2024-04-05-accounts - The Community Cupboard

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

THE COMMUNITY CUPBOARD

CHARITY NUMBER: 1185331

ANNUAL REPORT

FOR YEAR END 5th April 2024

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 5th April 2024

Table of Contents

Contents 2 Reference and Administration 3 Objective & Purposes 4 Summary of activities 5 Trustees, Gift Aid, Other Foodbanks 6 Making the hub a home, Volunteers 7 Work Experience, Duke of Edinburgh & Work placements 8 Training 9 Support Services 11 Additional Partnerships 12 Fundraising 13 Publicity 16 Schools, Groups, Churches & Harvest Festival 17 Summer project - School Swap Shop 18 Regular Donations 19 Purchases 20 Christmas 20 Yearly Awards 22 Challenges 23 Achievements & performance 24 Donations & Distribution 25 Signposting Services 25 Achievements v’s Objectives 27 Plans for the future 28 Structure, Governance and Management 29 Financial Activities chart 30 Financial review 30 Final note 31

This Annual Report presents a review of the period 6th April 2023 - 5th April 2024, reporting on achievements, performance and impact, including financial performance and financial position to demonstrate the Trustees’ stewardship and management of charitable funds.

The Trustees and staff of The Community Cupboard once again wish to express their sincere appreciation of the contribution made by volunteers and donors during yet another hectic year, without which none of our achievements would have been possible.

Reference and administrative details

Charity Name:	The Community Cupboard
Registered Address:	The Community Cupboard, Gamecock Meadow, London
	Road, West Kingsdown, TN15 6EL
Charity Number:	1185331
Principal office:	England.
Constitution:	Constitution of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation
	whose only voting members are its charity trustees. Date of
	constitution (last amended): 15th August 2019
Liability:	If the CIO is wound up, the members of the CIO have no
	Liability to contribute to its assets and no personal
	responsibility for settling its debts and liabilities.
Trustees:	Vee McGannon
	Helen Reeves (Resigned January 2024)
	Amy Eley
	Adrian Wenn
	Rudi Mccarthy
	Lynda Harrison
Staff:	Tracy Wood - Manager
Bankers:	Metro Bank,
	Unit 4, Nugent Retail Park,
	Orpington, Bromley,
	BR5 3RP

The trustees submit their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 5th April 2024

The Community Cupboard

Objective & Purpose

The Community Cupboards charitable objects are:

To relieve persons in North West Kent and surrounding areas, that are in financial hardship, in such ways as the trustees shall from time to time think fit. In particular but not exclusively by:

a) providing emergency food supplies, essential toiletries and other household items both to individuals and families in need and also to other charities or organisations working to prevent poverty.

b) Such other means, including (but not limited to) the provision of support or signposting to relevant advisory services or information.

The Community Cupboard is an independent charity and a member of IFAN (Independent Food Aid Network). As an independent registered charity & CIO, all operations are in accordance with the governing document known as The Constitution of The Community Cupboard. Working in partnership with local and regional agencies , The Community Cupboard operates from The Community Cupboard, Gamecock Meadow, London Road, West Kingsdown, TN15 6EL.

The Community Cupboard operated with 2 employed staff and a team of approximately 45 regular volunteers.

Accepting referrals from supporting agencies and self referrals, users do not require a food voucher to request support and are supplied with 5 days emergency provisions. There is no limit to the number of times they can access the support but users are signposted to external agencies for remedial support.

The Community Cupboard is operational 5 days a week.

Summary of Activities April 6th 2023 to April 5th 2024

This report covers the financial year to April 5th 2024 for The Community Cupboard, demonstrating our accomplishments and achievements and also provides an insight into the support that we have been able to provide to residents in our community.

Where do we start?

It's been another action packed year of events and community engagement for The Community Cupboard, with so much growth and progression.

Being part of the Community Cupboard is like being part of a family. The ever growing bond between the team members and the camaraderie within the hub is clear for all to see and provides a welcoming space which local residents and people in need feel comfortable attending.

Being greeted by welcoming, warm smiles has saved the lives of many people who have bravely overcome their fears and reached out to The Community Cupboard during their lowest point. If the doors are open, the kettle is on.

We continue to operate to our ethos of ‘everyone needs a little help sometimes’ and provide non judgemental support service to anyone in need.

Trustees

In January2024 our Trustee Helen was promoted within the church to Area Dean and resigned as Trustee. Helen continues to very much be part of The Community Cupboard and remains a valued team member as both a volunteer and our lead Pastoral support.

The introduction of 3 additional Trustees in 2024, strengthened our core and the charity now operates with 5 Trustees, Vee McGannon, Lynda Harrison, Amy Eley, Adrian Wenn & Rudi Mcarthy, who each bring their own expertise and individuality.

Gift Aid

This year, our Trustee Adrian took on the mammoth task of registering The Community Cupboard for Gift Aid.

We are delighted that we are not only now fully registered but due to his dedication, we have this year received payments from HMRC totalling £6753 (which covered the previous backdated years) and we continue to grow the number of standing orders received each month which are gift aid eligible.

Adrian has also very kindly taken on the role of Fundraising and will be undertaking some of the charity grant appeals going forward.

Collaborative working with other Food Banks

This past year we have strived to build stronger relationships with Food Banks in other surrounding areas. Ensuring that users are being supported by the most suitable and local establishment to them is vital when they have no transport or alternative community links

Sadly due to organisational restrictions of many other food banks, a large proportion of residents who may live closer to other food banks are unable to access their support because they do not ‘fit the criteria’ required.

As an independently established food bank we are proud that we can provide support to anyone who presents with needs, regardless of working status, age, sexual orientation, religion, time scale required or their situation.

- Final touches to our premises making the hub a home

We continue to operate from Gamecock Meadow, London Road in a premises which is provided to us at no charge from West Kingsdown Parish Council we are only liable for utility bill costs.

This year we have put the final touches into place in our hub with the installation of a canopy (to help provide additional shelter during winter and summer months), a new patio area and also our very own defibrillator which is registered with the public services for full community use.

Having such a vital piece of life saving equipment situated outside on the wall and readily available has been extremely well received by the local residents and we are delighted to have facilitated this from the remainder of our previously raised building and renovation funds.

Sadly, at the beginning of 2024 our premises were attempted to be broken into. Whilst no access was gained, damage was caused to the shutters. The premises we occupy are owned by West Kingsdown Parish Council and therefore the shutter has now been replaced by their buildings insurance policy. Insufficient evidence was available to charge anyone and no further action could be taken by Kent Police.

Despite the disruption to the day, the hub and with determination from the team working that day, The Community Cupboard continued to operate and families were supported during the investigations regardless.

We have since installed an additional outdoor Ring Cam alongside the existing internal burglar alarm system (which was already in place and monitored).

Volunteering

Whilst The Community Cupboard has operated under the management of the trustee team and its employees, the charity would simply not function so seamlessly without its devoted volunteers.

Our volunteer team has gone from strength to strength and we maintain a core team of over 40 individuals, who continue to support The Community Cupboard in various activities and roles. With three dedicated teams now in place (Events, Collections, Hub support), we are able to ensure that each volunteer is able to use their own skills and expertise to help benefit others. Every single volunteer plays a part and collectively we support and encourage each other to help make the difference that we aspire to within our charity.

We currently have a waiting list of prospective adult volunteers however it was decided to delay our yearly 2024 recruitment day to fully establish the growth of our student programme and associated dedicated teams. It is anticipated that further volunteer recruitment will take place later in 2024.

Work Experience, Duke of Edinburgh & Work placements

With support from our Volunteer Youth liaison lead, we have continued to grow our provision for volunteering as a young person and we continue to support both Work Experience and Duke of Edinburgh placements, to ensure that local children have the opportunity to both learn about and be involved in the needs of their community.

The young person's volunteering experience is monitored & recorded with end of placement reports being completed and fed back to the relevant school or body to ensure that all objectives are achieved.

Patricia continues to excel in this volunteer role and is supported by the manager to ensure the safety and guidance of the student volunteers at all times whilst attending the hub or representing The Community Cupboard at events.

Our work placements have also continued as we provide volunteer hours for various employers who offer community support day volunteering.

This year we have welcomed colleagues from various companies to complete commercial community volunteer days including Co-op, Power On, HSBC.

Work placement schemes have been key to engagement with both local and national businesses and have supported our goals in raising our profile and generating additional support.

Those requiring support from our charity and the members of our volunteer team vary in age (from 13 years to 84 years), background, ethnicity and gender and we are delighted that we provide a community space that encourages and advocates for the inclusion of all.

Training

Providing the volunteers with necessary training and enhancing their own personal skills was a core focus for this year and additional sessions were introduced to ensure that team members had the required knowledge to ensure their own safety and that of those around them at all times. Our training partner CAS Community Solutions, based in Swanscombe continued to provide the ‘Kent Adult Education’ courses, each of which are accredited.

This year members of our volunteer team have attended courses for:

Manual handling
Safeguarding vulnerable Adults
Safeguarding vulnerable children
Protection against Stalking
Emergency First Aid at work

Each person who presents to The Community Cupboard has an individual story. It is essential to provide our team members with the necessary skills and personal support to ensure they are able to react appropriately to immediate issues or disclosures that may arise. The volunteers personal safety and wellbeing remains paramount.

In addition to the above mentioned courses, we are extremely proud to have, in situ, 2 trained Mental Health First aiders courtesy of BTG Training, who provided the course free of charge to our Manager Tracy and our hub based Trustee Vee.

The hub continues to be a place of safety and comfort for any person within our community. With many disclosures or requests for help happening within our walls, support is very often made over an initial or even a follow up cup of tea.

Almost all cases that present to the charity require a form of onward signposting for specialist advice and guidance. Most disclosures to our team members take many sessions of attendance by the person or family involved. Building trust and rapport with those that use our service is absolutely vital to fully addressing these underlying concerns.

Support services

The Community Cupboard continues to expand, with additional needs from our community presenting regularly.

Collaborating with multiple services, covering a wide range of concerns, continues to ensure that we have the means to be able to signpost to further support in any given situation. Continuing our holistic approach by uniting multiple agencies together, has proven to achieve success in many cases,leading to improvement of the quality of life for those using our services.

We continue to strive to expand the knowledge of our team members through training and guidance, to nurture our external relationships and to build our supporting network. By doing so, we ensure that we are armed with sufficient knowledge and the correct partnerships to access the relevant support.

This past year we have once again continued to work in conjunction with over 30 national and local charities, organisations, councils and individuals to achieve the best outcome possible. As a member of the Refer Kent platform we ensure that additional support can be accessed quickly and efficiently by our team, when making referrals.

Our Kent County Council’s Public Protection team of wardens remain a consistent web of support, as we help each other to meet the combined holistic needs of our local residents.

Additional Partnerships

Another year passes and we have continued to collaborate with multiple large organisations as not only part of our own community plans but as an integral part of the individual organisations community engagement programmes.

With these secure relationships in place, we have continued to receive support, funding and item donations from a multitude of places in aid of the support that we provide at The Community Cupboard. John Lewis Bluewater, The London Golf Club, NHS Darent Valley Hospital, KMFM, Hovis Bakery, Kent Police, Waitrose, Co-op, Brands Hatch, Millwall FC and Sainsburys are some of the organisations amongst our most treasured partnerships.

We have been delighted to continue our community outreach with many of these organisations including our Darent Valley hospital. Not only to support the growing number of staff who are currently struggling to make ends meet but also to promote our services and collect donations. With regular stands in the foyer, our team have continued their community outreach with members of the public and staff to once again share the story of The Community Cupboard and its services.

We are delighted to once again be the chosen charity and be fully supported by our local BNI Chapter Brands Hatch as their charity partner.

We continue to nurture and grow these relationships.

Fundraising

Our fundraising efforts have continued over this past year with the charity and its volunteers representing The Community Cupboard at many local events.

Community fairs were a great success and proved to be fruitful when raising awareness for our charity.

Networking with various agencies, local businesses and residents, has been key to building and securing additional relationships that have helped us to grow and to maintain our reputation within our community.

Our attendance at village events such as New Ash Green Village Day, St Edmunds Village Fete, Sutton at Hone Primary School Fete & St Edmunds PTA fete ensured that we interacted with thousands of people within our community and were able to share information about the service on offer, how people can access it and how they too become involved.

These events not only generated awareness but additional partnerships, cash donations and promoted further item collections, on our behalf.

Other fundraising activities

This year we have been very fortunate that so many individuals have taken the time to arrange and hold their own fundraisers on behalf of The Community Cupboard.

These events have provided a wonderful platform for the community residents to feel part of our charity project and for them to give as much or as little time to supporting us as they wish.

With Race nights organised by BNI Brands Hatch members which raised £1200, Easter raffles by local Culverstone stores raising £2000, Bag packing by New Ash Green Scout Group in our local Co-op store raising £271, a Tin Can Challenge by Sackville school providing us with much needed donations and funding, Table top sales at West Kingsdown Baptist Church, BNI’s Joker in the pack which raised over £600, Olivia, Amelia and Evangeline who made drinks from berries at their grandparents house, sold them to neighbours and donated the £17 to us, John & Steve who performed ‘Man of Straw’ at Ash Church and raised £413, BNI Bring a bag Friday which accumulated bags and bags of additional donations, The Lion Farningham Charity Quiz nights x 2, raising over £500, An exhibition held by New Ash Green Arts Community, West Kent Free Masons Radiant Star Lodge’s quiz night which raised £350, A fundraiser by DR Clark

which raised £800 from their employees, A reading of ‘A Christmas Carol’ held at Ash Church, New Ash Green Craft Fair fundraiser which raised £279, Farningham village Yoga fundraisers, Fundraisers by the Dartford Sports Bar and many, many more, we have been fully supported by our community residents and have been truly overwhelmed by their enthusiasm to be involved and their kindness.

The now established annual ‘Teddy Tower of Terror’ provided the village of Ash and St Peter & St Pauls Church with an influx of visitors as they joined together to health check their teddies, check in and watch them zip wire from the top of the church tower.

With families bringing along their own picnics to enjoy, it truly was a wonderful community day for all to enjoy.

Publicity

The constant stream of community outreach has led to a successful year of promotion for our charity.

With invitations to almost every event that has occurred locally, we have been delighted to attend as many as possible and have welcomed the opportunity to be interviewed and featured on KMTV, BBC News South East, Kent Radio and Valley Radio, throughout the year.

Our Social media following continues to expand with daily posts of our activities on Facebook & Instagram and regular interactions and posts on our TikTok & Linkedin accounts.

Keeping our activities transparent, demonstrating where our funding is being spent and thanking our community and donors for their contributions has encouraged additional support and partnerships.

By making ourselves accessible to all genres through multiple access methods, we can ensure that any member of the community knows how to access support should it be required.

With presentations held at schools and locally held groups and organisations such as local WI’s and Sevenoaks Chamber of Commerce, we continue to generate interest in our support platform and encourage engagement from all sectors of our community.

We continue to work in collaboration with all sectors of both our local council and county council to provide immediate support to those in need.

Churches & Harvest - 2023

Our yearly Harvest collections are a very welcomed date in the diary with local schools and churches choosing to donate their collections to The Community Cupboard.

This time of year remains particularly busy with additional sessions held for schools and groups which provide a talk about what we do, how important their donations are and talks about what they are supporting within their community.

Harvest at the hub is a colourful time, with beautiful handmade presentation boxes, decorated by the children and our premises full of eager smiling children who are keen to understand and learn what they can do to help going forward.

These additional sessions accompany the regular out of opening hours sessions held for local groups and continue to help reduce the stigma associated with food banks and asking for help.

Many local churches also nominate The Community Cupboard as the charity to receive their offerings and their services are attended by a representative from the charity to speak and thank those who have contributed.

School & Group Visits

We have continued to welcome classes full of pupils to the hub for organised information sessions and have attended school assemblies to help educate the children on the need for food banks and helping each other within their communities.

Our evening educational sessions continue to grow and we have welcomed more and more local young people and their leaders from Scout & Girl Guiding groups to the charity, helping to not only provide an insight to our work but also to help them achieve their badge work. These bespoke, special out of hours sessions help us to reduce the stigma surrounding usage of a Food Bank and encourage young people to become a part of their wider community and its needs.

- Summer project School Swap Shop

If our volunteer team didn't already do enough, they then requested to take the lead on a summer project aimed at helping local families with recycled school uniform items.

Operating throughout the whole of August, they organised, promoted (and with the help of the hub team and trustees), operated a regular swap shop which was held outside of the hub.

With John Lewis Bluewater keen to be involved (and donating £1000 to purchase new uniform items and needed school supplies), The Community Cupboard was able to provide over 50 families with the required items for their children to return to school in new/nearly and correctly fitting uniform.

This project was such a success, not only because of the number of families supported but for the level of community engagement that it created.

The wider community loved being able to contribute, recycle their items and to reduce usually wasted uniforms so much that we have decided to operate the same scheme once again this coming summer.

Regular Donations

Our multiple donation points across the local villages and towns continue to be well supported, despite local residents feeling the economic pinch.

Our fabulous volunteers continue to collect on a daily basis from various locations and transport them to us at the hub. These items are then recorded, date checked and finally prepared for redistribution.

These donations continue to be vital to The Community Cupboard, with item turnaround regularly being the same day from receipt to distribution. Various organisations and individuals continue to donate directly to the hub itself, with many new donors over the past year.

We pride ourselves on continuing to build these (and new) relationships and the welcoming atmosphere that we continue to provide on their arrival.

We have continued our wonderful relationship with our friends at Hovis Bakery Erith, who religiously donate trays and trays of freshly baked bread each week and this year we also continued to receive donations from Harvel House Farm Shop of fresh fruit and vegetables every single Monday morning for us to distribute.

Purchases

Whilst the actual item donations continued, 47% of our stock required for emergency parcels had to be purchased from the funding that was received throughout the year.

Each week we place an average of 3 orders from Sainsburys or Tesco from this funding with an increase during December of 5 purchases a week (totalling over £6000 per month) to meet demand and top up the item donations.

Christmas 2023

Whilst we were unsuccessful in our attempts to be eligible for specific funding to cover Christmas treats this year, we rallied the troops and with thanks to 5 of our regular supporters we were able to gradually collate sufficient items to provide each family with some of the most wanted seasonal items.

Each of the families that we were supporting during this period were presented with a Christmas pudding, a tub of chocolates, Sweets, Mince Pies, Crackers and selection boxes, courtesy of these very kind donors from within our community.

Christmas Tree Festivals

Keeping up our community presence, we once again submitted our entry for the 2 local Christmas Tree festivals at both St Edmund King & Martyr Church in West Kingsdown and also at St Peter & St Paul's Church, Ash.

Thank you to Emma, our volunteer for once again undertaking this task, they looked beautiful and raised our profile further whilst on display during the festive period.

Reverse Advent Calendar Day

This year we decided to go bigger and held our very first Christmas Fair in conjunction with our annual reverse Advent Calendar donation day.

Held in west kingsdown Village Hall, hundreds of people from the wider community came to join in the fun, donate items and be part of a very festive day.

This year was slightly warmer for Santa as his grotto magically appeared indoors so that he could greet the children and hand over gifts.

These gifts were donated by both Brands Hatch Race circuit and Local company J & C Events (who also provided the grotto, a bouncy castle, popcorn machines and decorations all free of charge too) and with over 20 stalls made up of local striving businesses and crafts people, it was a wonderful festive day to once again bring the community together, collect donations and to raise awareness for our Charity.

With residents of our community already anticipating the next, the 2024 event date has already been booked!

Awards 2023/2024

Kent Mental Wellbeing awards 2023

For the first time in 4 years, we were nominated for an award which focused solely on mental health and the positive impact made by organisations.

As the only nominee from the Sevenoaks district, we were not only delighted to win, but be awarded and recognised for our outstanding commitment and dedication to supporting the wellbeing of others.

This award was a huge achievement for us and highlighted the difference that The Community Cupboard makes to peoples lives. We are simply so much ‘more than a foodbank’.

Kent & Medway Food and Drink Awards 2024

Another year and another nomination for a new category award.

This award, held at Canterbury Cricket ground, covered the whole of Kent and Medway and spanned a far bigger area than we have ever previously been considered for an award within. Whilst this time not winning overall, we were once again delighted to be recognised for our dedication and work and were placed into the top 3 Food Banks within the Kent and Medway districts.

Receiving both of these awards and being recognised for the continued commitment that our charity provides is huge testament to the volunteer team and their levels of dedication to supporting others within their community and we are so very proud of each and every one of them

Challenges

This past year we have seen a decrease in the physical donations that have been received but thankfully we continue to receive regular cash donations and monthly standing orders.

Over £65,000 has been spent this year on supplies,to ensure that sufficient stock is available to continue support and has been funded from these regular payments received and various grants from other organisations.

Additional grants for supplies are now being sought to plan for future growth allowing us to maintain our service.

The most common reason for referrals continues to be the cost of living., with many families just simply unable to make ends meet despite being in employment.

The continued increase in bills and basic food essentials continues to affect our community and we are still receiving daily additional referrals from a multitude of service providers as well as self presenting individuals.

The needs of those presenting are becoming more complex and additional training and guidance was required to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our volunteer team. Support and training has been provided and is ongoing to address any potential concerns that could present.

With the rise in demand and the expansion of needs, we have now expanded our team to include additional trustees and lead volunteers, who are able to specialise and focus on different needs. Ensuring the core of the charity structure remains strong and robust has been vital to keeping up with the demand and the growth.

With no clear view of the current economic or social climate changing in the near future, we have ensured that our 3 year forecasts address the need to continue our levels of support to those who need it most.

Achievement & Performance

6th April 2023 - 31st March 2024

Since first opening in 2019, The Community Cupboard has supported over 1600 families with emergency food and grocery support.

During the 12 month period of this report, 211 additional families registered (located in 20 different villages and towns) with The Community Cupboard totalling 516 individuals (of which 345 were aged 12+ and 171 were children). Families and individuals continue to be directed to us via supporting agencies or by presenting themselves as a self referral.

Throughout the year we continued to support families within approximately 15 miles, however our core area of support remains 5 miles in each direction with once again registrations being made from families covering 43 different villages or towns.

Donations and distribution

The Community Cupboard received donated supplies from local community and business members during this period totalling 65,971 kilos.

In 2022/2023 we purchased 11942 Kilos of additional supplies. For yet another year (2023/2024), this has increased tremendously, with the charity purchasing 31,331 Kilos of grocery items ( an increase of 162%) just to meet the continued demand.

During this reporting period, 62,290 kilos were distributed in support parcels to our families with only 3.681.82 kilos of the total year's donations remaining available at the end of March 2024.

Monthly distribution and donations received

Signposting services

Those using our service do not just need food, each person or family comes with concerns that need addressing. It is not enough to just supply food, they need support, guidance and advice to help them progress and rectify their current circumstances.

Often unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel, with many close to attempting to take their own lives, they need hope and someone to listen.

The continuation and nurturing of our partnerships with local and national support services is vital to making the difference for these families and individuals. Collaboratively, we are able to provide a holistic approach to each case, helping to tackle a multitude of issues.

Working directly with agencies and being part of the Refer Kent platform ensures that we continue to receive and provide support via 30+ supporting agencies. Our valued relationships with these service providers ensures that root causes can be addressed for our users and that the best care and support can be given.

Signposting services

We continue our partnerships with local and national support services, helping to tackle a multitude of issues:

Referkent

Homeless relocations (Porchlight, We've Got Your Back, Cornerstone Property and Kent Police) Re entry into society (Probation services)

Wellbeing services (Involve KCC Social prescribers) Digital Inclusion (KCCdigital inclusion team) Refugees (Sevenoaks District Council Refugee team) Disability (We are Beams, Imago) Senior residents advice (Age UK & Imago) Mental health & Counselling services (KCC Mental health support, SWK Mental health team, Samaritans & NHS Talking therapies Period poverty (The Hygiene Bank) Domestic Vioence (DAVSS) Housing, Benefits & Debt management advice (Citizens Advice Bureau & Sevenoaks District Council, West Kent Housing, Live well Kent, Clarion Housing) Self Employment support (Jobcentre, Community Catalyst) Utility support (SE Water) Local community warden support (KCC Public Protection) Dementia services (ADSS) Family intervention services (KCC Adolescent services, KCC Social Services & Safeguarding Midwife team) Palliative care and family support (Ellenor hospice) Family support & counselling services (KCC Social Work Dept) Homeless relocations (We’ve Got Your Back)

Achievements vs objectives

What a team we have….

We could not be prouder of our 45+ strong team of dedicated individuals who willingly give their time and support freely to help others. In creating The Community Cupboard, we aimed to provide a welcoming ‘safe space’ and that is exactly what we have achieved.

The Community Cupboard has continued to reduce the stigma around asking for help, has ensured we are a friendly and approachable place of comfort and has continually treated EVERY person with the care and individuality that is needed and required. No one that attends is just a number, they are individual people with feelings and needs.

Through the dedication and kindness of our team, we continue to save the lives of many people who state that they no longer wish to be alive or dealing with their current situation. We have provided guidance and onward support to help them when they needed it most and we are confident that as a charity we have provided the best support that we could have done in all presented cases throughout this year.

Team morale is extremely high, with strong management and structure to the charity firmly in place. Visions remain focused and the new dedicated team structures are working extremely well.

With the registration of gift aid, the purchase of card machines and the consistent community engagement we are maintaining the levels of funding required to meet the demand to purchase supplies.

The training programme is fully active, with an additional 12 training courses including Safeguarding Children, Safeguarding Adults, Food Safety, Communication Skills, Emergency First Aid at work, Manual Handling etc already booked between now and December 2024 to support our dedicated team volunteers.

With 2 Mental Health trained first aiders on site we are able to support anyone that needs emergency support.

We aimed to continue our community awareness and having been invited to attend almost every event occurring locally, we can safely say that our community is fully behind us.

We have participated in various TV interviews, Radio broadcasts and continue to maintain great relationships with these advertising platforms alongside our very successful multiple social media platforms.

As always, we continue to strive to make a difference and continue to plan for the upcoming 3 years ahead.

Plans for Future

Our biggest goal would be to be able to close. Sadly this will not happen in the foreseeable future, as the demand continues to rise.

The effect of the ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ has firmly taken hold of our community and regular meetings are in place to monitor the impact and allow us to adapt our policies and procedures as and when required.

The increase in professional persons requiring support, Midwives, Teaching staff and the like is a telling sign that no one is immune to the effects of the current financial climate.

Those in what were previously known as strong, dependable employment positions, continue to form a large percentage of our users, with the majority of this category not meeting the ‘eligibility criteria’ of most other food banks or support services.

Our aims and objectives for the short and medium term include:

Continue to remain approachable and welcoming.
To continue to strengthen the core of our charity and its organisational structure.
To increase our income to meet the growing costs of required additional purchases.
To continue to educate our community and its younger generation.
To increase support services that are readily available at the hub by introducing additional drop in sessions which provide face to face support.
To maintain and grow the awareness of The Community Cupboard and reduce the stigma surrounding asking for help or attending a foodbank.
Continue to support our volunteer team and their wellbeing, offering enhanced courses and team building exercises to keep morale high.
Evaluate the data we receive fully to accurately plan for upcoming months.
Continue to build our relationships with referral agencies to ensure full ongoing signposting support and services.
Introduce specialist skills and training to various members of the team to ensure that our knowledge is sufficient to support the issues being raised by our users.

Structure, Governance and Management

The Community Cupboard is a registered charity and a Charitable Incorporated Organisation whose only voting members are its charity Trustees.

The Charity is governed by its constitution dated 15 August 2019.

The following persons served as Trustees during the year: Veronica McGannon (Elected 16th September 2019) Helen Reeves (Resigned Jan 2024) Amy Eley (Elected 16th August 2019) Adrian Wenn (Elected 15th March 2024) Lynda Harrison (Elected 15th March 2024) Rudi Mccarthy (Elected 15th March 2024)

Staff: Tracy Wood - Manager David Carter - Supervisor

The election of additional Trustees can be made at a properly convened meeting of the charity Trustees. There must be a minimum of 3 trustees and a maximum of 12 at any one time. Decisions within the charity are made by the Trustees at a meeting or in writing and agreed once a majority has been reached.

Parties interested in becoming a trustee when applications are open are invited to contact us at thecommunitycupboard.co.uk.

Signed: Amy Eley - Trustee Signed: Veronica McGannon - Trustee

Financial Review

The financial position of The Community Cupboard on 5th April 2024 remains healthy. Both individuals and organisations have continued to donate funding throughout the year which has ensured we have met our operational costs and the regular purchases of additional Supplies.

During the period 6th April 2023 to 5th April 2024, the total income received by the charity totalled £103,365.23. Of the £133,533.96 received, £60,006.26 was received from grant applications and personal donations raised a further £43,358.97.

Members of the public and our community have continued to be extremely generous with their financial and moral support.

All funds have been deposited into the charity bank account held by The Community Cupboard at Metro Bank, Orpington and detailed spreadsheets show allocated funding is kept separate from other available non allocated funds that have been donated by the general public or for other purposes.

Salary Funding

The Community Cupboard relies on organisation and management of its services to operate to full capacity.

The National Lottery continued to fund the salary costs as we entered into the second year of the grant funding that was awarded previously. Additional salary funding was also received from Sevenoaks Council which bridge the gap in funding.

We continued to employ 2 staff members who ensured that the hub remained open and its facilities were available 5 days a week to both the public and also multiple supporting services. This funding is vital to ensure that the hub continues to be staffed and operational to meet the growing demand for our services.

Thank You to The National Lottery and Sevenoaks Council (our salary grant funders) for your continued support, helping us to make a difference.

Finally

From the initial tiny grassroots charity that was formed in 2019, to the established and evolving, fully operational community support service that is now. It continues to be a whirlwind journey.

The Community Cupboard continues to thrive and such drastic expansion and growth relies on a strong core management team and tight organisation and management of its services to operate.

Due to the championing, support and the continued belief in our work, skills, compassion and methods, we have been able to continue to operate to full capacity, 5 days a week to continue to help residents within our community and truly make a difference.

Once again, The Community Cupboard team and our community residents would like to express our sincere gratitude to all for the continued support and partnerships, helping us to make such a difference to the families in our local community.

‘Everyone needs a little help sometimes’

(ff, TEAM BASS IIMITED is 32

(ff, TEAM BASS LIMITED ', o •1 CCI 1341 Aia•n alv 33