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2023-03-31-accounts

Trustees Report for the year 2022-2023

SECTION A: Current Activity

a) Health and Safety.

Mike reported that a full set of general risk assessments and fire risk assessments is near to completion; just waiting on a few minor outstanding items before updating/printing for the Health & Safety folder which is kept on shelving in the packing room. A Volunteer Welcome Pack has been put together by Malcolm which includes Health and Safety information for all new volunteers. No accidents have been recorded in the Accident Book and no specific health and safety issues were raised at the meeting. Two actions are still to be taken: to remove unused metal shelving near the back door and to carry out a fire drill.

b) Shop/Drop-in/School Uniform.

Mary provided her report in advance (with copy on file as Appendix 1). Anne reported at the meeting that whilst takings for the shop vary greatly, the real value of the shop is the growing number of people who simply drop in for a chat. In some cases, this has been to share difficult or stressful situations, Our shop volunteers are great listeners and Anne shared two moving stories relating to customers who called in at the shop to talk. In both cases our volunteers responded brilliantly!

After a slow start the School Uniform Exchange has really taken off since moving to the shop. We are now looking for someone to specifically manage this part of our operation. Concerns were raised about the Vale Academy introducing a new school uniform, we discussed the potential of purchasing new VA uniform to support disadvantaged families.

c) Food Bank/Community Pantry.

Hannah provided her report (with copy on file, Appendix 2) which details just how much both the Food Bank and Community Food Pantry has grown over this last year. The monthly food pantry continues to be held every third Tuesday of the month between the hours of 10am to 1pm and 5 to 6.30pm with an average of around 124 households supported every month.

Hannah’s report details the increasing number of people using both the foodbank and the Food Pantry, which is largely due to word of mouth and personal recommendation. In August we had a hugely successful food drive at Tesco in Brigg, where local shoppers generously provided over seven full trolleys of our most needed items of food. Like the shop, the Food Pantry is not just about providing food, and we are getting to know many local people who have been open to share their stories with us.

d) Tuesday Prayer Meetings and Café Fellowship/Wednesday Pilgrims Group

Janet Kendrew provided an update on the weekly Tuesday morning prayer meetings which are informal and well attended, everyone is welcome! Café Fellowship follows the prayer meeting on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. This year the Café Fellowship hosted a get-together of

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representatives from all the local foodbanks and in October there will be a presentation by the Police and the Nottingham Building Society on fraud prevention and scams. Again, all welcome to attend!

The Pilgrims Group is run by Janet Kendrew and Kate Marr and this takes place monthly on a Wednesday following on from a successful Alpha Course. The purpose of this group is to ‘travel on’ with Jesus at the centre. All welcome! Janet asked if anyone was interested in running a future Alpha course.

e) Monday Evening AA/Wednesday Death Café

John Cottingham provided an update on both Monday evening AA meetings and the Death Café. Alcoholics Anonymous meets every Monday evening at Oikos where around 20 people attend. This group is successfully aiding recovery, which is the main aim of the group; however, everyone is welcome to attend and find out more!

The Death Café will resume at Oikos this September. This is simply a group of people who meet to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death, helping them to make the most of their lives and face their own mortality. Previously the Death Café has had up to nine attendees and newcomers (of any age) are welcome.

f) Saturday Men’s Breakfast

Vince Adams gave an update on the Saturday morning Men’s Breakfast, for Christian men who meet from 08:30 for breakfast at Wetherspoons, followed by an informal meeting at Oikos. This takes place every three weeks. Highlights have included weekends at Ampleforth Abbey in North Yorkshire; with the next planned 6[th] - 8[th] October.

It has previously been suggested that there should also be Women’s Fellowship; this is yet to be established.

i) Finance Report

Cy Pet whilst unfortunately unable to attend the AGM owing to illness has provided a report on the financial status of Oikos and the balance sheet from 1[st] April 2022 to 31st March 2023 (copy on file: Appendices 3 & 4). As before, the money has been divided into four funds – Food Aid / General Fund / Retail / Social. As suggested by Cy, it has now been agreed to open a new account with Lloyds as soon as possible for ease of management.

At the meeting John Cottingham asked what is our minimum reserve? For the general fund (without Cy’s input at this stage) this was thought to be around £9,000. We do however have more flexibility on the other funds which are always closely monitored by Cy.

The principle of funds being for ‘using rather than keeping’ is at the forefront of what we do, and whilst there is a much greater cost to run the Food Pantry in particular, we have been so blessed to have received funding, donations and practical support from so many people and organisations over the last year. Many thanks go to Cy for his close attention to the Oikos accounts and for keeping us on

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track. We are grateful also to John McCartney for auditing the accounts which were accepted at this meeting.

ii) Chair’s Report including Property Report

Malcolm provided the Chairs Report where he firstly acknowledged and thanked the contribution made by all volunteers, for taking ownership in their various roles and responsibilities. Looking forward, we always need to keep a balance between developing both our social and faith activities.

Property: The Nottingham Building Society have given us incredible support and this year they have increased our one-year lease with them to 5 years. The Nottingham continues to fundraise for Oikos! Malcolm confirmed that he will send a formal letter of thanks to the Nottingham for all the amazing support they are giving us.

Malcolm and Cy have been working ‘behind the scenes’ to stop water coming into the building following periods of heavy rain. Early signs are good in that much less water is now getting into the building.

It was encouraging to hear from Malcolm about our “Hopes and Dreams” from last year’s AGM and to see much of this come to fruition, including the Community Food Panty, the school uniform exchange, the Eco Fair and having safeguarding officers in Alan and Angela Smith. We are now in need of further administrative support as the workload is increasing and we may need to ‘contract in’ a paid administrator. The need to have additional support for our volunteers was also recognised; both areas to be confirmed by the Oikos Trustees.

Oikos Management teams:

The structure of our management teams are as follows -

Shop / Shop purchasing: Mary / Piero / Jane (for coffee purchasing)

Foodbank/Food Pantry: Hannah / Mike

Property / Governance: (including Grant Applications and reporting, Compliance as a charity, Safeguarding and Administration (rotas, publicity, thank you letters etc.) Cy / Malcolm / Mike

Safeguarding: Alan / Angela

Administration: TBA

Special thanks go to Janice Keilthy who together with Malcolm and Hannah have secured grant funding for so much that been achieved this year.

iii) Trustees/Charity Commission

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Mike and Piero have been appointed as Oikos Trustees this year, whilst Stephen Nightingale has stepped down as a Trustee. Our thanks go to Stephen for all his support and guidance, especially in setting Oikos up with the Charities commission. Stephen continues to volunteer in the shop and on food pantry day.

Our Trustee structure is currently –

Keith Simpson / Cy Pet - St. John’s

Malcolm Bailey / Mary Knaggs- Brigg Methodist Church

Piero Strina / TBC* - St. Mary’s and St Augustine Webster’s

Hannah Dobson / Mike Creese / TBC* - working to support the community.

(Mike is a member of Connect Church in Scunthorpe).

*Two Trustee positions still to be filled.

SECTION B: Looking Forward

a) Bible Study (The Bible Course)

A new eight-week Bible study group is set to start at Oikos from Monday 16th October at 2pm to study The Bible Course, this is good material and we are expecting new people to attend! Depending on the demand we are looking to repeat this on Tuesday evenings for those who can’t attend on Monday afternoons. Mary will produce a flyer and be a point of contact for enquiries.

b) Youth Work Opportunities, for discussion –

Comment was made that following the Youth, Schools and Outreach worker appointment being put on the agenda a further 4 related agenda items were inspired, as below:

o Youth, Schools and Outreach Worker

Following on from what Anna George has achieved over the last year in our local secondary schools, a Job Description and Person Specification has been put together for a Young People, Schools and Family Worker to be in place for a 3-year period. Primarily this is to have increased engagement with young people in both schools and the community. This is a Methodist Circuit appointment, but the intention is for the person to be hosted at Oikos and actively involved with its work; in particular with opportunities presented by the Food Bank/Community Pantry. It will be for a committed Christian with experience in youth work.

The salary for this position is £23k pa and funding from the National Lottery and Garfield Weston is already in place with a top up from the Methodist circuit. Whilst there is still a shortfall, other potential funding is in the pipeline to have the right person on position from early 2024. A proposal had been put forward by Cy Petti to have a contribution from Oikos, recommended as £5k for the first year with £2k for the following two years from our general fund. All meeting attendees were happy with this recommendation however Vince Adams voiced reservations about funding received from the National Lottery fund.

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Post Meetng Note: The proposed Oikos’ contribution to the lay worker appointment was accepted unanimously at a meeting of trustees immediately following the AGM. Further pledges from individuals of £2,000, to be made via Oikos, have also been made. As a consequence of this and other monies made available at the Circuit Meeting of the Methodist Church the following evening, sufficient funding has now been pledged to meet year 1 requirements. It is anticipated that advertising and recruiting will start w/c 18[th] September.

o Hull University placement or intern

Another option proposed by Jane Woolliscroft is to have a Hull University placement with us over 2024 Spring and Summer terms.

o Street Dance Classes

Mike proposed running a 12-week programme of midweek after-school street dance classes for primary school aged children in Brigg. The sessions would be provided by Tash Oti (who Mike knows from Connect Church. This will take place in St. Johns Church Hall over the forthcoming Autumn/Winter period.

Tasha is a Christian who has lots of experience working with children and young people, she has her own street and contemporary dance business called YGM (You’ve Got Moves).

This initiative was unanimously approved, and Mike is applying for funding available from Voluntary Action North Lincolnshire.

o Cookery Classes

Jane Woolliscroft has proposed running cookery classes together with one of her personal contacts who is a trained chef, this would be for young people and their parents and is an activity that could also be held at St. Johns Hall. This initiative was also given approval to further explore.

Rock Solid

For the future some thought was given to the need for youth facilities in Brigg and/or simply somewhere for a safe space where teenagers can ‘hang out’. Hannah mentioned Rock Solid from her personal experience as something that she feels would work really well.

o Mini-conference Suite and Broadband

Malcolm is investigating options to set up broadband with an interactive TV and laptop in the back room to support people without internet to reach the services they need. We are a little nearer to achieving this with support from Nick Shoot at Quickline Communications who Malcolm met at our recent food drive. Another aspiration is for people to be able to donate and buy digitally at Oikos. There is further funding available from the UKSPF.

o Oikos at the NLC Promotion event, Monday 2[nd] October

North Lincs Council have an event at the Angel Suite on this date to promote independent living and to prepare people for old age. The trustees have agreed that we should have a stall at this event.

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o Oikos Social: 7pm at the Doghouse on Wednesday 20 September.

Lastly, a reminder about the Oikos Social. Please contact Jane Woolliscroft if you have not already signed up for this event.

Malcolm thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting with The Grace.

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Appendix 1: Shop Report from Mary Knaggs

The shop is now into its 2[nd] year at 67 Wrawby St. and we continue to attract customers and people just popping in for a chat. Sales of the cards, gifts, books, bibles etc vary. Some days we can take between £50 and £100, other days just a couple of pounds. What we haven’t got, we try to get. It’s not always possible or practical. Several customers have asked for a giant- print bible. Yes. We can get them and have got them. But the book is very large, very heavy, and very expensive!!!

With the demise of Traidcraft, sourcing Fairtrade products has become a bit of a headache but hopefully customers are happy with the products we now sell. Fairtrade Chocolate bars and cookies are always popular, tea and coffee less so because of the price. Our Eco products attract some attention, and more people are getting to know about the refils for washing-up liquid shampoo etc. This is helped by the promotion of one free 300ml refil for Food Pantry customers.

Our jigsaw lending library is very popular, and we have started letting customers buy them for a donation. The pre-loved books too are popular.

We were fortunate, when we opened the shop, to have unwanted stock from the Ice House in Grimsby to stock up our shelves. Now, with that stock diminishing, we are having to spend some of our money to replace it. We are always open to suggestions as to what items to stock.

A big attraction in our newly- decorated shop is Cameo Corner- our café area. Cameo was the name suggested by one of Oikos’ supporters- Come And Meet Each Other!!!. But it is no good having a café without good coffee- and we have the best coffee (and hot chocolate) in Brigg, according to many people. So for a small donation, you can enjoy a drink, a Fairtrade biscuit and a chat with friendly people.

I must give thanks to Anne and Piero, my 2 assistant managers, without whom I couldn’t keep going, to Stephen, who “fills in” for Anne and Piero, and to Jane, who sorted, bought and looks after the coffee machine and its refills. And also comes in regularly and cleans the premises. And to all the shop volunteers. They not only serve in the shop for 2 hours at a time but often have to deal with Foodbank and school uniform enquiries. You are all brilliant! Thank you.

Mary

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Appendix 2: Food Bank Report from Hannah Dobson Thé Food Bank hès Erown considèrably cver the last financial year, ar)d iÈvÈn more up to todavs datÉ. WÉ have put a lot of n"n)é and Èffort in making surè our mar￿￿'n£ sotièl média and informan.on is informéd and uEpto-datÈ. This has also Énabléd us to incrèèsÈ our a¥varÉnÉss ècross third parDÈS and to Énsure WÈ arÉ rÉ(Èiving as many rÈfÉrrèls ès possible frorn El￿sÉ that nÈÈd us. Wé are snii aware therè is SOMÈ ￿lOrk to donÈ to Ènsure morÈ peWÉ in néÈd kr￿ About us. parriculaty in accèssing thè ÉldÉrty popular.on ￿ are our currÈnily IcMiÈst supportÉd group our Focjd Bank We do h￿l￿Ver sèe thÈsÉ rrore duri￿ our Community Food Pantry days. WÉ stsrted the Community Focpd Pèntry in DÉcÈmbÈr 2022 followin£ a néÈd idÈnD"fi"èd across the country a￿1 US WSIDn5 Other l¢xal sites who run similar sèrn'ices. Foll¢)wn£ the resounding succÈss and posij.vé feedbatk from thè first Cornmunit¥ Food Pantry, WÈ havé Tun oné a month sincè. ￿lÉ have quartÈrly méén.ngs with voluntÈÈrs to discuss any fèedback, improvÈrnÈnts, And important F(Jints for thé followrinE ouartÉr., this Ènables us to adapDng and prcNidinE an imprO￿d sÈrvite Èach tr￿ftth across both thÈ Food Bank and Pantry. WÈ Fyovickd 371 parcÉls to houséholds from April 2022 to March 2023 laF)proxirnatÉty 69) uniquÈ pÈoplÈl and so far io August 2023, WÈ have pro￿]ded 243 food parcèls to F)ouseholds (Èquanng to apprwmatÈli' 420 uniqué ￿ople1. At Christrnas, KIÉ alw providéd 38 fresh Christmas Ham￿rS and a furthér, 30 tréai Harn￿r5. This yèar, WÈ Éxpect to havé ti￿er ICQ fresh and trÈat Hampèrs IbudsÉnno for 1351. Since DécÉmbÈr 2022. our attÈndance at Communty Food PantriÈs has an èvÈragé of 124 households Èach month. thÈrall, with the nÈw usÈrs VR hèvÉ sÉn across thé yÈar, this ÉquatÈs te appr￿MatÉ11 346 uniquÈ households supported so far in 2023. Altogethor in the first 8 months of 2023, we have thorÈforo hÈlpod appr0￿Ma￿lY 1450 ￿0P1Q from 766 hoU￿holds. Wo haw also ￿l(￿Med many new voluniÉers o￿T this ￿lch has bÉen Wonde￿1. Furthor to this, we havo rocoiwd a lot of support from third pam.es I￿uding the Nom"n#)am Buildino Sociéry, @arda￿, TEsco. Citizen's Aoknco North ￿r￿olnShIre, and Ihe ￿alth Wisrtors. Toam. We would also li￿ to exterbj a thank you to 8roughton Alotments who supply lots of fresh rterns for (￿r Ccnmunity Food Pantti. each month. Afunher thank you to Kelly Lo%wy is a Trustee and Volunte£r at the OnÉ Foundan'on in Grimsbb.. and works closèl¥ with us as we distribute foc¥J supplies back and forth dopÉnding on oach of our nÉÈds at that rimo. Wo ha￿ also rÉcÈntly stsrted usiw HIS Church basod near 8inbrool who we boÈn purchasinu M'Éll stockÉd pallets from and also support us with other discountod or frÈÉ items dopoTr#ing on thoir supplies at Ihe ts"mÉ. WÉ also recoive support from the cdnshirÉ Co-op in tho of dodicated donats.on pushes within tt)oir storos Iscawty and bametbyl. We ha￿ recei￿d finanoal suppon from various irKlividuals, groups. Organisat￿n5 and grants which have been W, in supporDns running of the Food 8ènk ènd Pèntry. From April 2022 to March 2023, this has ikKluded the Norringham Building Soci£ty, tk Coop.. Brigs Lions, 8rigg Rotafy. Sinoeton 8irch. the Scouts and Tosco granEs. Full infOrMat￿n for all donanons is availablé in tho fi.nancial updatè. l apprÉ(iate this nÈÉds to be an overall summèry. of thé yéar and Pv)pe this summaris£s well what we have ad)ik%Éd so far and that I'￿ includéd everyon{2 that ni2edéd ménn'oning by name- but pléase att¥'iSÉ if I need to upjate for ttrk minutes and report Ive conDnue to Nwrk on bèing ￿￿11-knOw1 and well*stablished in the Community arKI for everwne to know we are here for their needs as and %then they come up. A focus currentty is finclins financial support to keep ow evÉr-growing services running and allowng us to then move tcwaros futuro aS￿ran.0ns such as providing n￿re handS￿n supwrt i.e. ccokery dasses and recipe cards.

Appendix 3: Financial Statement 2022-23 from Cy Petti

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Appendix 4: Current Financial position by Cy Petti

Latest information on financial status of Oikos

Food Aid

Start of financial year with £10,670.03 Income to 18th Aug - £1,674.09 Spend to 18th Aug - £6,524.75 Balance 18th Aug - £5,819.37

General fund

Start of financial year with £24,345 Income to 18th Aug - £6,519.39 Spend to 18th Aug - £8,332.4 Balance 18th Aug - £22,531.99

Retail

Start of financial year with £2,155.37 Income to 18th Aug - £2,882.6 Spend to 18th Aug - £949.52 Balance 18th Aug - £4,088.45

Social

Start of financial year with £813.74 Income to 18th Aug - £142.2 Spend to 18th Aug - £0 Balance 18th Aug - £955.94

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OIKOS- Brigz (harity 1184594 Balance Sheet tst April 2022 to 3tst March 2023 Brought forward 1st April 2022 22123 Balance 3tst March 2023 22123 Income Expenditure General Fund Donations General Expenditure Fabric and Fixtures Utilities125Yo allocationl 14,807.84 £ 13,071.99 870.98 2,305.50 358.35 24,345.00 Retsil Fund Retail Sale5 Retail Purchase utilities150yo allocation) 1,304.62 4,660.00 3,092.54 716.71 2,155.38 Food Aid Donations Purchase5 Utilitie5125Yo allocation) 4.058.95 £ 10,727.33 3,757.90 358.35 10,670.03 Soclal fund 813.74 813.74 Reconcllliation 20,985.15 £ 28,459.32 11,460.33 37,984.14 Location of funds Barclays account CAF account Accounts balance: 14,936.83 23,047.31 37,984.14 Q)r¢£Lt

Name of Organisation Oikos-Brigg Charity Number 1184594 Accounting Period 1st April 2022-31st March 2023

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 (other than that disclosed below*) which give me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signature of independent examiner

Name of independent examiner John McCartney

Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner ………………………………………

Name of firm (where appropriate) ………………………………………………………………………

Addre 4 Greenway, Barton upon Humber, North Lincolnshire

……………………………………………………………………………….. Post Code DN18 5HY

Date 30th December 2023

Sep-22

2015 church R and P.xls

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