2025-12-31-accounts - Dartmouth Community Chest

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"Creating a welcoming space where everyone belongs"

Supporting Our Community Through Food, Connection and Care

Trustees Overview of 2025

This year has been another significant year for Community Chest as we continue responding to the growing needs of our community.

Rising living costs, increasing social isolation, and pressure on public services have made accessible community spaces like ours, more important than ever. Our café and community support and activities provide more than meals – they offer connection, dignity, advice and a sense of belonging.

We have seen first-hand how small acts of kindness and practical support can make a huge difference to people’s lives. From families accessing food support, to older residents reconnecting with their community, our work continues to bring people together and our space supports community belonging for people on their terms and in turn a sense of resilience because we have a local safety net.

We also work together with our service partners offering a space to come and deliver their important support for our community, these relationships offer mutual benefit, and we embrace anyone who wants to come along and work together.

None of this would be possible without our volunteers, partners, funders and the many local residents who support our work. We are incredibly grateful for your continued support.

What have we done this year?

Throughout the year we provided direct support to over 450 people in our community.

Food and Practical Support

6,171 meals served through the community café
4,002 food parcels delivered to households in need
236 Christmas hampers delivered
309 toy parcels distributed to children

Additional support included:

Furniture collections and deliveries to households in need
Free school uniforms through our Uniform Rail
Wheelchairs and mobility aids available for residents recovering from surgery or illness
A Pass It Forward board , allowing visitors and residents to support others in need

These services help families manage financial pressures while ensuring that everyone can access essential support.

Tackling rising living costs and food insecurities

Food insecurity continues to affect many households in our community.

Our café provides free meals and food support in a welcoming environment where people can access help without stigma. We use food as a fundamental leveller and something important for both connecting people together, but also it creates environments where people are much more willing to open up about he often complex and multiple issues they often are dealing with.

During the winter months we also ran our Heat and Eat appeal , providing blankets, flasks and essential items to residents struggling with rising energy costs.

We operated a Warm Space from 1 October to 31 March , ensuring residents had access to a heated space, food and community support during the coldest months.

Our Christmas Hamper Scamper appeal encouraged residents to purchase items from local businesses to donate to families in need, supporting both the community and the local economy.

We have a dedicated support worker and IDVA who is based in the café and is supporting many families in our community with responsive, face to face, reliable support from form filling to working with court proceedings.

We work closely with South Dartmoor Community Energy who co-locate in the cafe once a week to deliver energy help and support. Because people know them and know exactly where to find them, they have helped a lot of people in our community who may not have reached for help. At the same time, they are hitting their KPI with numbers and demographics, working together is a win win for all. They also do home visits and support sustainable energy changes, like home insulation, new boilers or upgrading white goods to be energy efficient models.

We work closely with Housing associations to provide co-locating spaces for tenants to access face to face information and support.

Community support groups and activities for families

Supporting families and creating safe spaces for children is a central part of our work.

We run a weekly family support group including support for SEND families, homeschooling families and homework support for children.

Throughout the year we delivered a wide range of inclusive activities including:

Easter messy play sessions with Easter eggs donated by Britannia Royal Naval College
Half-term messy play days that always included food
School holiday activities including swimming, woodland activities and park events
Educational visits to the council and local museum
Storytelling sessions at the library and community film events

Working with The Flavel Centre , we funded two inclusive cinema screenings allowing SEND families to attend in a relaxed and supportive environment.

Seasonal events included pumpkin carving sessions and a Halloween party at the football club.

We support Candlelit Dartmouth by creating events around lantern making with our local families

Community Wellbeing & Social Connection

One of the most important roles of our café is reducing loneliness and strengthening community connections.

Regular activities included:

Natter sessions and social gatherings
Arts and crafts groups on Saturdays
Community film screenings
Community days including litter-picking activities
Little Cotton residents’ meetings and community events

We maintain strong links with local care homes, welcoming residents to the café and making regular visits so older residents can remain connected to their community.

Highlights included a tea dance in the Guildhall as part of the VE and VJ commemorations, bringing together pensioners and care home residents.

Partnerships, volunteers and learning

Our work is made possible through strong partnerships and dedicated volunteers.

This year we worked closely with:

LiveWest Housing putting on events together, like skip days.
University of Exeter , where we became teaching partners supporting Masters in Public Health students through community learning placements.
Staff from Dartmouth Royal Castle Hotel, while the site was closed for refurbishment, volunteered with us for several months, supporting our work while maintaining their employment.
We also hosted a Research Hub day and worked with local partners to explore ways of improving community wellbeing. We also work in partnership with research that impacts our community and have support several projects, one in particular is the Veteran Connection programme,
To recognise our volunteers’ dedication, we organised a Volunteer Appreciation Day , taking volunteers to Paignton by ferry and bus.
We have been working closely with many local organisations like the Dart Harbour, bringing our local families into full view and supporting social value work ( they are supporting free swimming lessons for our local children for who the current provisions are just too expensive)

Looking Ahead

Our café has become a trusted space where people feel safe asking for help.

During the year we were able to support many safeguarding situations, both with community responses and often with a shared response with statutory services. Knowing people, their connections and families and providing a level of unconditional support, means we can be more responsive, more practical and often more effective in supporting many of the more complex issues and also supporting our most vulnerable.

We continue to maintain high standards in everything we do. During the year the café received a 5-star Environmental Health rating .

Demand for our services continues to grow. In the coming year we aim to:

Expand food and household support services
Develop additional activities for families and SEND children
Strengthen partnerships with local organisations and services and take a key role in reestablishing the TQ6 community Partnership
Continue providing welcoming spaces where people can access support and connection
Have a dedicated support worker for the organisation.
Start the process of finding a larger venue to support for health creating activities that our community want to happen.

With the continued support of our funders, partners and volunteers, we will keep working to ensure no one in our community feels alone or unsupported.

We are grateful to all the volunteers, partners, businesses and funders who support our work and help us make a difference in the community.

We thank you all.

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGL4ND WALES DAQTMQUTH CQlthlUNITY cEST Recei Forlhe 0d tsand ments accounts To CC16a 01ffj1125 3111W2025 Section A Receipts and payments Unrnstrfcied furMIx R¥siri¢i¢d Endowment Total fund8 Last year A1 Recel ÉNDOF YEAR OEVONc(XIMVNITYFNDT NORltaN FAmILYGRIT DWF FOUNDATION ST PETROX OEVoNCWPL NATNAL LOTTEF FUNDPASING 15.597 tt,400 20K 13.6D3 1¥.318 f9.388 io.isÉ J295 COMMUNtrf VAN COSTgPEfR¢X SES$110tri4I M)RKERS EMERGÉPKYCLOThE&HOLEsSl FUEL POkERr¢ TWUNING 41Jf1 141 )17 Sub to 412 51412 A4 A8s&t and Invesbnent Sub total $3N12 53A12 NetOfrnc*lpts/(p•j AS Trdnsfer8 between lunts A6 Cash funds la8tyear•nd funds thisNearend 31 3188 31. 31. CCXX R1 xthffjtslSSI

Section 8 Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period UnrEStriCted Restricted Endowmont Bl Cash fvnd• Tot•l¢•sh •]) lunds n05 funds DetsiL4 •Ièw- DetsiL B3 Investment Cu¢r•Tht¥u• OMI Detail B4 Assets rtslTr•¢l forth• ¢harfty'$ own use Detsi B5 Llab611tlo8 DatÉTr trtsèS ZI IY*.IL CCXX R2 3GctyJnts ISSI

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinefs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to tht trustèesl Mbe18 of 3eFLfHoLJfH y ctrE£ r IO25(11,12s-/tyZ5 Ch•rity r Irf any) On accounts forth• year S•t out on pag0s lo mclude the pase tsf 3ddrfiTrnal sheelsl l pt to the tru5 M my examination ofthe accounts ofthe above charity (tr TrusVI for the year ended Responsibillties and As the charity trustees tsf the Tntst. yw are responsible forthe preparion basi$ of report ofthe awints in a(%aYdan vitth wuirements ofth• Charitses Act 2011{ A1. I rewl in respect of my examinatK)n ol the Trust's accounts carried out under secon 145 01 the 2011 Acl and in carrying out my examinatyon. I have followed the apF4Kable DItiOnS given by the Chanty Commission under se£on 1495llbl of the Ad. I have ¢omted my examination. I nffirM that no material Matte have (Thne to my attention lolherthan that (thsdosed lk)w.1 in conre¢tion w.th the examinab.rm %¥hKh gwes rne cause to believe that in, any materi81 accounl¥wJ records %¥PTe kept in accordanct wilh section 130 of the Ac4 or the &xounts do a¢¢wd vthh the accountiTrJ records Indepèndent •xaminerf$ ststèment I have no (x)rMS and have c¥Th ac¥05s other matters in connection with the eyaminalion to which attention shoukl L drawn in OTder to enabl8 a prorr uryjerstanding oftt accounts to be reackth. - Please delete the ¥ths the rfthey t* not apply. $1gned.- Date: 16. S. 2026 Name: ALAgEJAIQ Hcof&Q A4rthÉ Relevant profwional qualifition{SI or body Irf anyl-. Address: IER October 2018 , JrA%tY. J&k.

Se¢tion B Disclosure Only complete if the eXaMir needs to highlight matters of concem (see CC32. Independent examinab'on of charity accounts" direclions and guidance for examiner51. Give herè brief detail$ of any itsm$ that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018