchases,**
**(see table)**||||||| |**_Sub total_ **|**-**|||||**-**| |**_Total payments_ **
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**||||||| |||||||**24,021**| |||||||| ||**82,941**|**- 42**|**-**|**82,898**||**26,940**| ||**- 82,500**|**-**|**82,500**|**-**||**-**| ||**17,567**|**16,024**|**-**|**33,591**||**6,651**| ||**18,008**|**15,982**|**82,500**|**116,489**||**33,591**| 2 ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** |**Categories**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of
all the trustees
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the charity’s**
**own use**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B1 Cash funds**|Signature
**Details**
**Details**

**Details**
**Details**
Barclays Bank plc
Petty cash
**_Total cash funds_**
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**18,008**
**15,788**
**-**
**194**
**-**
**-**
**18,008**
**15,982**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which asset**
**belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which asset**
**belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which liability**
**relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
**Marie Hawkins**|**Designated**
**funds**
**to nearest £**| |---|---|---|---| ||||**82,500**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**82,500**| ||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**When due (optional)**| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||Date of approval| |||**Marie Hawkins**|**05-Dec-21**| 3 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Indeppndpni E X3fniDpr s Repart Bfldebw ihe Gap {M•fiche￿tt) 31 March 2021 1170952 S•t afi p• I report lo the trustees on my examination of the at¢ounts of the •bI￿ (harlty Ilhe Trustr} for the ytar ended 31 March 2021. A•wMlbl¥il•s •nd b•$h of As the chanty trustees. tmu are responsible lor ihe prep•r•tiDn ol the Kcounts I r•wl actordanc• with th¢ Ch•rities Act 20111.lhe Acf). I Trport in respe￿ ol my examinatbDn ol the T￿5￿5 I￿0unts urrled under rtion 145 of the 2011 Art •nd in COfryin8 my ex•min•tion. I h•¥e followed •N the applicable Directi￿$ 8Nen by the Chrity cornm1￿￿ under sectK>n 14515llb} ol the Act. Ind•pendent examlnees I ha¥e compkneé my examination. I confifrn th* no rnaterial m•NefS hive come io st•t•nMnt my attention in connecrion with the examinawi whKh 8l¥es me uuse to beliEVe th•t in. any rn•teri•l re5pecl: th• •ccount¥¥ rncc¥ds w•r• nrt Jtept ITr Kcord•nce with sertbon 130 01 lh• Act: or the •ccounts did fiot K¢ord wlth ihe •crI￿ntI￿ records: or the ￿OUnt5 did n¢rt comply with the ipplublE fe9ulr•merts wnc•rnin8 tht form and content of accounts sel in thè Charlties (Accounts and Aer*ortsl Re¢ul4tion$ 2(YJ8 other than any requirement thal the accovrts it¥t a 'tfue and la•rf ¥*w which is not • mattef con*dered •$ of an independent ex•minati(Jn. I have Do concerns and coffle acr(￿ no thher rn•tter5 in connection with the examination to whith attention should be dr•wn in this report in wder to enoble • propef under5t4ndin8 ol the acmunts to be ￿Khed. 5 December 2021 FelKTty fir ACA qu•lifi(•tlonl•) w body {M afiy}: De%Ym TQ12 IHT IER