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2022-12-31-accounts

Annual Report of the Trustees of Baby Box Isle of Wight

1[st] January 2022 to 31[st] December 2022

The Trustees present their 2022 Annual Report and independently reviewed accounts for the year ending 31[st] December 2022 and confirm they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. Baby Box Isle of Wight registered formally as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (registration number 1193830) on 16[th] March 2021. This report covers the work of the Charity for the period 1[st] January 2022 to 31[st] December 2022.

OUR AIMS:

The Objects of the Charity are

The Constitution of Baby Box Isle of Wight gives Trustees the power to make decisions on behalf of the Charity and to determine the ethos, strategy and policies for achieving the objectives set. Baby Box Isle of Wight is managed by the Trustees who meet four times per year. Between Trustee meetings, a joint steering committee meets regularly with the voluntary coordinators of Baby Box and Ventnor Community Foodbank. Trustees can, and do, attend steering committee meetings to keep up to date with frontline issues.

OUR ETHOS

Baby Box Isle of Wight is committed to working with everyone with dignity and respect. All three projects share the same charitable objectives and each project shares the same ethos of ‘Cascading Kindness’.

Baby Box Isle of Wight takes inclusion seriously and strives to assist the Isle of Wight community in a way that both recognises and works to remove barriers that may, albeit unintentionally, lead to sections of the community being unaware or less aware of the support we offer because they might be considered ‘easily overlooked’.

Baby Box Isle of Wight takes a positive approach to environmental concerns and works with other organisations such as Fareshare, the Salvation Army and the Real Junk Food Project to reduce food insecurity by avoiding food waste and to help avoid landfill of waste materials such as clothing. We are always interested in, and open to ways of improving our working practices that are environmentally friendly and sustainable and are grateful to Community Action for their support and guidance.

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ACTIVITY DURING 2022

Baby Box Isle of Wight Trustees are pleased to report the following activities have been undertaken for the public benefit. Support is available to them wherever they live on the Isle of Wight. Trustees are proud of the good reputation built up since Baby Box Isle of Wight opened at the end of 2018 and is mindful of the trust built up over the years. Our goal is to guard our good reputation by always respecting the dignity and confidentiality of our customers.

Opening Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box

The biggest change in 2022 is that we opened a community pantry and employed a part time coordinator.

Having listened to our coordinators and volunteers who worked hard throughout the pandemic lockdowns and beyond to help support local households Trustees were very aware that the challenge of meeting increasing costs in terms of food, utilities and housing was harder and at times close to impossible, even for many local people lucky enough to still be in full time paid work.

Our perception is that many more local people are edging closer to the point of no longer being able to ‘just about get through’. The winter of 2022 has been so hard for so many people and the future looks equally difficult. On balance, Trustees felt compelled to do what we could to offer support, so we worked with the Connect4Communities team at the Isle of Wight Council, local businesses, faith groups and our volunteers and opened Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box.

The new Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box is a membership scheme whereby members pay £5 per week and can select for themselves good quality food and household products potentially worth three or four times that value. Baby Box supplies essentials like clothing, pre-loved equipment, nappies and baby food to families in need, and Ventnor Community Foodbank continues to help families and individuals from across the Isle of Wight in crisis. We are proud that there is no voucher or referral system needed to access either Baby Box of Ventnor Community Foodbank.

Figures for Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box contained in this report are from when the date the pantry opened to the public on the 31[st of] May 2022 within our Baby Box premises. Between the end of May to the end of December 2022, our community pantry supported 2549 adults and 3465 children. During that time, Trustees, paid staff and volunteers alike have all learned a great deal more about food insecurity amongst the wider population who remain in work during 2022. We have met, and supported, local people from our Isle of Wight community who believed that they would never have needed support and certainly would not have considered approaching Baby Box or Ventnor Community Foodbank. Community pantries provide a ‘middle way’ and are an exciting opportunity to help working households, pensioners, care leavers and others stretch their food budgets in a positive and sociable setting where those attending make time to help others.

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Trustees and Coordinators attended the Food Insecurity Conference held on the Island in November 2022, organised by the Isle of Wight Food Network and addressed by national speakers. There we learned that it is likely that our community pantry, and other community pantries will be needed for quite some time to come.

Allies who helped open Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box

The Mayor, other Ventnor Town Councillors, the Town Clerk and the whole team at Ventnor Town Council helped get the community pantry up and running. With their support and the support of key Isle of Wight Councillors we worked well with the Connect4Communities team to establish one of the first community pantries here on the Isle of Wight and thanks to the government funding we were able to launch the community pantry on 31st May 2022.

The two local Morrisson stores’ Community Champions brought their energy, commitment and enthusiasm to the task of planning and opening Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box. They taught us a lot about retail and responding to requests from shoppers whilst always keeping an eye out for value for money items.

Southern Housing Group worked with Red Funnel ferries to arrange transportation across the Solent to ensure access to Fareshare supplies is an option to all community pantries. The Fareshare weekly delivery of a plentiful supply (depending upon what they have received as donations) of fresh fruit and vegetables, freezer food and short date non-perishable items helped provide variety to what might otherwise have been a choice of basic essentials. The Fareshare team are a pleasure to work with and we are grateful to them for all they do. Thanks are also due to a local building company, Shanklin Builders, who collected our weekly delivery from East Cowes and delivered to Ventnor every week until Fareshare were able to deliver to us directly.

Once demand was clearly going to exceed available resources, an Isle of Wight religious group (who prefer to remain anonymous) shared a legacy from one of their congregation between all the recently opened pantries.

Who helps run Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box?

The community does. We are proud that many of our volunteers have, or learned long ago, the skills needed to become ‘experts by experience’ in making a little money stretch a very long way.

Who are the members of Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box?

Many of our community pantry members are working people who appreciate access to a regular means to make their food budget stretch just that bit further. They are also pensioners, single person households and families. The community pantry is the perfect opportunity to do just that in a setting similar to a small store. They are local people who in the past often donated to Baby Box and the local Foodbank.

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They do not like to take without doing something in return so they do what they can to help each other by swapping money saving tips and recipes. It can be a noisy environment as members chat to each other about menu options and, over time, form friendships.

Baby Box Isle of Wight and Ventnor Community Foodbank

From 1[st] January 2022 to 31[s ] December 2022 Baby Box Isle of Wight provided help and support to households across the Isle of Wight and our data shows the number of adults (1419) and children (1785) who were fed or provided with other essential items such as nappies and baby food totals 3204. During the same period Ventnor Community Foodbank supported 653 adults and 339 children. Coordinators from both organisations collaborated to ensure that supplies continued to flow from donors to households in need.

Baby Box Isle of Wight ‘cascades kindness’ by acting as a conduit whereby items no longer needed by people can be donated, sorted and then shared sustainably free of charge to people they’ll likely never meet but who can make good use of those items.

During 2022 Baby Box worked closely with the Morrison’s Community Champions from Newport and Lake Morrison’s stores. They collected donations shared among many organisations including Baby Box. In addition, they also provided the means to provide additional supplies during half terms and holidays to help feed children during school holidays. They also provided small item children’s essentials such as underwear or toiletries in bags that their customers could pick up and pay for at the till. To round the year off, Lake Morrison’s customers also donated to the Christmas Tree appeal to help our organisation. Christmas 2022 was a positive experience at Baby Box, Ventnor Community Foodbank and Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box. Between all three organisations we distributed a wide range of seasonal treats including Christmas hampers from Aspire, Ryde, as well as toys from the IW Toy Appeal. We used donations to purchase warm clothing, such as dressing gowns, slippers etc as gifts to be shared by parents with their children.

Ventnor Community Foodbank steadfastly continues to operate from a separate, closely located, church venue near the town centre. Thanks are due to the Baptist Church in Pier Street for use of their premises. At the close of 2022, fortunately for the local community, the Ventnor Community Fund organised by Ventnor Town Council brought together much needed support to sustain our three projects. The Trustees extend their gratitude to everyone who supports our charity whether their contribution is in time, money or donations of much needed essential items.

Access to the services continued to be maintained through collaborative working with Ventnor Town Council, Health Visitors, Children’s Services, Adult Services and others with direct contact being maintained with those in need of support as well as arrangements for collection from the venues by arrangements made by phone, email or social media.

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Who was helped?

In 2022, the range of households we supported continued to expand. In addition to households with a precarious income we met many more households to facing a newfound level of financial insecurity once their usual ‘buffer of savings, overdraft or turning for help to family members’ could no longer help. These ‘newly poor’ households found it hard to meet pre-existing financial obligations during the pandemic, and they continued to struggle to meet these costs throughout 2022. It was important that they got skilled money advice from experts quickly.

For many of those collecting food and other items from our premises, it seemed to be a relief to find out they were not alone, and to be able to talk about their financial concerns and then to be signposted by our volunteers to other local agencies who could offer expert advice and support. On top of financial insecurity, food insecurity proved to be a regular experience for many working families new to the experience of being unable to make ends meet.

Dignity matters to everyone us and as we listened it became clear that is hard to personally acknowledge the time has come to make contact. Hesitation can be due to emotional barriers including self-esteem particularly for those accustomed to selfreliance are not easily overcome. Pride and the need to ‘give something in return’ is important and led to an influx of donations of preloved clothing and other items for Baby Box as and when people were in a position to donate. We continue to sort and share free of charge donations of preloved seasonal items such as winter coats and bedding. We have expanded the age range that we support by providing pre-loved school uniforms, clothing and bedding for teenagers approaching young adulthood.

With the help of Connect4Communities access to government grants we were able to provide essentials that were low cost, yet practical in terms of keeping all members of each household warm by providing items such as safety gates (to keep little ones in the one room that families tried to keep heated), electric blankets, and kitchen smaller electrical items for the kitchen such as air fryers and toasters that kept food preparation costs low.

Baby Box Isle of Wight operates upon the basis of ‘what we have, we share’ and we are helped to do this by many warm-hearted local businesses. Community Champions of bigger stores like Morrisons, and ASDA Community Champion responded warmly to requests for help. Individual managers of local Coop supermarkets from across the Isle of Wight stepped up to help too. Ventnor’s local health food store continued to act as a donation point and played a big part in signposting those in need to the Foodbank and to Baby Box.

As well as signposting people to formal agencies such as the Footprint Trust and Citizens Advice for expert advice, Baby Box maintained contact with Health Visiting teams, and other community organisations like Barnados. We could not have done it without the support of countless small acts of kindness from unknown individuals, or bigger organisations such as Ventnor Town Council, the Isle of Wight Council and so many small businesses that made it clear to us that ‘we only needed to ask’ and they would do what they could to help keep us help others.

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2022 total no. of individuals fed, clothed, supported 2022 total no. of individuals fed, clothed, supported with essentials= 10210
Venue providing
support		 No. of Adults
Supported		 No. of Children
Supported
Baby Box, Victoria
Street, Ventnor		 1419 1785
Ventnor Community
Pantry, Victoria Street,
Ventnor (6 months only
as 31/5/22)		 2549 3465
Ventnor Community
Foodbank, Pier Street,
Ventnor		 653 339
Total individuals helped 4621 5589

The Trustees goal is to encourage closer working between the two buildings and to train new and current volunteers to be able to work at both venues, This will help to maintain the service delivery levels. We support our volunteers by insisting upon a ‘Family First’ time management approach with no pressure being put upon volunteers unable to commit to a specific shift because they are needed by people they support. The Trustees are grateful for the support and work undertaken by coordinators and volunteers.

RISK MANAGEMENT:

The Trustees recognise that systems can only provide reasonable but not absolute assurance that major risks have been adequately managed and are responsible for overseeing risks faced by the organisation. Internal financial controls are in place. Financial commitments are closely monitored and opportunities for further grants are actively explored to meet future needs. We take seriously the Risk Management process and Trustees are satisfied major risks have been identified and adequately mitigated. Detailed consideration is carried out in consultation with key postholders, and we have a Safeguarding lead officer who has undertaken detailed risk assessments, produced written policies and delivered training to volunteers carrying out the work of the charity.

FINANCIAL MATTERS

All Trustees give their time freely and no Trustees received remuneration or Trustee expenses were paid during the financial period covered by this Annual Report. The accompanying financial report shows income and expenditure for the year.

Whereas in previous years donations came mostly from private individuals, local organisations and in the case of the foodbank from Ventnor Town Council, during 2022 we benefited from a number of Connect4Communities government grants as set out in the financial report. These grants made us well placed to be able to purchase food and other essential items needed to continue our work to support the local community.

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OTHER RELATIONSHIPS:

Whilst the attached, signed, examined and approved financial accounts lists amounts of cash provided by individuals and organisations, thanks are due to many others who offer wisdom and support:

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FUTURE PLANS

Baby Box Isle of Wight Trustees are committed to continuing the work of the charity and to recruiting new suitably skilled Trustees.

Trustee Recruitment and Training – the Charity requires Trustees with the breadth and depth of experience to carry out its duties effectively and efficiently. When recruiting new Trustees, we consider the important attribute is a passion for the work undertaken by our Charity as well as the business and professional experience to ensure that applicants for Trustees are considered on the basis of the essential skills and experience they offer as well as any skill gaps that may exist in the existing makeup of the board of Trustees. We seek applicants with knowledge and skills drawn from a background in the following fields of expertise: legal, financial and accountancy, social inclusion, business and management experience.

Trustees will work to address the needs of those experiencing food poverty.

Whilst all three organisations support people in need from across the whole of the Isle of Wight, we are based in Ventnor, and it follows that a lot of our work will address those experiencing food poverty in Ventnor and the surrounding areas. Throughout 2022 there has been community pantries opening in other areas across the Isle of Wight and inevitably, these will impact beneficially the communities where they have been established.

Ventnor has been identified in the latest JSNA (published in March 2022) as an area of higher deprivation and of higher food insecurity in both the Central Ventnor and Upper Ventnor areas. Ventnor is also identified as an area where there is an increased risk of higher social isolation. This is a longstanding situation that predates the further difficulties encountered due to the recent pandemic. The Government’s Index of Multiple Deprivation published in 2010 and Local Strategic Output Areas of Central and Upper Ventnor, Central Ventnor is in the 10% most deprived area nationally whilst Upper Ventnor falls in the 20% most deprived area. Later publications of the Government’s index of multiple deprivation (published 2015 and 2019) show that these areas have become more deprived.

Trustees will work through all three of our organisations to continue to interact with our local and wider community and to build positive relationships with individuals, local businesses, faith communities, schools and local support networks.

Ventnor Community Pantry will continue to work with the Isle of Wight Council Care Leavers team to help care leavers thrive. We will link individuals in need of advice and support to Island – wide agencies including Citizen’s Advice, Barnado’s, Veteran’s Outreach, Footprint Trust, etc. For those in need of company, advice and warmth we refer to the Better Days Café, The Well-Being Café, The Play Café and the Our Place monthly sessions which bring together agencies in a warm space providing company, food and advice under the same roof.

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Trustees: Joyce Milford Stephen Milford FCPFA Tony McCarthy Marzena Turner (resigned May 2022)

Ventnor Community Foodbank operating venue address:

Baptist Church, Pier Street, Ventnor PO38 1SX

Baby Box Isle of Wight operating venue address:

Victoria Street, Ventnor PO38 1ET

Ventnor Community Pantry at Baby Box operating venue address:

Victoria Street, Ventnor PO38 1ET

Baby Box Isle of Wight Office address:

Salisbury Gardens, Dudley Road, Ventnor, PO38 1 EJ

Bankers

NatWest Newport Isle of Wight 107 St James Square Newport Isle of Wight PO30 1XH

Independent Examiner

Tracy Ringer BSc (Hons) BA (Hons)

Insurance Brokers:

Norris & Fisher Insurance Brokers Ltd Threefield House Threefield Lane Southampton SO14 3 LP

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Charity Name No (if any) Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period Period start date Period end date To from 01/01/2022 31/12/2022

Section A Receipts and payments

A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest
£
9,431
8,604
21,509
-
-
-
-
-
39,544
-
-
-
39,544
8,746
11,806
7,618
-
-
-
-
-
-
28,170
-
-
-
28,170
11,374
-
21,724
33,098		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
8,500
10,000
49,500
-
-
-
-
-
68,000
-
-
-
68,000
18,287
5,227
34,730
-
-
-
-
-
-
58,244
-
-
-
58,244
9,756
-
17,494
27,250		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £		 Total funds
to the nearest £
17,931
18,604
71,009
-
-
-
-
-
107,544
-
-
-
107,544
27,033
17,033
42,348
-
-
-
-
-
-
86,414
-
-
-
86,414

21,130		 Total funds
to the nearest £
17,931
18,604
71,009
-
-
-
-
-
107,544
-
-
-
107,544
27,033
17,033
42,348
-
-
-
-
-
-
86,414
-
-
-
86,414

21,130		 Last year
to the nearest £
BabyBox 9,431 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 17,931 57,337
Ventnor CommunityFoodbank 8,604 18,604 10,551
Ventnor CommunityPantry 21,509 71,009 -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)		 39,544 107,544 67,888
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- -
-
-		 -
- - -
Sub total - - -
Total receipts
A3 Payments
- 107,544 67,888
BabyBox 8,746 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 27,033 38,140
Ventnor CommunityFoodbank 11,806 17,033 4,239
Ventnor CommunityPantry 7,618 42,348 -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
**Sub total ** 28,170 86,414 42,379
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- -
-
-		 -
- -
**Sub total ** - - -
Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end
- 86,414 42,379
11,374 9,756 -
21,130		 25,509
- - -
-		 - -
21,724 17,494 39,218 -
33,098 27,250 - 60,348 25,509

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

25/10/2023

1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B1 Cash funds		 Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Baby Box
Ventnor Community Foodbank
Ventnor Community Pantry
Details
Details
Details
Signature		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
5,281
7,707
13,926
4,773
13,891
14,770
33,098
27,250
OK
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Print Name
Stephen B Milford		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
Stephen B Milford 20/10/2023

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

25/10/2023

2

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