2023-08-31-accounts

The Food Foundation ANNUAL REPORT 2023 Charity number.. 1187611

Annual Report 2023

Contents

Foreword from the Chair	3
The highlights	4
Our vision, mission & why we exist	5
Our Impact
Message from the Executive Director	6
Increasing veg consumption	7
Improving Children’s Food	8
Influencing Food policy	10
Inspiring business and investor action	11
Reaching and Influencing our audiences	13
What next?	15
Trustees' report	16
Independent auditor’s report to the trustees of
The Food Foundation	21
Financial statements	24

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Annual Report 2023

Foreword from the Chair

Laura Sandys CBE, Chair

ur focus on cost of living has not diminished. Families are even less able to buy good food and are more reliant on cheap, poor quality food. Poor diets Oremain the biggest single contributor to the poor health of the nation. With 17% of families still in food poverty we have a big challenge ahead. We must also not forget that while a drop in inflation is being heralded – this is merely a slowing down of price increases. Our basic basket data shows that food prices remain 25% higher than they were in April 2022 making life extremely hard for many citizens.

If we are to rebuild the long term health and wellbeing of our nation we must start to grapple with the now well understood underlying issues – significant food insecurity, bad diets, unaffordable healthy food, low quality public food provision, relentless marketing of unhealthy food, and not enough vegetables and fruit as part of an affordable diet. The Food Foundation is working hard to drive change in policy and practice across Government, the industry and the public sector to start to rectify these substantial systemic problems.

In addition, we are just as focused on how the system does not deliver for our planet with strong focus on investors, industry and government policy to pivot away from those foods that are contributing to climate change and threatening nature. We do know what to do, we just need to start making sustainable diets and sustainable food processes mainstream not just for the minority.

The political climate is challenging with continual changes to policy, people and with an election likely in 2024. It is therefore more and more important that the public, the charities and the sector join more effectively together to

build the consensus for change. At the Food Foundation we are committed and feel that we have been very successful in building these coalitions for action.

One of our core campaigns around Free School Meals is gaining more and more traction with parliamentarians. Cities have been leading the way with the great announcement that all primary school children will have free school meals – with other local authorities following suit. The evidence from these initiatives will further build the case for greater focus on food in schools. While there are still no direct commitments from the two major parties, there is a growing consensus, that at least £7,400 annual household earnings is not an adequate threshold for eligibility, and at best that free school meals should be available to all primary school children. We still have work to do but know that the clamour is growing.

Our great team is working hard to build the right coalitions, provide evidence to departments, gain much higher profile for the issues and achieve change. The team led by Anna Taylor have had an exceptional year and we thank all those that support us in driving a new food environment for our fellow citizens.

Next year will be one of the most important for us and the food system. We need to drive the evidence through to policy makers across Parliament and Whitehall and ensure that we establish the core building blocks to reverse the detriment our current food system is doing to the public and the planet.

Registered Charity Number: 1187611 (Registered; 28th January 2020)

Registered Address:

Food Foundation CIO, 7th Floor, International House, 6 Canterbury Crescent, Brixton, London, SW9 7QD

Executive Director:

Anna Taylor, OBE

Board of Trustees:

Laura Sandys CBE (Chair & Founder),

Pat Biggers Baroness Rosie Boycott David Edwards Prof Sir Charles Godfray Andrew Hobbs Tom Lindsay Prof Sir Michael Marmot

Essie North Dr Mehroosh Tak

Appointed Auditors:

Price Bailey LLP, 24 Old Bond Street, London, W1S 4AP

Registered Bank:

CAF Bank Limited, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ

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Annual Report 2023

The highlights

Increasing veg consumption

Through our PEAS PLEASE INITIATIVE we aim to increase veg consumption through engagement with businesses, public authorities and communities. In the final year of funding for the programme:

1. Our business pledgers have delivered 1.2 BILLION additional portions of veg since 2018, up from 771 million last year

2. We funded 54 COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS involving 88 of our citizen advocates to test approaches for encouraging more people to eat veg, reaching approximately 2,700 people.

Inspiring business and investor engagement

1. Four retailers have taken action to improve access to affordable healthy food in line with our Kids Food Guarantee asks

WE WANT COMPANIES TO BE

MORE ACCOUNTABLE for the health and environmental impacts of their businesses. Our business and investor engagement has helped to secure:

1. The Investor Coalition for Food Policy now has membership from over 30 (2022: 23 investors) investors, with £6 trillion in assets under management. 120 people attended our

2. Six supermarkets now publicly report data on their sales which come from healthy foods and have also set targets. Three supermarkets now publicly report data on their sales which come from fruit and veg and have also set targets. The numbers were five and two respectively last year, as Waitrose has now set a target and discloses sales data for both HFSS foods and fruit and vegetables.

first Investor Summit in February 2023.

Improving children’s food

schools in London: £130MILLION of emergency funding set aside to expand provision of FSM to all Key Stage 2 children in London’s state schools for the academic year 2023/4. An estimated 287,000 more children are set to benefit.

WE AIM TO TACKLE childhood

food insecurity and inequalities in childhood obesity. Our objective this year focussed on extending FREE SCHOOL MEALS – particularly as an emergency intervention in the cost of living. We also have also focussed on increasing uptake of HEALTHY START . Our campaigning this year has helped secure:

2. 17 LOCAL AUTHORITIES (2022:

• 3) in England are signed up to implement and evaluate the automatic enrolment of children eligible for free school meals onto the scheme.

• An extension of Free School Meals (FSM) to all children in primary

Influencing food policy

levels of food insecurity among benefit claimants.

WE AIM TO CHANGE food policy to deliver a much healthier, sustainable and more affordable diet through changing the food system. Our policy engagement work has helped to secure:

1. Establishment of the Health Working Group of the Food Data Transparency Partnership which can serve as a stepping stone towards mandatory reporting for food companies on the transition to healthy and sustainable diets

2. The Food Foundation as a goto source of evidence on food insecurity and dietary inequalities, our food insecurity and food prices trackers and blogs had just under 49,000 views (2022: 35,000) and our flagship Broken Plate 2023 report has been viewed 14,233 times (2022: 7,386).

3. Launch of Recipe for Change in collaboration with Sustain and OHA. This is a new campaign calling for a food industry levy which builds on the success of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy

4. An inquiry into the adequacy of benefit levels by the Work and Pensions Committee following our advocacy on the disproportionate

5. A comprehensive food strategy formally launched by Birmingham City Council

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Annual Report 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
Our Our
mission
vision
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Forecast at age 5
TRAJECTORY FOR
100 CHILDREN
BORN IN 2022
Overweight
Moderate obesity Forecast at age 11
Severe obesity
Healthy/underweight
Deceased
Forecast at age 21
Forecast at age 65
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OUR PLANET'S PROSPECTS includes 20% less
meat consumption
Dietary carbon reduction needed by 2050 by 2035, 35% less
meat by 2050, 60%
less waste by 2050,
and farmers using low-
2050
carbon practices.
Business as Usual
SOURCE: UK CLIMATE
CHANGE COMMITTEE,
2035 SIXTH CARBON BUDGET, 2020
“Where we need to be
2050
Where we need to be
65 Mt CO2 40 Mt CO2 16 Mt CO2
equivalent equivalent equivalent
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Annual Report 2023

Message from the Executive Director his year the UK has been overwhelmed by the cost of living crisis which has been triggered by a series of global and national factors which have left people in Britain dealing with inflation which has reached a 40 year high and the biggest drop in living standards in a single year since the 1950s. Given how Tsignificant this is for the food which people can afford and the health impacts of poor diets, we have worked to ensure our work is oriented towards relieving the effects of the cost of living on people’s health and wellbeing. This has meant we have continued our work to protect children’s health through Healthy Start and free school meals, and we have pivoted our business engagement from a primary focus on improving access to vegetables to encompassing a broader set of asks relevant to lower income families captured in our new Kid’s Food Guarantee. This has delivered tangible results which have a material impact on health and wellbeing, though as ever our ambition exceeds what has been achieved. Thanks to our work, and those of our partners, the extent of the dietary crisis in the UK is becoming more widely recognised from multiple sections of society and we hope this will create the conditions for even greater impact next year.

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Annual Report 2023

OUR IMPACT

Increasing veg consumption

Our Peas Please initiative comes to the end of its current period of funding in November 2023. We have finished the programme with a total of 110 pledgers committed (2022: 110) to increasing sales and servings of vegetables. We have continued to maintain engagement from a high proportion of our pledgers, with 44 pledgers on track or having fully achieved their commitments in the final year of programme reporting. Our pledgers have cumulatively served or sold an additional 1.1 billion portions of veg since 2018, up from 771 million last year. Although this is less than our initial portion goal for the programme, given the impact of the pandemic on our out of home pledgers and the continuing impact of the cost of living crisis on household purchasing of fruit and veg, we have demonstrated that a clear common goal can deliver collective impact.

This year we have also seen our community-based work led by our citizen Veg Advocates come to fruition. We awarded 100 small grants to our Veg Advocates supporting 54 activities across the UK aiming to boost veg consumption within local communities, with grants tackling issues from food waste to cooking skills, promoting growing and health and nutrition, and based in settings from nurseries, schools, community gardens, cafés and shops. These activities reached an estimated 2,700 people and involved 88 Veg Advocates, with at least 17 activities having plans in place to continue into the future. Ten of our Veg Advocates subsequently acted as “documenters”, working alongside City University to evaluate the impact of the Veg Advocate programme, and evaluating how successful we have been in delivering a participatory citizen model. A series of blogs and case studies authored by the Veg Advocates have

been produced and published on our website summarising their community-based activities across the four UK nations.

At the national level we saw the government regrettably reverse a commitment to a horticulture growth strategy for England in May – something which we have been pushing for through our work with the Fruit and Vegetable Alliance for a number of years.

We have continued to work with retailers to support the government’s Healthy Start scheme, with an academic evaluation of Sainsbury’s Healthy Start value-add campaign finding that it had successfully increased fruit and vegetable purchases among low income households.

Our sister organisation Veg Power’s Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign entered its fifth year, with their five-year programme evaluation finding that 36 million people have been reached every year by Veg Power advertising since 2019 with 1.5 million children having taken part in the Veg Power Schools programme. 53% of parents with children involved in the schools’ programme reported an increase in the volume and variety of vegetables consumed, with 4,884 schools having taken part in the programme. An estimated £132 million in additional vegetable sales resulted from Veg Power’s campaigns in 2019-2022. In Autumn 2022 Veg Power launched their new Simply Veg campaign, designed to support families through the cost of living crisis by providing affordable, healthy and sustainable inspiration and recipes high in veg and pulses.

We are currently working with Peas Please partners to explore new funding options for the future of the programme, and are planning a final Veg Summit event at City Hall in November 2023.

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Annual Report 2023

OUR IMPACT Improving Children’s Food

In October 2022, we launched the #FeedtheFuture Campaign with eight partner organisations to call for extended Free School Meals (FSM) eligibility – particularly in response to mounting costof-living pressures on families. The campaign included:

Free School Meals

1. DATA AND EVIDENCE: we surveyed children on their experiences of food insecurity and polled members of parliament and the public to gauge support for FSM eligibility increase. This data underpinned our campaign press release, parliamentary briefings and social media assets. We collated an Evidence Pack which we distributed to policymakers and wider stakeholders. The evidence pack has been widely referenced by MPs and wider stakeholders and has been downloaded 1,800 times.

2. MEDIA AND SOCIAL CAMPAIGN: We partnered with the London Evening Standard and The Independent, who published 36 articles on Free School Meals online and in print over six weeks including front page news and a special investigation.

IMPACT OF THE CAMPAIGN:

In February 2023, the Mayor of London announced £130m of emergency funding to expand FSM across state-funded primary schools for the academic year 2023/4, benefiting 287,000 children. We know our campaign with the London Evening Standard influenced his announcement; his deputy mayor attended our Westminster event and his press

We received 920 additional media hits (excluding broadcast), securing 8 pieces of coverage on the BBC R4 Today programme and discussion of the issue in mainstream media like The Daily Mail, Vogue and Graham Norton. Our social media campaign led to more than 3,000 letters sent to MPs.

1. ENGAGEMENT: Our event at Tory Party Conference secured the high-profile MP Michael Gove as a panellist who used the event to publicly support Free School Meal expansion. Our event in Westminster attracted 204 attendees including policymakers, media and high-profile individuals.

2. ADVOCACY: We have coordinated a series of open letters to Government from Education leaders (representing a million teachers and 24,000 schools), the health sector with 50 signatories representing more than 150,000 doctors and medical students, over half a million nurses, midwives, dieticians and support staff and thirteen business leaders including nine retailers. Each letter enjoyed extensive media coverage including an Op-Ed in the Telegraph and a piece in the BMJ.

materials quoted our data and evidence. As well as this policy win from London, our campaign led to a groundswell of support from influential voices in education, health experts, and food companies. We have managed to tell a positive story about Free School Meals helping build broad political support.

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Annual Report 2023

IMPROVING CHILDREN’S FOOD

FREE SCHOOL MEAL AUTO-ENROLLMENT

As a partner on the FixOurFood programme in Yorkshire, The Food Foundation has played a key role in raising awareness and subsequent implementation of FSM auto-enrolment processes by local authorities (LAs) in Yorkshire and around England to ensure that children who are entitled to FSM are automatically able to access them without having to apply. We worked in this partnership to undertake an action research project to support implementation and evaluation in LAs, while engaging with multi-level stakeholders to advocate for the adoption of auto-enrolment by national government. There have already been 17 LAs who have signed up to the project. We have delivered two webinars and produced a Toolkit to encourage and aid additional LAs to adopt and implement the FSM auto-enrolment process.

HEALTHY START

We have continued to advocate for improved uptake for Healthy Start. For example, in February 2023, we published a new report on Early Years nutrition, calling on Government to improve Healthy Start for young parents, and in April 2023, we reported that the Government missed its own 75% uptake target, leading to coverage in national news including The Guardian. We have worked with members of parliament to draw attention to the issue leading to a large number of parliamentary questions and two back bench bills, in which our data and evidence was quoted extensively. While uptake for Healthy Start remains at 66%, we have increased parliamentary support and a sympathetic media narrative to help tackle this.

YOUNG FOOD AMBASSADORS

Our successes are in large part due to the tireless campaigning of our Young Food Ambassadors who continue to be powerful agents for change. The Ambassadors have had multiple meetings with MPs and government officials, taken part in events, spoken word performances and given media interviews. We were delighted that their campaigning efforts have been recognised in the nomination of three awards, including one of our ambassadors winning the Youth Campaigner of the Year award in Jamie Oliver’s School Food awards.

“Of the many interventions that we can make, one of the most timely, effective and targeted would be extending Free School Meal provision to those eligible for Universal Credit… this is a more than worthwhile intervention compared with some of the other policy choices in front of us…In an ideal world, I think we should have universal Free School Meals for all children in primary school.”

“It was so lovely to see the power of so many young people all in one room, who shared the same beliefs and wanted the same goal. It was truly magical to be part of.”

Michael Gove at The Tory Party Conference

Saf Stedall, 18, Young Food Ambassador

“It was a very good event. We were impressed by the creativeness of allocating some people packed lunches!”

Emily Whitehead, Civil Servant, DfE – in reference to the FSM Superpowers event

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Annual Report 2023

OUR IMPACT

Influencing Food policy

This year, we have further grown our reputation as an authority on food systems change in a number of ways.

FOOD INSECURITY AND BASKET TRACKER

We have continued to monitor food insecurity rates via a series of nationally representative surveys (tracker viewed 28,671 times in 2023 (2022; 24,122), and monitor food prices via the Consumer Price Index and our ‘Basic Basket’ tracker (tracker viewed 2,466 times in 2023 (2022; 10,788). Through this work we have played a critical role in raising the profile of rising food insecurity levels in policy circles, helping to make the case for stronger support mechanisms for low-income families.

BROKEN PLATE

Our annual Broken Plate report on the state of the food system has now become a major annual moment on the food policy calendar, this year featuring supportive commentaries from representatives from all our major stakeholder groups. This year we have grown our audience for another year with a total of 14,233 VIEWS on our website so far and a combined 1,600 VIEWS of the launch webinar and teaser video about the report. Broken Plate 2023 has also been downloaded 1,835 TIMES . (2022: 12,116 views of web page and a combined 726 views of Broken Plate launch webinar and teaser video).

Our Quick Bites webinar series has provided timely snap analysis on major policy developments of relevance to the food agenda attract a strong policy audience. We have held 8 webinars this year with over 4,000 views.

RECIPE FOR CHANGE (FOOD TAXES)

In partnership with Sustain and Obesity Health Alliance we launched a new campaign, Recipe for Change, which is calling for a new food industry levy which

builds on the success of the soft drinks industry levy. We are leading the research pillar of this campaign and commissioned new research which models the health impact of a sugar and salt levy as proposed within the National Food Strategy Independent Review. The campaign had over 30 supporting organisations at the time of launch.

We have also been helping to stimulate policy and practice change at LOCAL LEVELS :

Birmingham City Council - This year we continued our partnership with Birmingham City Council, supporting their Food Systems team and developing the Birmingham Food System Strategy. We have been working at a city, regional, national and international level, engaging and mobilising a range of stakeholders, including as part of the UK Urban Food Forum. In addition, we developed a Food Justice Toolkit which documents over 300 local-level strategies, policies, and interventions from around the globe addressing food injustice.

University of Kent - We continue to work with The University of Kent and this year publicly launched The Right to Food University initiative , a partnership project between The Food Foundation and the University of Kent. We are developing a blueprint for the Right to Food Initiative and different models that could be rolled out to other universities across the UK, and are also supporting the University’s catering, procurement and sustainability teams to develop a new Sustainable Food Action Plan, which will aim to improve the healthiness, affordability and sustainability of their food offer on campus.

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Annual Report 2023

OUR IMPACT Inspiring business and investor action

Building on the work of Peas Please and our Plating up Progress dashboard we are

helping to drive up commitments from food companies to be transparent in setting targets and monitoring whether their sales are supporting people to eat more healthily and sustainably. This year we have seen:

• Asda now has a target and is reporting data on its sales of high fat sugar and/or salt foods (HFSS);

• Waitrose has set a target and is reporting data on sales of fruit and veg, and is also reporting on their sales of plant protein;

• Coop is now reporting data on their sales of fruit and veg;

  • Aldi is reporting data to WWF on its sales of animal vs plant protein;

    • Compass Group is now reporting data on HFSS.

In October 2022 we published our first State of the Food Industry report , which showcased the findings of our 2022 Plating Up Progress analysis and set out our vision for sustainable and healthy businesses practice in the UK - in line with investor ESG objectives. This report is intended to function as a sister report to our flagship Broken Plate report and enable us to have long-term strategic conversations with a number of UK food retail and service businesses to discuss how they can improve their performance.

Following publication, we conducted eleven business meetings to discuss the report. The report was positively received on social media and covered in trade press, with the podcast summary of the report downloaded almost 250 times, one of our most successful podcasts for the 2022-23 year.

ADVOCATING FOR BETTER STANDARDS AND IMPROVED TRANSPARENCY

Both The Food Foundation and the Investor Coalition on Food Policy have continued to advocate and campaign for the introduction of mandatory business reporting requirements by the government, mainly through the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) process. Our Executive Director and the Chair of the Investor Coalition were invited to co-chair the Expert Users Group within FDTP. The political environment has been challenging, and in April the Investor Coalition and several key food businesses sent letters to the government urging them to keep the focus on health within FDTP. These letters, which we facilitated, were credited with the government maintaining the health working group. Nevertheless, the government has rolled back on its commitment to the metrics being mandatory, which led to our Investor Coalition chair and our Executive Director making the decision to step back from their roles as co-chairs of the Expert Users Group. The Investor Coalition continues to be actively engaged in the FDTP process through both the environmental and health strands of the FDTP. Several Investor Coalition members have attended workshops, held bilateral meetings with DHSC and DEFRA officials, and the Coalition’s policy working group is submitting written feedback to the FDTP proposals. The Food Foundation staff have also been engaged in the process.

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Annual Report 2023

INSPIRING BUSINESS AND INVESTOR ACTION

INVESTORS

The Investor Coalition on Food Policy has grown to £6 trillion in assets under management, with over 30 investors this year (compared with 23 investors last year). In February 2023 we organised an Investor Summit . The Summit was the first of its kind and was well attended, raising the profile of the Coalition among the investment community and policy makers with 120 attendees and coverage of the Coalition later covered by 12 different media reports, including in The Times .

Using the data from our Plating Up Progress work, we have produced four investor briefings which:

• Assess the financial risks in the food system.

• Analyse the biggest gaps in food industry data and suggests how investors can improve the quality of reporting and data availability.

• Explore the importance of moving from a siloed to a systems approach when making food related investment decisions, which allows for better assessment and management of cumulative risks and opportunities and potential trade-offs faced by the food industry.

• Look at what UK food companies are doing to support the transition away from industrial meat.

RETAILER ACTION IN THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS

In March 2023 we launched our Kids Food Guarantee in response to high levels of food insecurity among households with children. This is a set of actions which we believe supermarkets should have in place as a minimum if we are to effectively tackle rising levels of food insecurity. The core ask is for retailers to act to implement better pricing for health. The Guarantee includes actions that citizens have told us they are eager to see and which align with existing areas of retailer action and activity. We engaged with several industry groups and forums to launch the Guarantee, and held a successful

exploring the healthiness of multibuy and lunchbox deals for children.

parliamentary event in collaboration with Which? in May calling for retailers to act during the cost of living crisis. An original short film documenting the lived experience of the cost of living crisis, called ‘they know we are here’ was launched at the event and subsequently covered widely in the media.

Four retailers have acted on Kids Food Guarantee asks as a result of our engagement and the findings of our lunchbox report were covered on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch. We have also engaged with a number of government departments and external bodies including HMT, DHSC, FSS and FSA on the Kids Food Guarantee. Our data has been widely cited in coverage of formula price rises and we have been encouraged by the shift in media and political narratives around formula as a result, with first infant formula now in the spotlight as an essential many simply can’t afford. A forthcoming Competition and Markets Authority enquiry plans to look at formula pricing across the UK retailers.

Since April we have been working with QuestionMark, an international non-profit think tank, to look at online pricing and product information for the major UK retailers to monitor whether the retail sector is making any progress against our asks. Since June, we have built and launched a data dashboard for the Kids Food Guarantee, and published 8 reports monitoring progress across the yogurt, cereal and first infant formula categories and

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Annual Report 2023

OUR IMPACT

Reaching and Influencing our audiences

MPS /PEERS

Our work continues to receive significant attention in Westminster. 39 references were made to us and our work in Hansard, as well as numerous mentions in select committees. Mentions came from parliamentarians representing all major political parties and none.

We contributed to multiple events which engaged Parliamentarians and political parties over the course of the year including two events at each of the Labour and Conservative Party conferences. We also hosted several events in the Houses of Parliament itself including our Horticulture Event and our cost of living event. Additionally, we had a successful parliamentary event to launch Broken Plate 2023 which included speaker representation from Labour (frontbench), Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green Parties, which demonstrates the cross-party support for the work we are doing to highlight dietary inequalities.

In addition to this, we have made written submissions to multiple select committee inquiries on topics including, the EFRA Commons Committee inquiry on Food Security, the Health and Social Care Commons Committee on prevention, the DWP Commons

LOCAL AUDIENCE – LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Birmingham City Council: At the city level through our partnership with Birmingham City Council, we helped the Council’s Food System Team to publish and launch a comprehensive food strategy for the city for consultation. We helped to support the evidence base, draw in

Committee’s inquiry into Benefit Levels and the Lords Horticulture Committee’s inquiry into the sector. Anna Taylor also gave oral evidence to the EFRA Commons Committee’s inquiry on Food Security.

Committee inquiry and consultation contributions: We have been pleased see our work profiled in a number of high profile reports including the EFRA Committee Food Security Report and the Climate Change Committee 2023 Report to Parliament. Following our engagement with the Work and Pensions Committee on food insecurity levels amongst benefit claimants, an inquiry was launched into the adequacy of benefit levels.

We have met regularly with MPs, Peers and parliamentary staff in our efforts to increase the number of Parliamentarians who are interested in food and diet as political issues. Furthermore, we expanded our engagement with the Labour Frontbench which has led to them showing interest in Healthy Start as an issue that a future Labour government may expand.

experience from around the country and internationally on local food partnerships and best practice and help identify leading actors within the city who could be mobilised to support delivery of the strategy through local action groups.

GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SERVANTS

We have continued a regular programme of meetings with Ministers and officials in a number of different Government departments – most notably the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Education, the Department for Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Food Standards Agency, and the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities. We respond regularly to relevant Government consultations and informal stakeholder engagement exercises, and we regularly write letters to Ministers on topical issues. This year to launch our Broken Plate report, we held a briefing specifically for civil servants that was attended by 33 civil servants from 6 Government departments.

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Annual Report 2023

REACHING AND INFLUENCING OUR AUDIENCES

BUSINESSES

Our Peas Please community of pledgers is now 110 organisations operating within the food system, with retailers responsible for over 93% of the UK’s retail market share having committed to increasing sales of vegetables through Peas Please. We continue to engage with the 29 major UK food service and food retail businesses benchmarked annually through our Plating Up Progress analysis, and have this year also started to build relationships with manufacturers – in part through our Kids Food Guarantee work.

INVESTORS

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INVESTOR COALITION
ON FOOD POLICY
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The Investor Coalition has grown to £6 trillion in assets under management, with over 30 investors this year. We have now formalised the governance and goals of the Investor Coalition on Food Policy, with The Food Foundation acting as the secretariat. Two working groups have been established to focus on driving forward progress in specific areas; policy issues related to standard setting (including the FDTP and corporate lobbying) and risks and opportunities related to investor action in support of a food system transition.

WIDER AUDIENCES

Our audiences on social media have increased across the board with Instagram up 287% , LinkedIn up 96% , YouTube up 35% , Twitter/X up 21% and Facebook up 17% . We also launched a TikTok account in October 2022 and our content has been viewed more than 76,000 times . Visitors to our website have increased 49% and we achieved a record number of visitors for a single month in March 2023 (27,100 users). In addition, the number of subscribers to the main Food Foundation newsletter has increased by 19% . The number of media hits (7,612) we have achieved has also risen by 175% .

Our event programme has reached a wide cross section of our audiences across various event opportunities including a series of three Parliamentary events on the cost of living crisis, horticulture and Broken Plate (parliamentarians and civil servants), our inaugural Investor Summit (investors and businesses); our Westminster Free School Meal Superpowers event (NGO’s, local government and citizens); and our annual Young Food Ambassador Residential (young people). In addition, there were eight Quick Bite webinars tackling issues including party conferences, food advertising, sweeteners and 1 year on from the NFS which 3,803 people viewed online and 1,743 attended live .

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Annual Report 2023

OUR IMPACT What next?

In the coming year, we expect to see the continued effects of the cost living crisis on living standards and public health. This is against a backdrop of growing urgency to tackle the increase in global temperatures which is creating so much climatic instability and has knock on effects on food production and prices. Enhancing the resilience of our food system, and British families to cope with these shocks is more important than ever. This year we have consolidated our work into 5 programme areas which set out our strategic approach for deepening our impact with the change makers with whom we work over the next 3 years. These are thus oriented towards policy makers at national level, local level actors, investors, food businesses and around building our reputation as a go to source of evidence on food systems change. At the same time we have identified 5 impact delivery areas where we expect to deliver results in the coming 12 months. For each of these areas we have developed “good, better, best” outcomes against which we will measure our progress. These are listed below.

1. SECURING SUPPORT FROM POLITICAL PARTIES

• in advance of the general election for transforming the food system to deliver public health and environmental benefit.

2. SCHOOL FOOD – focusing on supporting local free school meal pilots to generate demand for a change in policy on eligibility; introducing auto enrolment for free school meals; and continuing to drive up standards in school food.

3. FOOD INSECURITY – focusing on the uptake and expansion of healthy start as well as improving accountability of the Department for Work and Pensions for levels of food insecurity among benefit claimants.

4. BUSINESS TRANSPARENCY – focusing on continuing to advocate for companies to set targets

and disclose data on their sales, and for government to mandate this reporting.

5. KIDS FOOD GUARANTEE – focusing on the role which supermarkets can play in supporting children in low income families to eat in a way which protects their long term health.

In addition, we are progressing research in 2 major areas: early years nutrition, and pathways to meat reduction, as well as expanding our panel of adult food ambassadors to ensure that lived experience is embedded within the solutions we propose to our change makers.

We will be prioritising the following areas for organisational development in the coming year:

• Finalising our Political Activity and Campaigns Policy to ensure that we are well prepared to face the exciting challenge of the forthcoming general election.

• Developing a more comprehensive strategy for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

• Applying our renewed commitment to EDI to the recruitment of new board members to strengthen our governance and better represent the communities we serve.

• Completing our governance review to ensure that we exemplify best practice.

• Working with our dynamic staff team to examine and further embed our values in how we work.

• Continuing to enrich and improve employee wellbeing through workplace initiatives and learning opportunities.

• We are looking forward with working with new partners and funders and diversifying our income streams.

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Annual Report 2023 TRUSTEES, REPORT 16

Annual Report 2023

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

The Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ending 31st August 2023 and confirm that the financial statements comply with current Charities SORP (FRS 102) – Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practise.

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law, applicable to charities in England & Wales, requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities [SORP 2019] (FRS 102);

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s objectives and activities and in planning future activities.

It is the judgement of the Trustees that activities in pursuit of the above objectives fully meet the public benefit test, which they have kept in mind in planning programmes for the charity.

FUNDRAISING

We are extremely grateful to our funders for all their support. We only accept funding which does not compromise our independence.

We review all financial engagements – assessing whether potential donations are acceptable and in line with the Foundation’s aims. For ethical reasons, we will not enter financial relationships with organisations closely linked to the active promotion of tobacco products, armaments, gambling, alcohol products or political parties. Further information can be found here: foodfoundation.org.uk/who-weare#funders

The Food Foundation approach to fundraising has been applying to Trusts, Foundations, Academic Institutes and Government Bodies for grants and donations. The Food Foundation understands and complies to its duty to protect the public, including vulnerable people, from unreasonably intrusive or persistent fundraising approaches and undue pressure to donate. We do not conduct digital marketing campaigns aimed at securing public donations. No third parties were involved in fundraising such as the use of external fundraising agencies for either telephone or face-to-face campaigns and received zero fundraising complaints during the year (2022, none) equalling the previous year. We have not voluntarily subscribed to any fundraising regulation schemes to date.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

We are governed by our Constitution and our charitable objects.

The Trustee Committee is chaired by Laura Sandys. The trustees have formed two sub-committees who meet between trustee meetings: the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee chaired by Tom Lindsay and the Impact and Reputation Committee chaired by Rosie Boycott. Terms of reference for each have been agreed.

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Annual Report 2023

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

The trustees have met four times during the course of the year and additionally had a half day away day to discuss strategy. We have had substantive discussions and made decisions on the following areas:

1. Review and approval of recommendations made by the Committees.

2. The development of an impact tracker to monitor progress against annual objectives.

3. The development of new programme objectives and a more strategic approach to budgeting, along with approval of the budget for FY 23/24.

4. Fundraising and ensuring our fundraising aligns with our strategy and is not steered by donor priorities. This has included the securing of more unrestricted funds. We have also explored in some depth our fundraising capacity but have not entirely yet resolved how we best resource the organisation on fundraising.

5. We initiated a governance review of the Board and during our away day we agreed our priorities for applying our approach to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the recruitment of new trustees and the development of an online statement.

6. We surveyed the future trends which are likely to affect The Food Foundation’s operations.

The IMPACT AND REPUTATION COMMITTEE has met

three times during the course of the year. We have had substantive discussions and made recommendations on the following areas:

1. The Food Foundation’s work with celebrities and influencers. This included developing processes for how we review potential opportunities for working with potential celebrities and influencers and evaluate

the risks and benefits. It led to the development of a protocol for reviewing new relationships with individuals who might have a sustained relationship with the Foundation in support of its work.

1. The communications strategy and specifically helping to shape our core messages and how we track the impact of our engagement on our target audiences.

2. The development of our Kid’s Food Guarantee and how we would engage supermarkets in the most effective way.

3. The development of our work on sustainable diets and meat reduction with a view to ensuring we play to the Food Foundation’s strengths as an organisation.

The AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE has met four times during the course of the year. We have had substantive discussions and made recommendations on the following areas:

1. The creation of a new grading structure for staff and benchmarking of salaries against charity sector recruitment market comparators to benchmark salaries. This was conducted at the start of the year and again at the end of the year in anticipation of the next financial year. This included decisions about remuneration for staff on hybrid working contracts and those with remote working contracts.

2. Supporting staff through the cost of living crisis with a series of one-off payments.

3. Annual accounts (FY 21/22) including discussion of the annual report with the auditors and reappointing the auditors for FY 22/23.

4. The creation of a new maternity pay policy to include a provision in addition to Statutory Maternity Pay.

5. The introduction of new staff contracts.

6. The ongoing review of the risk register.

Organisational structure and how the charity makes decisions.

Decisions on strategy and budget are made by the trustees during their quarterly meetings. The Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and the Impact and Reputation Committee review specific areas of work and provide advice on decisions to the Trustee Committee. They delegate the day to day running of the charity to the Executive Director. She has a small team of senior staff who form the senior management of the organisation.

Policies and procedures for induction and training of trustees.

Any new trustee will receive a copy of the current version of our constitution; and a copy of the latest Trustees’ Annual Report and statement of accounts.

Arrangements for setting pay and remuneration of key management personnel and any benchmarks, parameters or criteria used.

The remuneration set for staff is based on an assessment of market rates through >>

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Annual Report 2023

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

identifying remuneration levels of roles with similar skill and experience requirements, and an assessment of resources available to the Food Foundation. During the final months of this year a formal benchmarking exercise was conducted using Harris Hill published comparators and a new staff grading structure was developed for implementation in the year beginning September 2022.

Relationships with related parties and any other charities and organisations with which it co- operates in the pursuit of its charitable objectives.

We are the principal relationship holder with the National Lottery Community Fund for the delivery of our Peas Please project. We provide funds for 4 partners to support the delivery of the project. These partnerships are governed by partner contracts with each of the four partner organisations, whereby the contract between the Food Foundation and The Programme Partner consists of an Agreement, the National Lottery’s Grant Agreement, in addition to further appendices specific to the project agreement and other Mandatory Policies.

We cooperate with a range of other organisations in pursuit of our charitable objectives.

LEGAL STATUS

Food Foundation CIC was incorporated 5th August 2014 and registered with Companies House, with Company Number 09162855. By way of conversion, as of 28th January 2020 Food Foundation CIO was registered with the Charities Commission with Charity Number 1187611.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

We are still in our infancy as an organisation and continue to see year on year growth. This year we have seen our income increase by 4% against our records for the year ending 31st August 2022, however, a substantial amount of this income relates to projects that carry across our financial year – see Balance Sheet and Reserves. This

year ended 31st August 2022). Part of the £532,292 unrestricted fund, £71,859, relates to core funding allocated towards our overheads and project costs for the upcoming year. This leaves a free unrestricted balance of £200,433 (minus reserves) which will be spent throughout the next year based on charity needs.

funding has allowed us to increase our ambition and subsequently increase our team to facilitate such.

Internally our expenditure is considered across three areas, project costs, employees (wage) and other nonemployee operational costs. Within this reporting period, we have seen increases across all areas aligned to our funding levels and organisational growth. We have increased the number of employees to around 19 as planned and but expect to increase the team further in the coming year to around 21.

Reserves are needed to ensure the stability of our mission, meet our financial obligations as and when they become due. Requirements are predominantly to

assist with the peaks and troughs of cashflow; any unforeseen operational costs such as resource cover for long-term sickness; to allow time to organise alternative funding should a funder(s) withdraw their funding for any reason; to be able to react to an unplanned opportunity; and for any unplanned organisational closure event in a clean and appropriate manner.

BALANCE SHEET

We have closing funds of £816,828 (£682,210 year ended 31st August 2022) with cash holdings of £835,464 (£459,603 year ended 31st August 2022).

Within our closing balance, we have restricted £284,536 and unrestricted £532,292 (£360,453 and £321,757 respectively year ended 31st August 2022) funds available to us. The unrestricted funds will predominantly contribute to next year’s activities, along with some unrestricted funds designated to contribute towards our core costs.

Reserves will be funded with surplus unrestricted operating funds. Our existing reserves policy is to maintain unrestricted funds of 25% of our annual operational expenditure, plus potential statutory redundancy liabilities, and prudently, being a newly formed charity, to achieve this within a three-tofive-year period from 1st September 2019. 25% of our closing operational expenditure for the reported period plus a further £25,000 (rounded up potential statutory redundancy liability) equates to £452,415. We are now four years into our self imposed five year deadline, and have achieved our reserves target with a small surplus of £8,018 (2022; a deficit of £33,333).

We operate a defined contribution pension scheme which is managed by NEST. All contributions have been paid over during the year.

RESERVES

RESTRICTED – At the end of the year our restricted reserves amounted to £284,536 (£360,453 year ended 31st August 2022). These monies are committed across various projects running throughout our next financial period.

We operate a simple organisational structure and have no long-term commitments.

Our reserves policy is reviewed annually by the trustees.

UNRESTRICTED – At the end of the year our unrestricted reserves amounted to £532,292 (£321,757

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Annual Report 2023

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

PRINCIPLE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Principle risks Current controls	Actions being taken
Cyber Attack/Data Breach Data Protection, Security Policy/Clean and Clear desk policy in place and made available to the team. Back-up services are provided by external IT company which monitor potential breaches and attempts at security breaches. Passwords to sites are protected and we have dual authorisation set up.	Continuous updates to systems, training and updates to policies.
Cost of living increase effects on budgeting Benchmarking annually for salaries, amounts increased based on market rates for each sector. Reforecasting other costs based on increases.	Continuous review of costs (salaries and other costs) against budgets and reforecast.
Safeguarding breach leading to failure in the protection of children or high risk adults. DBS Check documentation required included in the new employee onboarding checklist. Safeguarding policies and procedures in place.	Continued safeguarding training is provided to all staff members; Staff working directly with ambassadors are given level 3 safeguarding training.
Meeting fundraising targets Having dedicated time to fundraise, having a 3-year budget to support fundraising and continuously updating the fundraising pipeline.	Applying for funds and seeking to diversify funding pool.

The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which we may be exposed and to the best of their knowledge are satisfied that appropriate systems are in place to mitigate exposure to those risks. We maintain a risk register that is reviewed quarterly by our Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and subsequently considered within every Trustee meeting. All risks are monitored using a traffic light system, with Low, Medium and High-risk levels. We currently have no risks calculated to be high.

To mitigate and dampen any difficulties incurred from loss of major funding, the Foundation has put in place a comprehensive Reserves Policy and have strived to increase reserve funds where possible and begin to link this to funding applications.

GOING CONCERN

Our financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. We have checked the robustness of our forecasts and even after taking into account any reasonable downsides, it indicates we have sufficient funds to remain operational for at least the next 12 months.

We have a continual process of fundraising for our work by scanning new opportunities which align with our strategy from a wide range of charitable trusts and foundations. We aim to build long-term relationships with our funders, they are familiar with our strategy and understand fully what we are trying to achieve. We are aiming to diversify our income streams and this has supported our ability to be agile and react with impact to the changing political environment and implement. This funding will allow The Food Foundation to build on and develop organisational sustainability and structures.

We have worked with the Rothschild Foundation, Impact on Urban Health and the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation to move from restricted funding to core funding over the next three to four years. This has been split under the Statement of Funds as Unrestricted Core. We have budgeted activities against unrestricted core funds to support organisational objectives and will cover overheads. We expect to draw down on these funds significantly over the next 12 months.

THANK YOU

The Food Foundation would like to gratefully acknowledge the volunteers who have worked with us over the year and have generously donated their time to give us advice or helped us to deliver our projects. We are also very grateful to FieldFisher, Hogan Lovell, Weber Shandwick, University of Oxford, Nielsen and Kantar for their probono services this year.

L J Sandys, Chair of Trustees 6 February 2024

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Annual Report 2023

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees of Food Foundation

OPINION

We have audited the financial statements of Food Foundation (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 August 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows, and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO GOING CONCERN

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31 August 2023, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

OTHER INFORMATION

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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Annual Report 2023

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF FOOD FOUNDATION

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustees’ report; or

• the charity has not kept adequate and proper accounting records; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

AUDITOR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below:

We gained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the Charity and the sector in which it operates and considered the risk of the Charity not complying with the relevant laws and regulations including fraud in particular those that could have a material impact on the financial statements. This included those regulations directly related to the financial statements, including financial reporting, and tax legislation. In relation to the operations of the Charity this included compliance with the Charities Act 2011.

The risks were discussed with the audit team and we remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit. We carried out specific procedures to address the risks identified.

These included the following:

• Review of legal fees incurred;

• Reviewing minutes of Trustee Board meetings;

• Agreeing the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;

• Enquiring of management, including those charged with governance;

• Reviewing key accounting policies and estimates

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Annual Report 2023

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF FOOD FOUNDATION

To address the risk of management override of controls, we reviewed systems and procedures to identify potential areas of management override risk. In particular, we carried out testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness. We also assessed management bias in relation to the accounting policies adopted and in determining significant accounting estimates.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the FRC’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditors/ audit-assurance/auditor-s-responsibilities-for-the-auditof-the-fi/description-of-the-auditor%E2%80%99sresponsibilities-for . This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

USE OF OUR REPORT

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Price Bailey LLP Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditors 24 Old Bond Street London W1S 4AP

Date 7 February 2024

Price Bailey LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

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Annual Report 2023

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

Note Income: Donations and legacies 4 Charitable activities 5 Other income 6 Total income Expenditure: Charitable activities 7 Total expenditure Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 277,428 294,414 3,610 575,452 364,917 364,917 210,535 321,757 532,292	Restricted funds 2023 £ 1,268,824 - - 1,268,824 1,344,741 1,344,741 (75,917) 360,453 284,536	Total funds 2023 £ 1,546,252 294,414 3,610 1,844,276 1,709,658 1,709,658 134,618 682,210 816,828	Total funds 2022 £ 1,523,858 251,526 1,049
				1,776,433
				1,666,121
				1,666,121
				110,312
				571,898
				682,210

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure has arisen from continuing activities. The notes on pages 27 to 41 form part of these financial statements.

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Annual Report 2023

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 AUGUST 2023

Note Current assets Debtors 11 Cash at bank and in hand 17 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 12 Net current assets Total net assets Charity funds Restricted funds 13 Unrestricted funds 13 Total funds	106,507 835,464 941,971 (125,143)	2023 £ 816,828 816,828 284,536 532,292 816,828	338,282 459,603 797,885 (115,675)	2022 £ 682,210
				682,210
				360,453 321,757
				682,210

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees on 6 February 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

L J Sandys, Chair of Trustees

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

Note Cash flows from operating activities Net cash used in operating activities 16 Cash flows from investing activities Net cash provided by investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	2023 £ 375,861 - 375,861 459,603 835,464	2022 £ 66,434
		-
		66,434 393,169
		459,603

The notes on pages 27 to 41 form part of these financial statements.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

GENERAL INFORMATION

Food Foundation registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 28 January 2020 in England and Wales, within the United Kingdom. In the event of the Charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the Charity. The registered number is 1187611 and the registered office is 7th Floor, International House, 6 Canterbury Crescent, Brixton, London, SW9 7QD.

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

2.1 Basis of preparation of financial statements

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Food Foundation meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the Charity and rounded to the nearest £1.

The financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair view’ and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’. This departure has involved following Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 14 July 2014 rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has since been withdrawn.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023 2 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

2.2 Going concern

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which forecasts that the charity will have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for a period of at least 12 months from the date of this financial report. A forecast has been prepared for a period of more than 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements. The forecasts indicates that, whilst taking into account reasonable downsides, sufficient funds are expected to be generated within the charity so as to meet liabilities as they fall due.

of entitlement of receipt, its recognition is deferred and included in creditors as deferred income. Where entitlement occurs before income is received, the income is accrued.

Income from the supply of services is recognised with the delivery of the contracted service provided that: the stage of the completion, the costs incurred in delivering the service and the costs to complete the requirements of the contract can all be measured reliably.

2.4 Expenditure

2.3 Income

All income is recognised once the Charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

The recognition of income from donations and legacies is dependent on establishing entitlement, the probability of receipt and the ability to estimate with sufficient accuracy the amount receivable.

Evidence of entitlement to a legacy exists when the Charity has sufficient evidence that a gift has been left to them (through knowledge of the existence of a valid will and the death of the benefactor) and the executor is satisfied that the property in question will not be required to satisfy claims in the estate. Receipt of a legacy must be recognised when it is probable that it will be received and the fair value of the amount receivable, which will generally be the expected cash amount to be distributed to the Charity, can be reliably measured.

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Expenditure on charitable activities is incurred on directly undertaking the activities which further the Charity’s objectives, as well as any associated support costs.

All expenditure is inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

2.5 Debtors

Grants (including government grants) are included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance related conditions attached to the grant have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

2.6 Cash at bank and in hand

The balance of income received for specific purposes but not expended during the period is shown in the relevant funds on the Balance Sheet. Where income is received in advance

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

2 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

2.7 Liabilities and provisions

Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance Sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.

3. Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the Charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide.

No significant judgements, accounting policies or assumptions have been made by management in applying the charity’s accounting policies.

2.8 Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date. All financial instruments are measured at cost, which is their fair value. Financial assets include the bank balances, trade debtors and accrued income, but excludes prepayments. Financial liabilities include trade creditors, other creditors and accruals but excludes deferred income, social security and other taxes due.

2.9 Pensions

The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme and the pension charge represents the amounts payable by the Charity to the fund in respect of the year.

2.10 Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

4. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Donations Grants	Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 17,782 259,646 277,428	Restricted funds 2023 £ - 1,268,824 1,268,824	Total funds 2023 £ 17,782 1,528,470 1,546,252	Total funds 2022 £ 3,201 1,520,657
				1,523,858

In 2023, amounts receivable from government grants amounted to £195,368 (2022: £388,791) with no unfulfilled conditions (2022: none). In 2022, total income from grants was £1,520,657, all of which was restricted.

In 2022, £3,201 of donations income was unrestricted, no 2022 donations were restricted.

5. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

	Unrestricted	Total	Total
	funds	funds	funds
	2023	2023	2022
	£	£	£
Service income	294,414	294,414	251,526

In 2022, service income of £251,526 was unrestricted and there was £1,049 other income.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

6. OTHER INCOMING RESOURCES

	Unrestricted	Total	Total
	funds	funds	funds
	2023	2023	2022
	£	£	£
Other income	3,610	3,610	1,049

7. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES Summary by fund type

Direct costs Support costs	Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 227,928 136,989 364,917	Restricted funds 2023 £ 1,342,977 1,764 1,344,741	Total 2023 £ 1,570,905 138,753 1,709,658	Total 2022 £ 1,500,861 165,260
				1,666,121

In 2022, direct costs were £1,500,861, of which £1,432,608 was restricted and £68,253 was unrestricted. In 2022, support costs were £165,260, of which £153,258 was unrestricted and £12,002 was restricted.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

7. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES (CONTINUED) Summary by expenditure type

Direct costs Support costs Total 2023	Staff costs 2023 £ 804,776 - 804,776	Other costs 2023 Total costs 2023 £ £ 766,129 1,570,905 138,753 138,753 904,882 1,709,658	Other costs 2023 Total costs 2023 £ £ 766,129 1,570,905 138,753 138,753 904,882 1,709,658
			1,709,658

In 2022, direct costs were £1,500,861 of which £679,676 related to staff costs and £821,185 related to other costs. In 2022, support costs were £165,260 of which £5,865 related to depreciation and £159,395 related to other costs.

Analysis of support costs

Technology costs Depreciation Premises costs Other costs Governance costs	2023 £ 11,207 - 28,440 85,306 13,800 138,753	2022 £ 12,517 5,865 30,323 105,005 11,550
		165,260

Charity governance costs relate to audit and accountancy fees in both 2023 and 2022 financial periods.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

8. AUDITORS' REMUNERATION

9. STAFF COSTS Fees payable to the Charity's auditor for the audit of the Charity's annual accounts Fees payable to the Charity's auditor in respect of: All non-audit services not included above Wages and salaries Social security costs Pensions costs	2023 £ 12,000 1,800 2023 £ 704,037 76,470 24,269 804,776	2022 £ 8,475 1,150
		2022 £ 592,403 65,518 21,755
		679,676

The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the Charity to the fund and amounted to £24,269 (2022 - £21,755). Contributions totalling £Nil (2022 - £Nil) were payable to the fund at the balance sheet date, and are included in other creditors in note 12 to the accounts.

The average number of persons employed by the Charity during the year was as follows:

	2023	2022
	No.	No.
Employees	19	17

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

9. STAFF COSTS (CONTINUED)

The number of employees whose employee benefits (including employer NI however excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was:

		2023	2022
		No.	No.
In the band £60,001	- £70,000	2	-
In the band £80,001	- £90,000	1	2

The key management personnel comprise the Trustees and the Executive Management Team and a total of 15 persons (2022: 14). Total benefits (including employer pension contributions and employer national insurance contributions) received by key management personnel in the year amounted to £249,873 (2022 - £184,268)

10. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES

During the year, no Trustees received any remuneration or other benefits (2022 - £NIL).

During the year ended 31 August 2023, no Trustee expenses have been incurred (2022 - £NIL).

11. DEBTORS

Due within one year Trade debtors Prepayments and accrued income	2023 £ 49,971 56,536 106,507	2022 £ 208,562 129,720
		338,282

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

12. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Trade creditors Other taxation and social security Other creditors Accruals and deferred income Resources deferred as at 1 September 2022 Resources deferred during the year Amounts released from previous periods	2023 £ 38,419 104 5,267 81,353 125,143 2023 £ 42,168 55,966 (42,168) 55,966	2022 £ 19,761 13,777 2,225 79,912
		115,675
		2022 £ - 42,168 -
		42,168

At the date of the balance sheet, £55,966 of deferred income was recognised by the Charity (2022 £42,168). Deferred income received in the year relates to service income received in advance of entitlement.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

13. STATEMENT OF FUNDS

Statement of funds - current year

Unrestricted funds Unrestricted General Unrestricted Core Restricted funds AIM Foundation Beaverbrooke Foundation Climate Works Healthy Food Healthy People Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Foriegn Commonwealth and Development Office Fusion21 Foundation Guys & St Thomas' Charity Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation National Lottery Community Fund Nuffield Foundation Rank Foundation Sustain: The Alliance for Better Food & Farming The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Tudor Trust Trust for London Wellcome Trust/The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Total of funds Foundation Healthy Food, Healthy Planet Impact on Urban Health Foreign	Balance at 1 September 2022 £ 321,757 - 321,757 25,000 - - 1,751 26,907 24,854 173,595 43,737 - - - 37,183 4,084 23,342 - - 360,453 682,210	Income £ 332,119 243,333 575,452 - 17,500 39,281 - 195,368 15,000 170,166 - 407,118 206,574 28,147 49,300 41,125 - 44,000 55,245 1,268,824 1,844,276	Expenditure £ (193,443) (171,474) (364,917) (3,180) - (39,281) (1,751) (222,275) (39,854) (206,980) (43,737) (338,657) (206,574) (19,477) (67,531) (32,857) (23,342) (44,000) (55,245) (1,344,741) (1,709,658)	Balance at 31 August 2023 £ 460,433 71,859
				532,292
				21,820 17,500 - - - - 136,781 - 68,461 - 8,670 18,952 12,352 - - -
				284,536
				816,828

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

13. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED) Statement of funds - prior year

Unrestricted funds Unrestricted General Restricted funds AIM Foundation Charity Works KickStart Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Foriegn Commonwealth and Development Office Fusion21 Foundation GAIN Guys & St Thomas' Charity Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation National Lottery Community Fund Stichting World Benchmarking Alliance Nuffield Foundation Sustain: The Alliance for Better Food & Farming The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Tudor Trust Trust for London Wellcome Trust/The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine University of Kent Total of funds	Balance at 1 September 2021 £ 287,492 - - 15,296 77,123 10,000 - 33,110 28,449 14,676 52,335 - - 28,650 24,311 - 456 - 284,406 571,898	Income £ 255,776 25,000 2,302 3,929 388,791 25,000 790 211,054 100,000 394,073 - 127,675 70,300 17,500 40,000 40,000 74,055 188 1,520,657 1,776,433	Expenditure £ (221,511) - (2,302) (17,474) (439,007) (10,146) (790) (70,569) (84,712) (408,749) (52,335) (127,675) (33,117) (42,066) (40,969) (40,000) (74,511) (188) (1,444,610) (1,666,121)	Balance at 31 August 2022 £ 321,757
				25,000 - 1,751 26,907 24,854 - 173,595 43,737 - - - 37,183 4,084 23,342 - - -
				360,453
				682,210

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

14. FUNDS HELD ARE AS FOLLOWS:

• The AIM Foundation: Funds held to contribute towards the Children’s Right2Food project.

• Beaverbrook Foundation: Funds held to contribute to organisation sustainability efforts in diversifying funding based on our fundraising strategy.

• Core funding: Grants by Rothschild Foundation, Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation and Impact on Urban Health: Funds held to contribute towards organisational core activities for organisational development and sustainability.

• National Lottery Community Fund: Funds held to contribute to the Peas Please project, which is a trail-blazing initiative focused specifically on veg, Peas Please brings together farmers, retailers, restaurant chains, caterers, processors and government departments with a common goal of making it easier for everyone to eat more veg.

Nuffield Foundation: Using quantitative and qualitative evidence to re-shape the public narrative on dietary inequality, particularly relating to children, to catalyse purposeful action from policy makers and business. Funds held to contribute towards the Dietary Inequality project.

• Esmee Fairbairn Foundation: Funds held to contribute towards core salary and project costs for work to improve diets in the UK. Restricted funds held specifically for the National Food Strategy project.

• Rank Foundation: Funds held to contribute to a Time to Shine leader, fixed term employment over the 12-month period, to improve our charity’s capacity to deliver services in the longer term.

• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Major transformations in the global food system are required in order to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition. Funds held are contributing to the Global Food System project.

• Fusion Foundation: Funds held to contribute towards the Dietary Inequality project funding the food insecurity surveys and the affordability work for Broken Plate

• Impact on Urban Health: Funds held to contribute towards The Children’s Right2Food Campaign which is a nationwide initiative to ensure every child in the UK can access and afford good food, and was shaped by the findings of the Children’s Future Food Inquiry. Funds also held to contribute leveraging investor support for healthier food and business policy.

• Healthy Food Healthy Planet: Funds held to contribute to an Investor Summit in support of our Investor Coalition work engaging investors with food policy and the transition towards more healthy and sustainable food systems.

• Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation: Funds held to contribute towards the Children’s Right2Food Campaign.

Sustain: Funds delivery of the ‘Fiscal Measures’ project, which is a joint project with the Obesity Health Alliance and Sustain to build the evidence base on and advocate for fiscal measures relating to food.

• The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust: Funds held to contribute towards the Plating Up Progress project.

• The Tudor Trust: Funds held to contribute towards the Children’s Right2Food project.

Trust For London: Funds held to contribute towards the Children’s Right2Food project.

Wellcome Trust / The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine: Funds held to support The Food Foundation as it works with eight partner organisations (including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UCL, City University and SOAS) on Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems, (SHEFS), a Wellcome Trust-funded research project. These funds were also held to contribute towards the National Food Strategy.

Unrestricted Core: This includes funds from the Rothschild Foundation and the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation. The funds are unrestricted and held to contribute to organisational development and sustainability. They are separated on the Statement of funds for better monitoring and reporting to funders.

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

15. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

Analysis of net assets between funds - prior year Current assets Creditors due within one year Total Current assets Creditors due within one year Total	Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 532,292 - 532,292 Unrestricted funds 2022 £ 321,757 - 321,757	Restricted funds 2023 £ 409,679 (125,143) 284,536 Restricted funds 2022 £ 476,128 (115,675) 360,453	Total funds 2023 £ 941,971 (125,143) 816,828 Total funds 2022 £ 797,885 (115,675) 682,210

Analysis of net assets between funds - prior year

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

16. RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Net income for the year (as per Statement of Financial Activities) Adjustments for: Depreciation charges Decrease/(Increase) in debtors Increase/(Decrease) in creditors Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities	2023 £ 134,618 - 231,775 9,468 375,861	2022 £ 110,312 5,865 (39,028) (10,715) 66,434

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TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Annual Report 2023

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

17. ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

18. ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT Cash in hand At 1 September 2022 £ Cash at bank and in hand 459,603	2023 £ 835,464 Cash flows £ 375,861	2022 £ 459,603
		At 31 August 2023 £ 835,464

19. PENSION COMMITMENTS

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Pension costs for the period have been charged at £24,269 (2022: £21,755). At the period end, £3,042 was owed to the scheme (2022: £2,225).

20. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

One of our trustees, R Boycott also acts as a director of Veg Power CIC. Veg Power CIC received communications consultancy services from the charity totalling £3,936 during the year (2022: £8,936). No balances were outstanding as at 31 August 2023 (2022: £nil).

One of our trustees, D Edwards, also acts as a trustee of Sustain: The Alliance for Better Food & Farming. Sustain: The Alliance for Better Food & Farming distributed grants to the charity totalling £49,300 for the period (2022: £70,300). No balances were receivable as at 31 August 2023 (2022: £nil).

One of our key management personnel has a close family member who acts as a director for the University of Kent. The University of Kent received services from the charity totalling £22,074 during the year (2022: £nil). There is a balance outstanding as at 31 August 2023 of £12,982 (2022: £nil). These transactions were undertaken on an arms’ length basis.

There were no further related party transactions to disclose (2022: none).

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