Devizes
& District
foodb
ANNUAL REPORT
for the Year to
31st March 2022
the
trussell
trust
## **STRUCTURE AND GOVERNANCE**
Devizes & District Foodbank is governed by a Constitution and was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 29 July 2018. However, the Foodbank continued to operate as Devizes Foodbank until 31 March 2019, at which time Devizes & District Foodbank assumed the activities previously undertaken by Devizes Foodbank.
The charity is managed by a board consisting of a maximum of twelve Trustees, who endorse the charitable objectives of the Foodbank and support its compassionate ethos arising from its Christian origins. Trustees meet on a regular basis to set the framework within which the Foodbank operates. They approve all policies, new projects and budgets, and monitor and control the finances of the organisation.
On a day-to-day basis the Project Manager works with the volunteers and agencies to carry out the ongoing activities of the foodbank. It is these managers that have responsibility for the delivery of services and the achievement of objectives.
Risk Assessments have been carried out for all the foodbank’s activities, together with appropriate policies, including policies for Health & Safety and Safeguarding.
Devizes & District Foodbank seeks to be transparent in all its activities, so all stakeholders are able to participate in its development.
**Project Manager:** Liz Starling
**Trustees:**
Richard Oliver (Chairman) Liz Starling John Starling (Treasurer) Imam Hossein **Food and Volunteer Manager:** Bridget Selwyn Michelle Russell (until Feb 2022) Jasper Selwyn Nick Tatlock **Admin Assistant:** Jacky Thomas Sue Underwood (from March 2022)
Sue Underwood (from March 2022)
2
## **OBJECTIVES of the FOODBANK**
The relief of financial hardship amongst people in Devizes, Wiltshire 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.
The Trustees consider that the activities undertaken by the Foodbank to achieve the objectives that the charity has complied with the duties under section 4 of the 2006 Charities Act.
3
## **A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN**
In April 2021 I took over the chairmanship from Jasper Selwyn, who served as Chairman for two years but who has been associated with our Foodbank almost since inception as a volunteer and also trustee and who – thankfully for us – continues as one of our seven trustees. We are greatly indebted to him.
In summary, it has been a very busy time for the organisation and a time of significant change. In July 2021 we had a seminal strategy session with Trussell Trust Area Manager Lucy Duffy who briefed on the “Together for Change” direction of travel. We used that meeting to set out a five year programme, which we are now twelve months into. Organisationally this has set us down a number of paths which I will mention in turn.
First, we established a Premises Committee to enable us to focus a team on our imminent need to move our store as our previous site was slated for re-development, formally from July 2022. We moved into our new site in North Devizes in May 2022 and the whole process was managed very smoothly and effectively by Project Manager Liz Starling, following a process of search and due diligence. Our move was greatly facilitated by a Strategic Facilities Grant from the Trussell Trust. The Trustees continue to strategise concerning any town centre presence, with many factors at play. Outside Devizes, notably in Marlborough and Pewsey, we continue the direct delivery model which really came into its own during the worst throes of the pandemic and has become well-established and an efficient use of time. We are grateful to Ann Yates who leads for us in Marlborough and Pewsey.
Secondly, we re-launched the Operations Group, comprising volunteers, staff and Trustees to take a dynamic approach to best practice, feedback and issues as they arise.
Thirdly, we took a proactive approach to supporting the Trussell Trust’s agenda of changing communities with its long-term vision of “ending the need for Foodbanks”. During Challenge Poverty Week, in October 2021, we hosted our MP, local Councillors, agencies and many members of the
4
public to discuss issues around poverty in our area. This led us quickly to getting involved with work going on nationally to research, understand, address and help to rectify local causes of a poverty from a ground-up level. As part of just the second cohort of Foodbanks leading this work, our natural focus will be on the specific socioeconomic factors underlying poverty in a market town and its outlying villages. Trussell Trust are funding this as a three-year project and we expect progressively to have an ever better understanding of where and how problems arise and the best way of dealing with them.
Fourthly, we have constantly to renew and consider our governance approach and our annual Governance Healthcheck helps us to do exactly that. A Trustee has been appointed to supervise Policies, Procedures, Safeguarding and Risk. At least once per annum we formally review as a Board where we stand as regards all policies, with any new policies coming into force as and when required via monthly releases from the Trussell Trust.
Finally it remains for me to thank all of our volunteers, staff members and not forgetting our Trustees. This has been a strong year for the organisation in many respects and our firm foundation is due to them.
_Richard Oliver, Chairman_
5
## **PROJECT MANAGER’S ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022**
The end of March 2022 saw quite a few changes to Devizes and District Foodbank (DDFB). Michelle Russell who had been our Food and Volunteer Manager since June 2017, felt it was time for her to step down and she left mid-February. I want to record my personal thanks and appreciation to Michelle for the tireless way she kept the warehouse (and the volunteers!) organised and to say that we do miss her. It was decided not fill the role but instead to recruit an Admin Assistant who would be able to deal the phone calls and emails and vouchers that come in. Sue Underwood was appointed at the beginning of March and is already an invaluable member of our team.
Our workload varies from week to week. Some weeks we can be very busy fulfilling up to 30 vouchers, other weeks it may be as low as 10. We allocate tasks to our volunteers accordingly so if we don’t need emergency food boxes made up, they will be sorting food or other such tasks.
Our volunteers are recruited, managed and contacted through the Trussell Trust Assemble volunteer management system. Most volunteers can email through the system which is a more secure way of messaging. They can view the rota for each week and can add themselves to a shift or remove themselves if they are not available. We currently have a total of 67 volunteers registered with us but not all are active. For example, there are 42 Devizes volunteers but only 22 of those are actively volunteering at present.
As a foodbank, we continue to value the support we receive from the Trussell Trust Network and especially our area manager Lucy Duffy. It was good to be able to join in with the South Coast Cluster meetings without the need to travel as these were held via Zoom. We are reassured to know that the challenges we experience are shared by many other foodbanks as well.
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Ann Yates continues to manage the Marlborough volunteers who have been busy delivering emergency food boxes to people in the Pewsey and Marlborough areas. Using a delivery model in the SN8 and SN9 areas works well and the volunteers prefer this to the drop in sessions that used to be held where a couple of volunteers would be at the venue for 2 hours and only see one or two people, if that.
We continued with the School Holiday Meals, project offering a box of food for each week of the main school holidays for families where children were receiving free school meals. Having children at home means having to find more food, childcare, and ways to entertain children - all of which costs money. This puts pressure on household budgets making it even harder to ensure that children and families are eating well. The box of food given out goes a small way to ease this pressure. During the Summer 2021 holiday, we gave out boxes to 62 families. We suspect that demand was low as families had also been given government vouchers. Christmas 2021 saw an increase and we gave out boxes to 94 families from local schools.
Tesco ran two National Food Collections in July and November but as our stock levels were still high, especially after the harvest donations in September and October, we maintained a low profile, collecting 830kg of food in July (providing 2370 meals to families in crisis) and 498kg of food in November (providing 1423 meals to families).
We are constantly managing our stock levels to ensure we have the right amount of food to pack into our emergency food boxes. Not enough of a particular item and we may end up running out and not being able to put that item in a box, too much of a particular item takes up valuable storage space and there is a risk it may go out of date before it can be used.
Throughout the year I continued to liaise with schools, churches, and other organisations to encourage donations of food and money, ensuring that they were aware of shortages and overstocks. This also meant ensuring that Facebook and website were kept up to date.
7
I am really pleased to report that 12 new agencies signed up or renewed their registration form in 2021/2022. We continue to encourage the use of E-referrals where possible.
We currently have 128 agencies listed on the data system but only 76 are actually registered with us; the others may be agencies that have collected a one-off box and we have no further contact with. In addition to agencies registered with DDFB, there are the agencies registered for E- referral with other Trussell Trust foodbanks who we often received referrals from.
Thank you to everyone who has helped in any way during 2021/2022 – it is very much appreciated.
## _Liz Starling, Project Manager_
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## **FOOD & CLIENTS INFORMATION**
## **Food In & Out**
During the last year 27,299kg of food was donated to Devizes & District Foodbank (DDFB), and 27,940kg of food given out. These figures are increases of 7% and 2% respectively on the figures for 2018/19. There has been a steady reduction in stock levels over the last few years to a level that will be manageable in the new warehouse. However, thanks to the generosity of our donors, general stock levels were, and continue to be, adequate to meet demand, although there are occasional shortages of some items.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Food In & Out
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22
Food In Food Out
**----- End of picture text -----**
9
## **Donations**
Food donations continue to be dominated by donations deposited at the four main supermarkets within the DDFB area: Morrison’s, Sainsbury, Tesco, and Waitrose, where food is left at collection points in these stores. This was supplemented by two Tesco Food Collections at the store in Marlborough. Food donations which come from schools and churches, often during harvest and Christmas events, remain at 15% (4.0 tonnes) of the total. Donations from other sources (individuals and organisations within the DDFB area) have reduced to 10% or 2.7 tonnes. It has however been necessary to purchase 1.4 tonnes of food due to specific shortages. Most of the cost of these purchases was covered by specific grants for the purchase. DDFB are extremely grateful for all food donations provided they are of non-perishable food and in date by at least 4 months.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Source of Food Received
27,299kg
5%
Tesco
Morrisons
10%
23%
Waitrose
9%
Sainsbury's
6%
Churches
17%
Schools
14%
16%
Purchased
Other
**----- End of picture text -----**
10
## **Distributors**
The chart below shows the areas covered by our 128 partner agencies and the proportion of food that has been given out during the year in these areas.
The figure for Marlborough represents food distributed by the DDFB Marlborough centre which would otherwise fall into most of the other categories. DDFB are extremely grateful for the help and support of our partner agencies, without whom we would not be able to support our clients. These agencies also provide an invaluable service to the community.
The figures include 4.6 tonnes of food provided under the School Holiday meals project. This is the largest single area of distribution, indicating the importance of this work.
Unfortunately, we also had to dispose of 869kg of food as it was either out of date or damaged and could not be given to clients.
## **Distribution 27,940kg**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
9%
13%
10%
17%
7%
8%
6%
3%
5%
7%
14%
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Advice Providers
Care Providers
Christians Against Poverty
Devizes Open Doors
Disposals
Housing
Marlborough
Other
Safeguarding Teams
School Holiday Meals
Schools/Children Centres
**----- End of picture text -----**
11
## **Clients Fed**
In the year to 31[st] March 2022 a total of 786 vouchers were fulfilled, a decrease of 13% on the previous year, but a 7% increase on 2018/19. 689 children and 1,148 adults (total 1,839) were fed, a decrease of 17% on the previous year but a 16% increase on 2018/19. These figures exclude the children who received school holiday meals.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Vouchers Fulfilled
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
Family EFBs Single EFBs Total Boxes
2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Clients
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
Adults Children Total People
2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22
**----- End of picture text -----**
12
## **Nature of Crisis**
The chart below shows the main reasons given for clients needing the support of DDFB during the last year. Low income continued to dominate the reasons given for requiring support from DDFB, whilst issues with benefits have increased from 17% last year to 20% this year. These, together with debt, account for 79% of the referrals.
## **Nature of Crisis**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
8% 9%
5%
11%
18%
41%
3% 2%
2%
**----- End of picture text -----**
Benefit Changes Benefit Delays Debt Delayed Wages Domestic Violence Homeless Low Income Other Sickness
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## **FINANCE REPORT**
## _**A big thankyou to all our financial donors in 2021/22**_
With the easing of Covid restrictions and the lower profile of foodbanks in the media throughout the last year, it is not surprising that DDFB income reduced from £82,169 in the year to March 2021 to £70,899. This despite an increase in grants received from £11,509 to £18,744.
Donations for the year totalled £52,149. This is £18,500 less than the previous year and closer to a level that is expected in the future, and a level that will ensure DDFB’s immediate future.
Expenditure was £28,778, a reduction of £8,308 on the previous year (which included the purchase of a new van). Expenditure included £4,166 spent on items of food where stocks were low (£2,215 funded by grants) and £4,959 on costs related to the move to new premises. This was the first time for many years that it was necessary to spend significant sums on the purchase of food, but some grant funders and donors have requested that their financial contributions are spent this way.
The surplus for the year was £42,121. This has left DDFB in a strong position to enter into a 10-year lease (with a 5-year break clause) for new premises in March 2022, and to refurbish the premises prior to full occupation in May 2022.
**Income & Expenditure 2019/20 to 2021/21**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22
Income Expenditure
**----- End of picture text -----**
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The graph below shows the source of all income over the last 3 years. There was a significant reduction in ‘one-off’ personal donations, although regular donations have remained strong (£33,669 down from £51,820). This reduction was not unexpected, and the Trustees consider that this lower level is closer to the level expected in the future. Combined income from churches and other organisations has remained relatively consistent over the last three years at £18-£20,000, and it is hoped that this will continue.
During the year Grants totalling £18,747 were received. This included £13,021 from Trussell Trust towards the rent for 2022/23, £2,500 from Wiltshire Council Covid 19 Grant Scheme, £1,050 from Area Boards toward the cost of the new van, together with £1,675 from Waitrose and £500 for Sainsburys both for general running costs.
## **Source of Income 2019/20 to 2021/22**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
Church Grants Other Personal Tesco
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22
**----- End of picture text -----**
15
## **Reserves Policy**
With the increased financial commitment of a 10-year lease (with a 5-year break clause) on the warehouse the Trustees considered it appropriate to review the Reserve Policy for DDFB.
As a result of this review the Reserve Policy for DDFB was revised in January 2022 to hold cash balances not less than the equivalent of one year’s rent and six months’ running costs. This is to provide the Trustees with some security in respect of lease commitments and ensure that there are sufficient funds to meet financial commitments, including payment in full of any notice period to DDFB employees.
Thanks to the generosity of DDFB supporters the Trustees have been able to comply with the Reserve Policy by increasing the Contingent Reserve to £24,000. In addition, the Premises Reserve has a balance of £71,323. The Premises Rental Charges reserve is expected to be released when DDFB fully vacate Devizes Community Hospital.
## **POST YEAR END EVENTS**
DDFB formally relocated to the new warehouse in May 2022. At the time of this report the full costs of operating from the new premises are still being clarified, but with the assistance of grants received, it is expected that these costs will be affordable for the foreseeable future.
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## **Financial Statements for Devizes & District Foodbank for the year ended 31 March 2022**
Bank:Lloyds Bank Plc 38 Market Place Devizes SN10 1JD
Independent Examiner:Dr Charles Markus Porch House Potterne
## **Independent Examiner’s Report**
## **Devizes & District Foodbank**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 March 2021.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
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 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.
Dr Charles Markus 24[th] June 2022
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## **DEVIZES FOODBANK – STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022**
|**2022**|**2022**|||
|---|---|---|---|
|**2021/22**||**2020/21**||
|**Unrestricted**
**Designated**
**Restricted**||||
|**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Total**||||
|**RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**||||
|**Receipts**||||
|Donations
52,149
52,149||70,660||
|Grants
3,874
14,873
18,747||11,509||
|Interest
3
3||||
|**Total Receipts**
**56,026**
**0**
**14,873**
**70,899**||**82,169**||
|||||
|**Payments**||||
|Trussell Trust
0
0||720||
|Staff
14,997
14,997||18,087||
|Stationery
487
487||561||
|Postage
14
14||99||
|Telephone
250
250||310||
|Equipment
32
32||1,017||
|Food
1,951
2,215
4,166||30||
|Conference etc.
0
0||0||
|Insurance
1,413
1,413||869||
|Travel
1,289
1,289||671||
|Vehicle
635
635||810||
|Premises
4,959
4,959||300||
|Van Purchase
0
0||13,200||
|Other
537
537||412||
|**Total Payments**
**26,563**
**0**
**2,215**
**28,778**||**37,086**||
|||||
|**Excess of Receipts over**
**Payments**
**29,463**
**0**
**12,658**
**42,121**||**45,083**||
|||||
|Transfer between Funds
(29,950)
31,000
(1,050)
0||||
|Bank as at 1 April 2021
16,284
60,000
357
76,641||||
|**Bank as at 31 March 2022**
**15,796**
**91,000**
**11,965**
**118,761**||**76,641**||
|||||
|**STATEMENT OF ASSETS & LIABILITIES**||||
|Bank Account|15,794
41,000
11,965
68,759|76,641||
|Investment Account|3
50,000
50,003|||
|Premises Rental Charges
_(Note 2)_|(7,000)
(7,000)|(7,000)||
|**Net Assets & Liabilities**|**15,796**
**84,000**
**11,965**
**111,761**|**69,641**||
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## **NOTES TO STATEMENTS**
1. The Financial Statements for Devizes & District Foodbank have been prepared using the Receipts and Payments basis.
2. NHS Property Services advised that they may be making a charge for services relating to the use of space in Devizes Community Hospital from April 2019. The amount suggested was about £3,500 per year. No payment has been requested for the last three years, but the trustees consider it prudent to make an allowance in the accounts for this potential liability.
3. The Fund Balances are as follows:
||**2021/22**|**2020/21**|
|---|---|---|
||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Designated**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total**
15,796
642
16,438
0
0
7,000
7,000
60,000
11,323
71,323
24,000
24,000
|**Total**
18,691
(1,050)
7,000
45,000
7,000|
|General Fund|||
|Vehicle Replacement Fund|||
|Premises Rental Charges|||
|Premises Fund|||
|ContingencyFund|||
||**15,796**
**91,000**
**11,965**
**118,761**
|
**76,641**|
4. Asset – Non-consumable items that cost £500 or more. Depreciation – All assets will be fully depreciated over 5 years. Valuation – Value attributed to an asset will be the full purchase price less the appropriate depreciation. After 5 years it will be considered that an asset has no value.
||**Date of**|**Cost (incl**|
**No. Years**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Asset**|**Purchase**|
**VAT)**|**Depreciation**|
**Depreciation**|
**Value**|
|Van HX20GPO|Feb-21|15,000|1|3,000|**12,000**|
5. In addition to cash receipts Devizes & District Foodbank has received gift in kind as follows: a. Boxes for distribution of food
- b. Food donations
6. Food Stock as at 31 March 2022
- a. Weight – 5,247kg
- b. Notional value – £9,182 (based on average value per kg as advised by Trussell Trust)
7. Food donated to Foodbank during year
- a. Weight – 27,299kg
- b. Notional value – £47,774
8. Food distributed by Foodbank during year
- a. Weight – 27,940kg
- b. Notional value – £48,895
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Devizes & District Foodbank is a Registered Charity Number: 1179387
Devizes & District Foodbank
Unit 4, Glenmore Business Centre Waller Road DEVIZES Wiltshire SN10 2EQ
Tel. 078 0797 3605
email: info@devizesdistrict.foodbank.org.uk web: www.devizesdistrict.foodbank.org.uk
www.facebook.com/devizesdistrictfoodbank
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##
##
##
##
##
|||2O2l/22|||2O2O/21|2O2O/21|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Unrestricted
Funds|DesignatedRestricted
Funds
Funds||Total|||
|RECEIPTSAND PAYMENTSACCOUNT|||||||
|Receipts|||||||
|Donations|52,749|||52,749|70,660||
|Grants|3,874||74,873|t8,747|11,509||
|lnterest|3|||3|||
|TotalReceipts|s6,o26|o|t4,a73|70,a99|82,169||
|Payments|||||||
|TrussellTrust|0|||0||720|
|Staff|14,997|||14,997|18,087||
|Stationery|487|||487||561|
|Postage|74|||14||99|
|Telephone|?50|||250||310|
|Equipment|32|||5Z||I,077|
|Food|1,951||2,2r5|4,L66||30|
|Conferenceetc.|0|||0||0|
|Insurance|7,4L3|||1,413||869|
|Travel|1,289|||1,289||671|
|Vehicle|635|||635||810|
|Premises|4,959|||4,959||300|
|VanPurchase|0|||0|13,200||
|Other|537|||537||412|
|TotalPayments|26,563|0|2,215|2A,77A|
37,046||
|Excessof Receiptsover
Payments|29,463|o|12,65a|42,121|45,083||
|Transfer betweenFunds|[2e,9s0)|31,000|(1,0s0)|0|||
|Bankasat1April2021
Bankasat31Nlarch202?|76,244
50,000
L5,796 91,000||357
tt,96s|76,641
tt8,76t|76,641||
|STATEMENTOF ASSETS&LIABILITIES|||||||
|BankAccount|15,794|41,000|77,965|68,759|76,647||
|lnvestmentAccount|3|50,000||50,003|||
|Premises RentalCharges|||||||
|(Note2)
NetAssets&Liabilities|(7,000)
ts,796 84,000||ll,96s|(7,000)
111,761|7,000)
(
69,641||
##
|TheFundBalancesareasf|ollows:|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||202tl22|||zO2OlZL|
||Unrestricted
Funds|DesignatedRestricted
Funds
Funds||Total|Total|
|GeneralFund|15,796||642|16,438|18,691|
|VehicleReplacementFund|||0|0|(1,0s0)|
|Premises RentalCharges||7,000||7,000|7,000|
|PremisesFund||60,000|P71.,323|71323|45,000|
|ContingencyFund||24,OO0||24,OOO|7,000|
||15,796|91,000|11,96s|lla,76l|76,64t|
##
##
##
##