PACT FOOD BANK
CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION REG NO: 1193002
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] December 2024
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2 - 4 Trustee’s Report
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5 Annual Accounts
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6 Notes to the Accounts
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7 Independent Examiner’s Report
PACT FOOD BANK, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] December 2024
LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
CHARITY NUMBER 1193002 START OF FINANCIAL YEAR 1st January 2024 END OF FINANCIAL YEAR 31[st] December 2024
TRUSTEES AT 31[ST] DECEMBER 2024 Elaine Knox Chair Susan Jupp Secretary Richard Hollingbery Treasurer Danielle Balmforth Simon Mason David Barton
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (Trustees plus) Heather Nichols
The existing trustees appoint any new trustees following the provisions laid out in the organisation’s governing instrument.
LEGAL STATUS Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) 1193002
GOVERNING INSTRUMENT Constitution dated 6 January 2021
OBJECTS
The relief of financial hardship amongst people in Petersfield, Hampshire and the surrounding area in such ways as the trustees from time-to-time think fit, in particular, but not exclusively by providing emergency food, essential toiletries & household items to individual & families in need &/or for distribution by charities or other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty.
CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS
Petersfield Methodist Church Station Road PETERSFIELD GU32 3EB
BANKERS Charities Aid Foundation Bank National Westminster Bank 25 Kings Hill 250 Bishopsgate West Malling London ME19 4JQ EC2M 4AA
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PACT FOOD BANK Annual report and acocunts 2024 inc Examiners Report.docx
PACT FOOD BANK, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] December 2024
TRUSTEES’ REPORT
Introduction & Overview
The charity operates to assist people at a time of crisis and provides a safety net until their personal circumstances improve. PACT Food Bank provides free packs of dry food, essential toiletries and household items. Cash vouchers are also given for people to spend on Petersfield market for fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, eggs and bread.
Requests for help are made by referrals from approved partners, e.g. Citizens’ Advice, local housing groups, social workers, health care providers, HomeStart Butser and local schools and churches. When needed people are signposted to other agencies.
The organisation started in 2016 when Petersfield Area Churches Together (PACT) took over the running of the Salvation Army Food Bank. PACT Food Bank became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation at the beginning of 2021. This is our fourth year of operation as a registered charity.
Activities during the year
Usage of the food bank continues to remain high. The leap in the use of our service came during Covid in 2020 and has not abated.
The table below shows the number of food packs given and the number of adults and children helped.
| Year | Number of packs issued |
Number ofpeople helped | Number ofpeople helped | Number ofpeople helped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults | Children | Total | ||
| 2019 | 319 | 497 | 210 | 707 |
| 2020 | 1073 | 1692 | 959 | 2651 |
| 2021 | 848 | 1340 | 750 | 2090 |
| 2022 | 1277 | 1939 | 1016 | 2955 |
| 2023 | 1517 | 2336 | 1416 | 3752 |
| 2024 | 1513 | 2323 | 1442 | 3765 |
It is interesting to compare this with 2015 when we issued 129 packs in all. At Christmas 2024 we worked in collaboration with the Salvation Army, providing 142 Christmas food hampers to households in and around Petersfield who had been referred as being in need by local agencies.
Organisation
Trustees
We have had a stable group of Trustees during the year. We are aware that ideally we need to have succession planning, but as with many charities we are finding it difficult to attract
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PACT FOOD BANK, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] December 2024
new trustees due to the perception of duties and onerous legal responsibilities. This is something that we will need to overcome moving forwards.
Management and membership
The legal and formal responsibility for PACT Food Bank falls to the management committee which consists of the trustees and additional members. This year we have had additional support from Elaine Hobson and Nicola Deakin, both volunteers whose input has been most helpful. They are intending to formally join the committee as members (not trustees) in 2025. The appointment of our Manager in 2023 has worked out brilliantly and has enabled us to meet quarterly, rather than every 8 weeks.
Volunteers
We continue to have the support of about 50 volunteers who collect food donations, receive, sort and make up packs of food for distribution. Volunteers receive training and generally work once a month, though several key volunteers give many hours of dedicated work each week. Four new volunteers were trained during 2024. Our continued thanks to our loyal volunteers.
Donations
Food donations are generously given from members of the public through local supermarkets and churches. Overall, physical donations have again been considerably lower this year. Consequently, it was necessary to purchase food stock using the financial donations received. We are very grateful to all the businesses who display our shortages lists, including the PACT churches and offices. Special thanks to Shine Radio for broadcasting them weekly.
We are very grateful to individuals, local businesses, schools, and organisations who have been so generous with their time and money. Financial donations also fund the cost of vouchers for market produce, and have also covered the cost of employing the Manager. Unfortunately, we have experienced a decrease in financial donations, which has led to a small deficit during the year, but thankfully this is covered by the funds built up over the years.
Premises
The charity operates from the Petersfield Methodist Church and is open two days a week for people to collect packs of food. Continued grateful thanks to the Methodist Church for use of their premises, free of charge.
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PACT FOOD BANK, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] December 2024
| Charity Name | Charity Name | No | No | CC16a | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PACT Food Bank | 1193002 | ||||||
| Receipts and payments accounts | |||||||
| For the period from 1 January 2024 |
Period end date | ||||||
| 31 December 2024 | |||||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||
| Unrestricted funds | Total funds | Last year (2023) | |||||
| to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | |||||
| A1 Receipts | |||||||
| Online Donations | 31,918 | 31,918 | 47,306 | ||||
| Cheque Donations | 3,735 | 3,735 | 4,654 | ||||
| Cash Donations | 883 | 883 | 2,189 | ||||
| Orgnisation Donations | 7,282 | 7,282 | 10,836 | ||||
| Gift Aid (First claim 4 years) | 7,117 | 7,117 | |||||
| Bank Interest | 2,174 | 2,174 | 1,489 | ||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 53,109 |
53,109 | 66,474 | ||||
| Total receipts | 53,109 | 53,109 | 66,474 | ||||
| A3 Payments | |||||||
| Administration | 626 | 626 | 426 | ||||
| Insurance | 477 | 477 | 262 | ||||
| Equipment (racking, screens) | 0 | 0 | 6,354 | ||||
| Market vouchers, vegetables eggs, cheese | 31,735 | 31,735 | 29,517 | ||||
| Food supplies | 7,045 | 7,045 | 7,710 | ||||
| Manager salary, pension and expenses | 11,356 | 11,356 | 7,306 | ||||
| Heating contribution to Methodist Church | 3,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 | ||||
| Heating grant to Citizens' Advice | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | ||||
| Sub total | 54,239 | 54,239 | 57,575 | ||||
| Total payments | 54,239 | 54,239 | 57,575 | ||||
| Net of receipts/(payments) | -1,130 | -1,130 | 8,899 | ||||
| A5 Transfers between funds | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| A6 Cash funds last year end | 106,274 | 106,274 | 97,375 | ||||
| Cash funds this year end | 105,144 | 105,144 | 106,274 | ||||
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories | Details | Details | Unrestricted funds | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| to nearest £ | ||||||
| B1 Cash funds | Nat west bank a/c --240 | 10,081 | 6,989 | |||
| Nat west bank a/c --833 | 209 | 206 | ||||
| Nat west bank a/c --825 | 1,445 | 3,574 | ||||
| Charities Aid Foundation Current a/c |
3,162 | 3,741 | ||||
| Charities Aid Foundation Gold a/c |
90,197 | 91,103 | ||||
| Cash | 50 | 661 | ||||
| 0 | ||||||
| Total cash funds | 105,144 | 106,274 | ||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments |
0 | |||||
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signature |
Print Name | Date of approval | |||
| RJHollingbery | Richard Hollingbery | 19 February 2025 | ||||
| Notes: | ||||||
| PACT Food Bank was formed in 2016, and registered as a charity in 2021. This is the third year accounts as a charity |
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PACT FOOD BANK, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] December 2024
Notes to the Accounts
The Accounts are prepared on an Income and Expenditure basis.
Bank accounts are held at the Charities Aid Foundation Bank and the National Westminster Bank. Bank statements have been reconciled in independent records. No financial value has been placed on the value of donated food and services. No rent is paid for the use of premises, though a contribution is made towards heating costs.
Volunteers give their time at no cost to the organisation.
Gift Aid has been claimed for the past four years.
Reserves Policy
The charity only has short-term liabilities. There are no property expenses, and one member of part time staff started employment during 2023, and continues in employment.
Initial enquiries have indicated that the cost of alternate premises (should they be required) is likely to be in the region of £23,000 per year.
Through the generosity of financial donors, sufficient reserves have been built up over the years to enable the food bank to rent premises (for a couple of years) should the Methodist Church premises no longer be suitable, thus safeguarding the future of the organisation.
There is also sufficient to cover running costs for a year and to cover the cost of employment of a manager for two years.
| Reserves. Bank Balances | |
|---|---|
| Approx twoyearspremises costs | £40,000 |
| Oneyear runningcosts | £40,000 |
| Twoyear employment of manager | £25,000 |
| £105,000 |
Approval
Approved & signed on behalf of the trustees by: Name: Richard Hollingbery Position held: Treasurer Date: 19 May 2025
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PACT FOOD BANK, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] December 2024
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of PACT Food Bank
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the PACT Food Bank for the year ended 31 December 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under s. 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under s. 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act
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the accounts do not accord with those records
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the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Name: Murray Whewell BSc MSc MA
Address: 19 Barnfield Road, Petersfield, Hampshire GU31 4DQ
Date: 13 May 2025
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