Devizes & District foodb ANNUAL REPORT for the Year to 31st March 2023 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 it is the Project Manager, working with other staff, volunteers and agencies who carries out the core activities of the foodbank. It is the manager that has 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. **Trustees: Project Manager:** Richard Oliver (Chairman) Liz Starling John Starling (Treasurer) Imam Hossein (until September 2022) **Community Organiser and** Bridget Selwyn **Campaigns Manager:** Jasper Selwyn Alex Montegriffo Nick Tatlock Jacky Thomas **Admin Assistant:** Sue Underwood ## **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. - c. supporting Trussell Trust’s Together for Change campaign. s The Trustees consider that the activities undertaken by the foodbank to achieve the objectives of the charity have been in compliance with the duties under section 4 of the 2006 Charities Act. 3 ## **A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN** This was a remarkable year – particularly in retrospect. On the World stage there were so many adverse economic challenges, but thanks to the strong backing of the Trussell Trust and other significant stakeholders we were nevertheless able to make a lot of strategic improvements. We are now two years in to our five year plan but in fact we have gone beyond this plan in many respects and operate a platform which is significantly more complex and ambitious from that which we had in April 2021 or even 2022. It has been a very busy time for the organisation and a further year of significant change. There have been a number of initiatives and developments, key ones being as follows. First, in June, thanks to a grant from Trussell Trust we opened a new front in taking on a full time worker with responsibility for working in the local community to research and report on core factors underlying local food poverty and addressing them directly through local campaigning and lobbying. This led us to recruit Alex Montegriffo who sets out progress to date in the report below. A key aspect is the progression from the aspiration around the strapline “Ending the Need for Foodbanks” to the “Guarantee our Essentials” campaign, which is directly linked to a deeper dive into the social care and social security system and clearly steps out well beyond food to other basic needs. During Challenge Poverty Week, in October 2022, we once again hosted our MP, local Councillors, agencies and many members of the public to discuss issues around poverty in our local area. Key aspects, such as benefits accessibility and reach, were discussed and we are seeing engagement and some progress. Secondly, having really bedded down our new warehouse successfully in North Devizes, we have recently been able to establish a distribution point in Central Devizes, at the St James Centre, which should make logistics simpler for our users and indeed for a number of our volunteers. Whilst this is a little experimental, we have high hopes that this will become a good base on which to build other activity. We will know more by this time next year. 4 Thirdly, in terms of our core mission, mitigating food poverty directly through providing food to those who need it, this has been a heavy year since the Cost of Living Crisis took hold following the invasion of Ukraine. Some of the increased usage of our services will be due to the heightened profile of Trussell Trust and as our own Foodbank becomes better known. But there is little doubt that the basic drive behind an upsurge in use has been that, for many individuals, cost escalation has simply exceeded people’s available capacity. This is the malign consequence of cost inflation. Increased demand is illustrated graphically and analysed below with commentary from our Project Manager, Liz Starling. Fourthly, we have constantly to renew and consider our governance approach, which is under the direct supervision of a designated Trustee, Mr Nick Tatlock. As regards the Board, we are very thankful to Mr Imam Hossein, who left the Board this year and who provided significant support to our events, notably in the Devizes Food Festival. We welcomed Mr Sanjeen Payne-Kumar as a new joiner to the Board in May and he is already supporting our efforts in the social justice arena. Finally it remains for me once again to thank all of our volunteers, staff members and our Trustees. This has been a highly productive year for the organisation in many respects and our firm foundation is due to their efforts. _Richard Oliver, Chairman June 2023_ ## **PROJECT MANAGER’S ANNUAL REPORT 2022-2023** Having been based at the Devizes hospital site since 2017, we knew that once the new Health Centre was complete, we would need to find new premises. Rather than wait until the last minute, we started searching for suitable properties and in April 2022, we signed the lease for our new office and warehouse premises at Glenmore Business Centre. It took a 5 couple of months to get it up and running but we finally held our first volunteering session at the end of May 2022. Our wonderful Admin Assistant completed her first year with us at the end of February 2022 and has proved to be an invaluable member of our team, even covering my role for three weeks while I was on holiday in New Zealand. In previous years our workload has varied from week to week; the past 12 months, however, have on the whole been consistently busy. Our end of year figures show that 2022/2023 has been our busiest year ever. 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. Over the past year we have contacted all our non-active volunteers and have removed those who no longer wish to volunteer (this is in line with Data Protection guidance). We now have total of 43 volunteers registered with us, of which 36 are active. 18 of these volunteers have been recruited in the last 12 months. As a foodbank, we continue to value the support we receive from the Trussell Trust Network and especially our area manager Lucy Duffy. The South Coast Cluster meetings are still being held via Zoom and we are reassured to know that the challenges we experience are shared by many other foodbanks as well. Ann Yates stepped down from coordinating the Marlborough/Pewsey volunteers in February and was succeed by Vincent Stokes. We continue to use a delivery model in the SN8 and SN9 areas and this is still working well. We ran the School Holiday Meals project during the summer, offering a box of food for each week of the holiday for families where children were receiving free school meals. Having children at home means having to find 6 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 2022 holiday, we gave out boxes to 134 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. The use of E-referrals (on-line vouchers) is growing, and we are encouraging agencies to use these in preference to the paper vouchers where possible. The added benefit is that agencies registered with other Trussell Trust foodbank can also refer to us. Thank you to everyone who has helped in anyway during 2022/2023 – it is very much appreciated. _Liz Starling, Project Manager June 2023_ ## **COMMUNITY ORGANISER AND CAMPAIGNS MANAGER’S REPORT** It’s been a year since Devizes and District Foodbank joined the Trussell Trust Organising and Local Mobilisation scheme, working to address the local causes of foodbank use so that no-one is in the position of needing a foodbank. 7 Highlights of the year include a report to Wiltshire Council, widely read, on a significant fund from the Government to local authorities. This involved consulting with foodbank clients and recipients of the fund to ensure it was having a positive impact. One of the outcomes has been a change to the council department distributing the fund, who are working in a more evidence-based way, and with regional charities. It has also meant a proposal for small, local housing associations covering Wiltshire to receive some of the fund, to support their tenants in the Cost of Living Crisis who might be using a foodbank. Another highlight has been working with Wiltshire Council to distribute an Affordable Uniform Pledge, as part of an ongoing movement to make school uniform more affordable. School uniform is something that families using a foodbank struggle with, as they may be spending £200400 a year on uniform, and a pledge and guidance have been drafted with the help of families for local schools to sign. This will be passed out to schools by the council. Finally, a conversation with a foodbank client living full-time on a houseboat raised the issue of the exclusion of most boaters from £600 worth of Government funding for heating and fuel costs, despite a significant rise in fuel costs, and mooring and license fees. As a result, MP Danny Kruger, who had met with some local boaters previously, visited Caen Hill Marina to speak to those affected, and lobbying group the National Bargee Travellers Association. Boaters at the marina had the chance to raise issues with Danny and highlight the impact of the lack of support, and Danny has agreed to several actions such as meeting the minister responsible and working with other MPs to secure a new fund. Along with the national Trussell Trust campaign, the Essentials Guarantee, these local, community-led campaigns are working to ensure no-one needs to use a foodbank in Devizes and District. _Alex Montegriffo, Community Organiser and Campaigns Manager June 2023_ 8 ## **FOOD & CLIENTS INFORMATION** ## **Food In & Out** During the year to 31[st] March 2023 a total of 30,453kg of food was received by Devizes & District Foodbank (DDFB), whilst 33,761kg of food was given out. These figures are increases of 12% and 21% in food in and food out respectively on the figures for 2021/22. There has been a welcome reduction in stock levels over the last few years as the warehouse at Glenmore Business Centre does not have the same capacity as that at the hospital. However, we are now in the unfortunate situation where it is increasingly necessary to buy some items of food where there is a shortage, as the increase in food donations is not keeping up with the increase in demand. DDFB are extremely grateful to all our food donors who continue to support the foodbank and enable us to keep the purchase of food to a minimum. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Food In & Out
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
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: Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose, where food is left at collection points in these stores, although the donations deposited at Morrisons have reduced by 50% compared with 2021/22. These donations were supplemented by a 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% of the total but increased to 4.6 tonnes (4.0 tonnes). Donations from other sources (individuals and organisations within the DDFB area) have increased to 11% or 3.3 tonnes. It has however been necessary to purchase 2.2 tonnes of food due to specific shortages. This is an increase of 0.7 tonnes of 2021/22 and early indications are that this upward trend will continue in the new year. Fortunately, 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
30,453kg
Churches
7%
11%
Education
8%
7% Morrisons
8%
Sainsbury's
18% Tesco
15%
Waitrose
Purchased
26% Other
**----- End of picture text -----**
10 ## **Distribution** Food is distributed to our clients following a referral from one of our 122 partner agencies. Without these agencies and their referrals DDFB would not be able to operate, and we are pleased to say we have a good working relationship with our partnership. The top 5 agencies account for 50% of the 1,207 referrals received during the year, and they are: - Marlborough Poverty Action Group - Citizens Advice Wiltshire - Devizes Opendoors - Children’s Centre, Devizes - Christians Against Poverty, Devizes DDFB covers the postal areas SN8, SN9 and SN10. The chart below shows the distribution of food during the year, with 91% of all clients living within these areas. Food boxes are delivered to clients within these postal areas if they are unable to collect from one of the distribution points. The other 9% are clients with no fixed address or reside outside the DDFB distribution area. DDFB are happy to support anyone in need providing they have an authorised voucher from an approved referral agency and can collect from a distribution point. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Distribution by Area
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
9%
SN10 - Devizes Area
21% SN9 - Pewsey Area
55%
SN8 - Marlborough Area
15%
Other
**----- End of picture text -----**
11 ## **Clients Fed** In the year to 31[st] March 2023 a total of 1,207 vouchers were fulfilled, an increase of 54% on the previous year. 1,123 children and 1,823 adults (total 2,946) were fed, an overall increase of 60% on the previous year. These figures exclude the children who received school holiday meals. Early indications are that this higher level of demand is likely to continue into the next year. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Vouchers Fulfilled
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
Family EFBs Single EFBs Total Boxes
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
**----- 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
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
**----- 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. This year Low Income is the reasons given by more than half of those requiring support from DDFB. All other percentages have reduced compared with 2021/22, with actual number of people with Benefit issues reducing, despite a 54% increase in total referrals. There was also a reduction in the number of referrals listing Debt or Sickness as the main reason for the crisis, but unfortunately both Domestic Violence and Homelessness increased in line with the overall increase in demand. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Nature of Crisis
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Benefit Changes
8% 5%
8% Benefit Delays
5%
Debt
10%
Domestic Violence
2%
3% Homelessness
Low Income
Sickness
59%
Other
**----- End of picture text -----**
13 ## **FINANCE REPORT** ## _**A big thank you to all our financial donors in 2022/23**_ With the easing of Covid restrictions and the lower profile of foodbanks in the media in 2022 and the pressures on personal income due to high inflation, DDFB had expected donations to struggle to maintain these seen in the previous year. However, due to the generosity of our supporters, donations increased to £78,654, which together with grants amounting to £86,558 gave a total income of £165,712 in the year to 31 March 2023. It should however be noted that £49,000 of the grant funding is to support expenditure in the coming year. The current level of donations suggests that not only is the future of DDFB secure for the next few years, but that the trustees can also explore other ways in which they can support those in need. Expenditure increased to £74,250, of which £23,918 was due to specific grant fund activity. The cost of providing DDFB’s core service was £50,532, an increase of £21,754 on 2021/22 and reflects the first costs of moving to and renting new premises. It was also necessary to spend £3,721 on the purchase of food for the food boxes, something that is expected to continue, and probably increase, in the coming year. The surplus for the year was £93,580, although this does include grant funding for 2023/24 of £49,000. Financially DDFB is in a strong position but will only remain so with continued financial support from our donors. ## **Income & Expenditure 2019/20 to 2022/23** **----- Start of picture text -----**
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
Income Expenditure
**----- End of picture text -----**
14 The graph below shows the source of all income over the last 4 years. Donations from churches within the DDFB area have picked up during the last year with the reopening of churches after Covid, this increase more than offsets the reduction in income from other sources. Overall income from churches and other organisations has remained relatively consistent over the last three years at about £20,000, and it is hoped that this will continue. The increase in personal donations seen in 2020/21 has continued and totalled £56,533 in 2022/23 and represented 72% of donations. Gift Aid Forms have been completed for the majority of the personal donations enabling DDFB to benefit from the HMRC Gift Aid Scheme. Income from Grants totalled £86,558. This included: - £39,698 from Trussell Trust to support the Community Organiser and Campaigns Manager - £2,500 from Wiltshire Council to support the School Holiday Meals - £5,000 Winter Support Grant from Trussell Trust - £31,598 from Trussell Trust for the Financial Inclusion Project - £7,762 from Trussell Trust to support year 2 rent on new premises ## **Source of Income 2019/20 to 2022/23** **----- Start of picture text -----**
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
Church Grants Other Personal Tesco
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
**----- End of picture text -----**
15 ## **Reserves Policy** The Reserve Policy for DDFB was revised in January 2023 and remains unchanged, in that DDFB is 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 £33,000. In addition, the Premises Reserve has a balance of £68,972. ## **POST YEAR END EVENTS** The Financial Inclusion Project, funding for which was received in March 2023, started in May 2023. 16 **Financial Statements for Devizes & District Foodbank for the year ended 31 March 2023** Bank:Lloyds Bank Plc 38 Market Place Devizes SN10 1JD Independent Examiner:Mr James Salter Devizes ## **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 2023. ## **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. Mr James Salter 28[th] June 2023 17 ## **DEVIZES FOODBANK – STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023** |**2022/23**|**2022/23**|**2021/22**| |---|---|---| |**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Designated**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total**||| |**RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**||| |**Receipts**||| |Donations
81,261
81,261
Grants
10,311
76,247
86,558
Interest
211
211||52,149| |||18,747| |||3| |**Total Receipts**
**91,783**
**0**
**76,247 168,030**||**70,899**| |||| |**Payments**||| |Trussell Trust
0
0||0| |Staff
12,300
12,300||14,997| |Stationery
1,204
1,204||487| |Postage
44
44||14| |Telephone
691
691||250| |Equipment
9,865
357
10,222||32| |Food
680
3,041
3,721||4,166| |Conference etc.
0
0||0| |Insurance
1,270
1,270||1,413| |Travel
518
894
1,412||1,289| |Vehicle
340
340||635| |Premises
4,595
13,412
18,007||4,959| |Other
1,321
1,321||537| |Comm Org& CampMgr
23,918
23,918||0| |**Total Payments**
**32,828**
**0**
**41,622**
**74,450**||**28,778**| |||| |**Excess of Receipts over**
**Payments**
**58,955**
**0**
**34,625**
**93,580**||**42,121**| |||| |Transfer between Funds
(14,000)
14,000
0||| |Bank as at 1 April 2022
15,797
91,000
11,964
118,761||| |**Bank as at 31 March 2023**
**60,752**
**105,000**
**46,589 212,341**||**118,761**| |||| |**STATEMENT OF ASSETS & LIABILITIES**||| |Bank Account|10,539
5,000
46,589
62,128|68,758| |Investment Account|50,213
100,000
150,213|50,003| |**Net Assets & Liabilities**|**60,752**
**105,000**
**46,589**
**212,341**|**118,761**| 18 NOTfSTOSTATEMEKrs l. The Finantial Statementsfor De￿les& D6trirt F(￿￿Trk havÈ been prÈpared Usin8 ihe Recelpts and Payments ba￿& 2. The Fund Balances are asf(Alows'. 2022123 2021122 F￿th 60.752 F￿d5 Jnd• Total 64.291 Totsl 16.438 General Fund Vehicle Replacement Fund Sel Replacetnent Fund PrernisesRental tharge5 PremisesFtsnd CornmunityLiaison Manager 3.539 4,972 10.fKJ2 27,476 68,972 10.602 27,476 33.(W 46.589 212.341 71,423 Contingency Fund 33.( 60.752 105.(KKI 24.(KNJ 118.761 3. A%set- Non-COn￿Mab￿ items that tostE5(X) oi more. Depreciation-All assets wll be ful￿ depreciated over5 years. Valuaii)n-Value attributed to an assÈt will bÈ the full purthase lÈss ihe apprc>priatÈ depreaation. After 5year5 itwill be considered that an has no value. D*e of Costlincl No. YearJ Purch•¥e VATI Deprui•tipTh Tropreq•bon V•ly• Van H￿t￿P0 Laptop Laptop Rackin8 Fumture 21 Ctt.22 [￿-22 r-21 15.(KK) 554 55a 6.191 lli 443 443 4953 1238 362 Ma*22 4. In addition to cash receipts Devizes & DistrKtFO(xJbankha5Te￿Ned grft in kind a5follows'. BOX￿ for dlstributi)n olfts)d b. F(x>d donations 5. Food Stockasat 31 Mar(h A)23 Wei8ht- 1.935k8 b. Notional value-£4.￿ (based avera￿ value per k8 6sad¥ised by Tru￿elITru5t) 6. Food donatedto Fl￿bankdUrin8yea1 Weighi-30.453kg b. Notional value-E71173 Food distributed by F(x)dbank during￿ar Weight-33.761kg b. Notional value-£80,014 19 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 20