## **Trustee Report & Financial Accounts** ## **1st April 2025 - March 31st 2026** ## **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 Sophie Macadar ## **Management Structure:** 1. Co-Founders 2. Contract Staff 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: - by providing emergency food, essential toiletries, and household items to individuals and families in need - by providing support or signposting to relevant information and other advisory services ## **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: - to **‘GIVE’** children nutritious food - to **‘HELP’** families in crisis - to **‘SHARE’** food knowledge with children All 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 7-11) to attend school well-nourished through receiving healthy foods and to make independent, healthier food choices. ## **Governance** Give. Help. Share is a registered charity, constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and governed by its Constitution. The co-founders manage the charity’s day-to-day operations, with strategic oversight and accountability provided by the Trustees through quarterly meetings. The charity actively seeks feedback from its beneficiaries - disadvantaged children and families - as well as from key stakeholders, including partner schools, to help shape and improve the delivery of its projects. ## **Charity Activity - 2025/26** ## **‘GIVE’** The 2025/26 financial year marked the fifth year of operation for Give. Help. Share. The charity closed the year in a strong position, with £189k in the bank, including £40k of restricted funds. This leaves around eight months of reserves for core expenditure, in line with our reserves policy. This position ensures the organisation remains stable and sustainable, allowing us to continue delivering impactful food and education support to disadvantaged children and families. In 2025/26, we distributed 18,600 wholesome food bags to disadvantaged children and families through our established weekly school distribution network - an increase from 16,000 in the previous year. This equates to approximately 465 food bags delivered each week across the 40week academic year. School leadership teams retain discretion over the allocation of these parcels, ensuring they reach the families most in need within their communities. Each food bag included a thoughtful selection of staple items such as pasta or rice, tinned vegetables, cereal or oats, milk (dairy or plant-based), fresh fruit and vegetables, healthy snacks, and bread or crackers. The contents are designed to provide enough for 2–3 nutritious family meals, as well as child-friendly snacks and breakfast items. Based on continued feedback from recipient families, each parcel contained more goods than in previous years, resulting in a more valued and impactful service. Our dedicated team of volunteers packed these food bags during weekly sessions, playing a vital role in the consistency and scale of our delivery. In parallel, our food education work also expanded, with the number of workshops delivered rising from 250 to 365 taught lessons during the year. We have four qualified teachers consistently working with the charity on a weekly basis, each delivering approximately four food education lessons. Our core team remained lean, with one full-time employee - our CEO, Jacqueline - and Amanda volunteering full-time. We have maintained efficient operations while continuing to expand our reach across primary schools in North London and Hertfordshire. Thanks to a grant from The Lidl Community Fund, we also improved our garage packing hub by installing new shelving, packing tables, refrigeration and flooring, creating a more efficient and streamlined space for volunteers. School holiday provision, delivered through the government’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, remained an important part of our work. We distributed 2,230 child-friendly snack parcels across the Easter, Summer and Winter holidays. ## **‘HELP’** Food prices stayed high in 2025/26 - while the rate of increase slowed, absolute costs remained elevated, continuing to put pressure on low-income households. This was driven by rising global commodity prices and climate-related disruption to food production, alongside increased domestic costs. Consequently, our beneficiaries consistently highlighted the financial relief provided by the food bags: “It helps a lot especially towards the end of the month”, “I am able to save some money” and “It helps as fresh fruit and veg is not cheap anymore.” In general, our support responded to the evolving needs of our communities, within the remit of our constitution. We regularly distributed recipe-card food bags, providing both ingredients and simple guidance to help families cook affordable, healthy meals at home. This was further complemented by the delivery of energy-efficient kitchen appliances including air fryers, soup makers, slow cookers and handheld blenders. To support children beyond nutrition, we provided “back to school” essentials such as stationery, as well as gifts during the month of December in the run up to Christmas. These included art supplies, books and games to promote creativity and wellbeing. We also continued to address the growing issue of hygiene poverty by including essential toiletries - such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and shower gel - within our food parcels wherever possible, helping families maintain dignity and basic standards of care. In addition, schools shared that some staff members were facing similar financial pressures, with some needing to leave early to access food banks; in response, we began providing food support within selected staff rooms, extending our reach to the wider school community. Hence, we have continued to HELP children and families in a holistic and practical way, adapting our support to meet real, day-today needs and ensuring they feel better equipped to manage ongoing financial pressures. ## **‘SHARE’** In 2025/26, Give. Help. Share. delivered 365 food education workshops across Key Stage 2, strengthening our reach across Years 3 to 6 and ensuring children left primary school with a solid foundation of hands-on food education. Our updated curriculum was fully embedded, with educators returning to each year group the following term to assess how much behaviour change had been sustained. Recognising the ongoing cost-of-living pressures facing many families, our workshops focused on helping children make healthier choices in a real-world context. This included understanding sugar intake and making sensible snack swaps, spotting the difference between natural and processed foods, thinking more critically about misleading marketing, and preparing simple, budget-friendly meals. We also worked with an impact lead who attended selected workshops at the start and end of sessions to assess and evaluate outcomes, helping ensure our programme remained meaningful and effective. ## **Volunteers** In 2025/26, we were pleased to see the return of valued corporate partners, alongside the introduction of new supporters. Their involvement played an important role in strengthening our delivery, whilst also raising awareness of the challenges faced by the communities we support. We continued to provide an immersive, end-to-end experience, giving teams the opportunity to be involved in the full process, from sourcing and packing to delivering food bags into schools. This approach has been proven to deepen engagement, bringing our work to life in a practical and meaningful way, while helping to build a committed and informed network of supporters. As always, we are incredibly grateful to our diligent team of volunteers, with over 35 individuals contributing regularly each week. Their dedication and reliability enabled Give. Help. Share to operate seamlessly on almost every working day throughout the year. In recognition of their outstanding contribution, we host an annual lunch to bring volunteers together and express our sincere thanks for the meaningful difference they make. ## **Reserves Policy** Our reserves policy is designed to ensure that Give. Help. Share holds enough unrestricted funds to continue its core activities for at least six months in the event of unexpected challenges. A proportion of these reserves is kept in a readily accessible form to allow quick access if needed. The policy and the level of reserves are reviewed annually by the Trustees. ## **Fundraising** Our funding comes from a mix of grants and donations. A significant proportion is raised through trusts, foundations, corporate partners and local councils, including both restricted and unrestricted funding. We also receive individual donations and have ongoing relationships with a number of food companies that donate supplies throughout the year. This year, our most notable funds were: a corporate donation from OakNorth Bank (£30,000); an unrestricted grant from The Postcode Lottery (£25,000); a donation from The Industrial Agent’s Society (£25,000); and a restricted grant from The National Lottery (£20,000). We are committed to fundraising in a way that is open and honest, and we follow the Code of Fundraising Practice together with all relevant regulations. ## **Trustee Selection Methods and Risk Management** The charity is managed by its Trustees, who are appointed in line with the Governing Document and selected for their relevant skills and commitment to the charity’s aims. The Trustees regularly review the risks facing the charity and take steps to manage them. ## **Achievements** - Delivered over **18,500 nourishing food bags** to disadvantaged families across London and Herts - Delivered **365 hours of educational workshops** in primary schools - Provided **1,825 children** aged 7–11 with six hours of hands-on food education - Supported **2,230 children** with nutritious snack parcels over the school holidays. - Expanded our **primary curriculum** to cover the full Key Stage 2 age range (7–11 years) - Won the award for **Food and Nutrition** at **The Healthy Harrow Awards** - Founders **co-authored a chapter in the published book** , ‘Interprofessional Ethics Across the Life Course in Health and Social Care’ - Redistributed **£21,500 of surplus stock** to children and families ## **Future Plans** Looking ahead, we are both undertaking training in naturopathic nutrition to strengthen our knowledge and further enhance our lesson content, which we will also share with our teaching team. Alongside this, we will continue to explore funding opportunities as they arise. If a significant grant were secured, we would consider establishing a hub in another area of London, using local volunteers and teachers to support nearby schools and extend our reach where needed. ## **Receipts and Payments 2025/26** ## **Financial Review** After five years of charitable activity, Give. Help. Share. is in a strong and sustainable financial position, with total income of £265k in 2025/26. The largest proportion of income was generated from grants, which grew by £21k, alongside a notable uplift in donations, up £33k. In addition to this income, we also received approximately £21k of donated food, enabling us to support more families while reducing our purchasing costs. Overall income was £37k higher than 2024/25, reflecting increased grant success, corporate volunteering contributions, and a one-off £25k donation as a chosen charity partner. Expenditure reached £219k, compared with £197k in 2024/25. The main driver of this was food purchases, which climbed to £97k, reflecting both higher food prices and increased distribution of food bags. Contractor costs increased to £22k in line with expanded delivery of food education sessions supported by higher grant income, while lesson resources rose to £12k due to increased lesson output. General expenses fell significantly, as the previous year included one-off costs relating to social media support and defibrillator installation. Motor vehicle expenses also reduced, reflecting lower intern-related travel. Repairs and maintenance of £5k relates to grant-funded refurbishment of the charity’s garage space. Despite higher expenditure, the charity ended the year with a net surplus of £46k, bringing total reserves to £188k (including restricted funds). This places Give. Help. Share. in a secure financial position, with reserves comfortably aligned to its policy of six months. 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I reF£wI in respect of my •xamlnal#)n cl the Trust's accounts carrled out urmjer section 145 of Ihe 2011 Act and in Ca[￿Tr3 out my examination. I have followed the awicable Direct￿nS glven by tha Charliy Commis￿.0n urmtsr section 145I51{b) of the ACL I have compl8t8d my 8xaminath)n. I confimi that no matwial mattèrs have come to my attent1$￿ in conneth'on wrth the exam1r￿tIOn which gives m8 cause to believe thal in. any maierial respect. countsrwj records wwe not kept in acccKdanc8 wlth Se￿(￿ 130 of the Act or the accounts do noi with the accounting records Independent examiner's Statement I have no concerns artl have ccrn across no matters In ¢(￿trIed1¢y1 wrth the examination to which allertion should b8 drawn in order Io enable propef undwstanding of Ihe accounts to b8 reac1￿. 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