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2024-03-31-accounts

Trustee Report & Financial Accounts

1st April 2023 - March 31st 2024

Charity Name: Give. Help. Share.

Registered Charity No: 1193872

Charity Address: 35 Links Drive, Elstree, Herts WD6 3PP

Board of Trustees:

Ben Barbanel (Chair) Adam Daniels Simon Harris Sophie Macadar

Management Structure:

  1. Co-Founders

  2. Contract Educators

  3. Volunteers

Constitution

The principal objects of the charity are to relieve financial hardship amongst people (in particular but not exclusively) of vulnerable youth in London, Hertfordshire and the surrounding areas:

Charity Aims

In setting our aims and planning our activities, our Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance. Hence, our three aims are:

All of our charitable activities focus on the wellbeing of disadvantaged children and families. These activities provide recipient children and families with access to free, healthy food parcels and essential nutrition knowledge that is not typically taught in school or at home. We understand that food is 'fuel for learning': we aim for our beneficiary children (ages 9-11) to attend school well-nourished through receiving healthy foods and to make independent, healthier food choices.

Governance

The charity is controlled by its governing document and is constituted as a CIO. The cofounders perform the day-to-day management of the charity and the trustees oversee this on a quarterly basis in meetings. Feedback is sought from the charity’s beneficiaries - disadvantaged children and families, together with stakeholder schools - in determining how Give. Help. Share’s projects are executed.

Charity Activity - 23/24

‘GIVE’

2023/24 was the third year of operation for Give. Help. Share, and based on reviewing last year’s trustee report, we are delighted to report that we have consolidated our financial position rendering the charity a going concern for the forthcoming year.

In 2023/24, we distributed 14,200 wholesome food bags to disadvantaged children and families via a weekly school distribution network. It was the discretion of the schools’ leadership teams to disseminate the food parcels to their most ‘in-need’ families within their school communities. Our food bags comprised: pasta/rice; tinned vegetables; cereal/oats; milk (dairy/plant-based); fruit/vegetables; healthy snacks; and bread/crackers.

Each food parcel contained more goods than the previous two years. This was in response to recipient feedback resulting in a more valued service by beneficiaries. Hence, total food bag distribution reduced from 17,500 to 14,200 equating to approximately 300 food bags delivered across 47 weeks of the year. Our committed volunteers packed these bags during weekly volunteering sessions. Additionally, food education workshops rose to almost 200 taught lessons for the year. So, the reduction in food bag numbers was due to increased food bag contents together with a rise in taught lessons, both at a greater cost to the charity.

We recruited a part-time member of staff to coordinate: the volunteer rota; delivery of educational resources to our contract teachers; and purchasing of wholesale food bag contents. This contributed to the smooth delivery of food bags to our recipient primary schools situated in deprived pockets of North London and Hertfordshire.

School holiday food bag distribution for the government-led HAF (Holiday Activities Fund) programme was fundamental to our charity activity for 2023/24. We provided child-friendly snack parcels during the Easter, Summer and Winter breaks, amounting to a count of almost 2,500 bags.

‘HELP’

Throughout the year, food prices have remained at an all-time high. For a household in the most disadvantaged 20% of the country to afford a government-recommended diet, they would need to spend 50% of their disposable income. Beneficiaries reported that Give. Help. Share. food parcels were 'a lifeline' and 'a cupboard filler'.

Consequently, families have been forced to choose processed, nutrient-deficient, yet energydense foods. Give. Help. Share. has helped families, by providing nutritious and wholesome ingredients - from fresh produce to lower-sugar snacks and cereals - in order to support those affected most by the cost-of-living crisis.

Give. Help. Share. has continued to support households through the provision of energyefficient kitchen appliances to aid meal-making. Air fryers, soup makers, slow cookers, electric grills and handheld blenders have been distributed at the request of individual families. To

complement this, the charity has delivered workshops to both parents and children on how best to use these appliances, as well as provision of recipe books and ingredients. The aim is that families feel empowered and equipped to make nutritious meals at low cost and minimal time commitment.

Whilst we primarily support school children and their families, we were made aware of additional stakeholders within the school community who required food aid - school employees. Headteachers were notably concerned about their staff, who they remarked 'were living hand to mouth, facing eviction and really struggling with the cost of living'. This was so severe in some of our partner schools that staff were found requesting time off work to visit the local foodbank. This financial difficulty experienced by both teachers, teaching assistants and support staff was indicative of the challenging economic times. For Give. Help. Share, we donated food items and toiletries on a monthly basis to schools in need, setting up a 'support bank' in staffrooms.

‘SHARE’

Give. Help. Share’s team of educators remained consistent with three qualified teachers delivering food education workshops on a contract-basis. This enabled us to deliver 184 workshops to Key Stage 2 pupils on nutrition and healthy eating on a budget, equipping children with the necessary tools and knowledge to support them with improved independent food choices.

This year, our lessons received an overhaul by the British Nutrition Foundation - this, coupled with further creative input from our co-founding teachers, ensured our curriculum was the most up-to-date and relevant. Lessons remain hands-on and interactive, with an element of tasting, meal preparation and/or chopping included in each.

With the cost-of-living crisis still at the forefront of the agenda, the lesson objectives aimed to tackle this priority: greater emphasis on the risks of high-sugar low-cost foods; additional ideas for budget, healthy meals; and greater time spent working with fruits and vegetables. A focus on achieving '5 a day' was imperative within a climate of fresh produce being less affordable. We did this through the provision of hundreds of hand-held blenders, sharing with children how to use these to make nutritious smoothies, packed with vitamins.

There was greater focus on chopping and preparing fruit and vegetables in the workshops, so that these could be consumed at home. More budget recipe cards and ideas were shared - all of which were child-friendly, low-cost and could be easily prepared by both children and adults. Furthermore, in light of environmental concerns, a lesson was added to encourage children to reduce food waste at home, encouraging them to think creatively about using ingredients.

Volunteers

2023/24 saw a rise in bookings for our corporate volunteering days. This allowed us to generate ongoing partnerships with some well-known corporates, educating their staff about child food insecurity in the UK. In addition, they volunteered more than 100 employees for the shopping, packing and delivery of food parcels.

We were grateful for the many hours our regular volunteers contributed to Give. Help. Share in 2023/24 - come rain or shine they turned up with smile to pack and deliver. So much so, we nominated one volunteer with a Room to Reward for his commitment. Our 2023/24 volunteer network ensured that Give. Help. Share superseded its charity objectives.

Reserves Policy

Our reserves policy stipulates that:

Fundraising

Donors to Give. Help. Share. can be assured that we comply with the Regulatory Standards for Fundraising.

Trustee Selection Methods

The management of the charity is the responsibility of the Trustees who are elected under the terms of the charity’s Governing Document.

Risk Management

As trustees, we regularly review and assess the risks to which the charity is exposed, in all areas of its work and plan for the management of those risks.

Achievements

Independent Examiner’s report to the Trustees of GIVE. HELP. SHARE.

I report to the Board on my examination of the accounts of GIVE. HELP. SHARE. Board (the Board) for the period ended 31 March 2024, which are set out on the attached pages.

This report is made solely to the Board, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the Board those matters that I have agreed to state to it and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Board as a body, for our work, for this report nor for the conclusions I have formed.

Responsibilities and Basis of Report

As the charity trustees of GIVE. HELP. SHARE. 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 our examination of the Charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out our examination we have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 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:

(3) 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.

Andrew Thomas (ACA) Nyman Libson Paul LLP Chartered Accountants 124 Finchley Road London NW3 5JS

Dated: 29 October 2024

Receipts and Payments 2023-2024

Financial Review

The most notable financial change between the periods '22-'23 and '23-'24 was the increase in income of almost £20k due to a rise in grants received coupled with a downturn in food donations. Grants received rose because the co-founders were afforded more time to write grant applications, thanks to the hire of a part-time logistics staff member. Unfortunately, food donations declined due to the cost-of-living crisis and manufacturers holding on to their stock to sell. Consequently, Give. Help. Share had to buy more to fill their food bags, leading to an increase in food expenditure. Salaries rose because of the part-time staff hire, and contractor fees increased due to more lessons being taught. Training costs reduced significantly as the Public Health MSc primary research for the charity was completed.

Statement of Assets & Liabilities

All reserves are cash, and therefore cash b/fwd: £71,234.03 Cash c/fwd to 24/25: £111,671.56

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the Trustee’s report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees -

Signature: Signature: Full Name: Full Name: Position: Position: Date: 23/10/24 Date: 23/10/24