2025-03-31-accounts - The Wisbech Food Bank

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Wisbech Q Foodbank Together with Trussell Annual Report 2025 Registered Charity 1172525

The Wisbech Food Bank Registered Charity No.1172525

Annual report of the activity of The Wisbech Food Bank covering the period 1[st] April 2024 until 31[st] March 2025

Legal and Administrative Information

The Wisbech Food Bank was set up in 2013 as a part of Churches Together in Wisbech. In 2017, the trustees sought and achieved CIO status.

The Trustees of The Wisbech Food Bank present their annual report and accounts for the year ended 31[st] March 2025 and confirm they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011, the Wisbech Food Bank constitution and the Trustees Act 2000.

Trustees

The Trustees of The Wisbech Food Bank who served during the period from 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025 were :-

Bryan Baker

Chantelle Fiddy

Simon King

Monika Mazeikaite

Catherine Noonan

Jeremy Pallant David Tew - appointed 22.7.24

Julie White

Address

The correspondence address for the charity is

358 High Road Newton in the Isle Wisbech PE13 5HS

Wisbech Foodbank Annual Report 2024/2025

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The Objects of the Wisbech Food Bank as set out in the Constitution are:

The relief of hardship for people in Wisbech and the surrounding area or in other parts of the United Kingdom in such ways as the Trustees from time to time think fit, in particular, but not exclusively by:

a) providing emergency food, essential toiletries, and household items to individuals and families in need and / or for distribution by charities or other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty.

b) such other means, including (but not limited to) the provision of support or signposting to relevant information and other advisory services.

Review of Activities and Achievements during the year

The Distribution Centre at the Wisbech Baptist Church was open for two hours on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. A total of 27,150kgs of food was distributed to 4237 clients, of which 2601 were adults and 1636 were children. Fresh fruit and vegetables and meat vouchers for the local butchers were distributed along with food parcels.

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People fed during the past year
4500
4000
3500
3000
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500
0
1
Total people fed Adults Children
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Wisbech Foodbank Annual Report 2024/2025

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Total people fed by year
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5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
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1500
1000
500
0
Total Adults Children
2024 2025
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Due to grants from Trussell we were able to :- Employ a Citizens Advice advisor and a “buddy” to help maximise our client’s income and minimise their outgoings and support them to achieve this. During this year financial gains for people using this service totalled over £160,000 and 105 people no longer need to use the Foodbank.
Our Assistant Project Manager has been overseeing volunteering and the warehouse. A very successful Volunteers Day was held and a networking lunch for the referral agencies.
The number of referral agencies has continued to increase and the database of referral agency contacts has been updated to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations.
Collections have, once again, been arranged in the local supermarkets and the total for all donations received during the year is 30,218kgs. Food distributed for the year came to 27,595kgs
Trustees have, during the Harvest Festival period, given talks about food poverty to local schools and organisations.
A new Trustee was appointed: David Tew with responsibility for strategic planning and sustainability.
The Trustees secured further grant funding of £6,000 per year from the Elizabeth Wright Charity towards the staffing costs.
The Trustees have renegotiated their relationship with Wisbech Baptist Church in the light of increased Food Bank usage and the associated increase in heating and lighting costs.
The Trustees held eight quorate, minuted, Trustees’ meetings in order to arrange the collection and distribution of food, to purchase food to balance demand to supply and to deploy our team of volunteers to store, pack and distribute food to our clients.

Wisbech Foodbank Annual Report 2024/2025

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The charity regularly entered data on the Trussell management information system to allow monitoring of the supply and demand for food and to understand the needs of its clients.
The Trustees have regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in their administration of the charity.
The Trustees have reviewed their policies for Health and Safety and Safeguarding and associated Risk Assessments.

Future Plans

The Trustees will:-

consider options to expand the service and to maximise the impact for beneficiaries;
explore grants to enable the Citizens Advice project to continue;
explore the potential for new partnerships with the County Council and other statutory agencies;
develop additional signposting materials;
organise training and support for volunteers and Trustees; and
continue to update the volunteer and client records to ensure compliance with GDPR.

Financial Position

The trustees believe that the charity’s financial position is strong. The accounts show income of £87,917 set against expenditure for the year of £88,691 resulting in a deficit of expenditure over income for the year of £774 and total funds held of £86,517.

The main sources of income are donations from supporters, either on a regular basis through standing orders, or in one-off donations, online giving via Give.net, grants from local charities, and donations from Tesco plc and Asda Stores Ltd based on the quantity of food collected at their stores through a scheme run by the Trussell.

The main areas of expenditure are food, meat vouchers, salaries, rent, insurance, and administration costs.

The charity continues to benefit greatly from free use of storage facilities at the Remo Eco Superstore and from the use of facilities at Wisbech Baptist Church at minimal cost.

The charity holds sufficient reserves to provide alternative facilities for warehousing and distribution whilst they seek alternative sources of funding, should the need arise.

Wisbech Foodbank Annual Report 2024/2025

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Income
Donations Grants Trussell Bank Interest Fundraising
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Expenditure
Salaries & Wages Fees
Admin Expenses Equipment
Insurance Premises Cost
Food Purchases Carrier Bags
Other Costs Financial Inclusion /CAB
Fundraising
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Wisbech Foodbank Annual Report 2024/2025

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts . Section A ¥&:. . Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of The Wisbech Food Bank On accounts for the year ended March 2025 Charity no (if any) 1172525 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust") for the year ended Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Ctriarities 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. 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 Independent èxaminerfs statement I have no cOnmS 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: Date: £S Name: Mr T Brown Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): <c• •F i•fJr< o f ¢ Address: Paget Hall Hockland Road Tydd St Giles Wisbech PE13 5LF IER October 2018

Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concem (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 October 2018

		Charity Name					No (if any)	No (if any)
		Wisbech Foodbank					1172525
		Receipts andpayments accounts							CC16a
	01/04/2024 Period start date For the period from ~~ee~~				To	31/03/2025 Period end date ~~ee~~
Section A Receipts and payments	Section A Receipts and payments
		Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds	Endowment funds			Total funds	Last year
		to the nearest £	to the nearest	to the nearest £	to the nearest £			to the nearest £	to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Donations		21,869		-	-	-		21,869	22,488
Gift Aid		1,014		-	-	-		1,014	1,086
Grants		6,500		49,336	-	-		55,836	60,963
Trussell Trust		3,213		-	-	-		3,213	4,277
Bank Interest		2,293		-	-	-		2,293	1,935
Other Income		119		-	-	-		119	10
Fundraising		3,463		-	-	-		3,463	-
		-		-	-	-		-	-
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)		(Gross income for AR) 38,471		49,336	-	-		87,807	90,759
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - *Total receipts* 38,471 49,336 - 87,807 90,759 ~~———=——~~
A3 Payments
Salaries & Wages		9,998		8,961	-	-		18,959	17,471
Fees		460		-	-	-		460	280
Trussell Trust		-		-	-	-		-	-
Admin Expenses		675		-				675	1,116
Equipment Purchases		-		99				99	168
Insurance		157		-				157	331
Advertising		-		-				-	-
Premises Costs		1,560		-	-	-		1,560	1,040
Food Purchases		19,422		-	-	-		19,422	14,196
Carrier Bags		895		-	-	-		895	594
Other Costs		650		564	-	-		1,214	8,282
Financial Inclusion/CAB		-		44,836	-	-		44,836	44,835
Fundraising		304		-	-	-		304	-
**Sub total **		34,121		54,460	-	-		88,581	88,313
A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - *Total payments* 34,121 54,460 - 88,581 88,313 *Net of receipts/(payments)* 4,350 - 5,124 - - 774 2,446 A5 Transfers between funds - - - - - A6 Cash funds last year end 63,851 23,439 - 87,290 - *Cash funds this year end* 68,201 18,315 - 86,516 2,446 ~~———=—~~ ~~SSSS]~~

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

27/07/2025

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

Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets	Signature Details Details NatWest Bank Stewardship Cash Details Redwood 35-day Deposit Redwood 95-day Deposit Details *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 17,206 - 36,475 18,315 14,295 60 - 165 - 68,201 18,315 OK OK 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	Endowment funds to nearest £
			-


			-
			-
			-
			OK
			Endowment funds to nearest £
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
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			When due (optional)






			Date of approval

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

27/07/2025

The Trustees would like to record their thanks to the following:-

Our team of hardworking volunteers Trussell Margaret Gibbs and Derek Carter Wisbech Baptist Church Nikki & Marcus from Remo Eco Superstore Cadbury’s Earth Breeze JS Holmes Terry Brown Dave Gibbs Julie Bush Aija Zemdega Alla Saunders Citizens Advice Rural Cambs The Trustees of the Elizabeth Wright Charity The Paragon Charitable Foundation Cubico Sustainable Investments The Lodge of United Good Fellowship 809 The Masonic Charitable Foundation Mark Broadhead from the Horsefair Shopping Centre The Royal Blue Meat Company Our network of donors, collectors and referral agencies Asda, Heron Foods, Morrisons, Tesco, and Wisbech Library.

Wisbech Foodbank Annual Report 2024/2025

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