PANTRY FOR BLACON CIO (Known as Blacon Beacon) Registered charity number 1183763
Annual Report
for the year ending 31[st] December 2024
Pantry for Blacon is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registration number 1183763
Governance and management
The trustees of the charity in 2024 were as follows:
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Rev Christina Upton (Chair)
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Ms Sheila Little
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Mr Edwin Green
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Mr John Reid (retired September 2024)
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Ms Kerry Cook
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Mrs Julieanne Carine (since May 2024)
We employed a full-time General Manager, and 5 part-time staff: Store Assistant, Computer Mentor, Well-being Mentor, Administrator and Healthy Eating Coordinator (who left us in September 2024).
This has been made possible by grants from Steve Morgan Foundation, Cheshire Community Foundation, Westminster Foundation, The National Lottery, Household Support Fund, Asda Foundation, Swettenham Foundation, Co-Operative Community Fund, UKSPF, Cheshire West and Chester Council and Avenue Services, Welcome Network, Yorkshire Building Society, Cancer Alliance, Lord Mayor of Chester, Arnold Clarke, Holy Trinity Church and Churton Bequest.
Our work would also not be possible without the great support of over 20 regular enthusiastic volunteers, who are involved with many different roles, including maintaining stock in the store, serving members when they attend, packing fruit and veg into bags ready for collection, sharing cooking skills in our classes, preparing and serving the food for families attending for holiday meals.
Objectives
The charity exists to relieve food poverty in Blacon, Chester, and also to promote health, through the provision of good quality food at an affordable price, and encouraging healthy diet through education on food preparation.
Activities in 2024
2024 was a whirlwind year at Pantry for Blacon! We're thrilled to have welcomed over 130 low-income households to our Pantry family. This translates to an astounding 19,890 instances where individuals received a week's worth of essential food assistance.
Our partnership with Citizens Advice is crucial in providing immediate food support through our Foodbank hub. We've observed that many seeking emergency food assistance benefit more from long-term empowerment strategies. Consequently, we value Citizens Advice's decision to prioritise comprehensive support, such as budgeting, advice on benefits, and non-food essentials, over solely providing Foodbank vouchers. Our Computer Mentor, plays a key role in this empowerment,
especially through his current online work with multilingual residents to develop their English language proficiency and patience when helping older people to fill in forms online.
Our regular cooking sessions and recipe bags were highly valued within the Blacon community, providing practical skills and resources for preparing nutritious, budgetfriendly meals. It has been great to have funding to be able to give out recipe bags to hundreds of families each month. In 2024, 7093 meal portions were made from these recipe bags. 100% of households who have been involved with making slow cooker bags have said that they are using slow cookers, and other cooking methods that cut down on the cost
of gas and electricity, more regularly.
We believe that lasting positive lifestyle changes are cultivated through confidence and support, where setbacks are viewed as opportunities for growth. This philosophy is reflected in the deeply moving feedback we receive, such as 'Thank you for everything you have done to help me through my darkest time' and 'You have been a lifeline for me; a place where I feel comfortable and know I can get help,' demonstrating the transformative impact of our programs.
Through the year we have prioritised expanding opportunities for older people, addressing both food poverty and loneliness. It has been wonderful to see our new 'Happy and Healthy' project flourish, providing older people the chance to regularly socialise over a healthy meal, which they then prepare themselves. Our 'Warm Up Tuesday' project has also been highly appreciated by our regular attendees, who come for a warm meal, a chat, and signposting to helpful resources.
PANTRY FOR BLACON CIO Charlty140 1183763 Tradlhg&othlL0s$Aec0unttth' 3tstDetember2024 Re5trfcted Unre5tr1cted £8 T•ta( Ir08 Grdnts Donations 77983.53 8558 790Q.38 11676.32 711.15 121&05 1813.74 86541. 7900.38 11676.32 MerntersContrSbutlons Fundralslngactmties Interest&Otherlncome OtherOp8r8tinglneome ni.15 1216.05 1813.74 TtstaiincomÈ rn83.53 31875.64 I859.17 DlrectC05ts GeneialFoDd &ToiietriesC05ts HoudayNeaLsandSpeclalAciityes EducaiionalActMies stattlng Prernlse5 32666.32 2321.24 18239.73 72669.82 183182 1.59 1072.25 40917.91 3393A9 183rd.73 72669.82 20800.2 2482 Totaltlr8CtCosr 144215al 11938.84 1561M15 ExpMses Insuian¢&,Oftice. Notor&trav$l JiidingRepair%M31ntenan¢e&Utllldes 736.12 282.56 1018.68 ToJiExpense 776.12 1465.26 Totsi Direct¢05t&Expen$e5 144991.43 12628.08 IS7619.51 Excess Incorneover 47007.9 19247.56 47760.34 Sl8ned H Dobson InOependentExaminer Date ql¥-
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