ANNUAL REPORT
20 23
“We help local people in crisis to feel accepted, cared for and valued by providing food and support with utility top ups so that we can show them the love of Jesus”
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
www.theeasterteam.org
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Chair of Trustees’ Report
Welcome from the Chair of Trustees - Sharon Golightly Annual Report for the year ending December 2023.
On behalf of the board of trustees, welcome to our Annual Report for 2023.
You will see as you read through that we have again been blessed with amazing support both financial and in food items from so many sources. We give thanks for this as it has ensured we have been able to sustain our work again this year. The team have worked incredibly hard to cope with the high levels of demand for our services, which we acknowledge can be difficult at times, given that so many people are in desperate need of our help. All our volunteers do an amazing job and between them, they contribute in the region of 150 hours per week, week in week out, we are incredibly grateful and could not do what we do without them! We also value our working partnerships with Crawley Open House (as the Crawley Foodbank Partnership), Christians Against Poverty (CAP) and Love Your Neighbour.
During the year we were able to recruit a part time Volunteer Coordinator and we welcomed Dave Orpin to the team. He has been instrumental in recruiting new volunteers and ensuring all our activities are staffed. It’s worth noting that although we now have 2 paid staff members, both are part time and together add up to less than one full time equivalent post! So we very much remain a voluntary organisation, even the trustees are volunteers. It has been heart-warming to know just how many volunteers are working with us week in and week out to serve people in Crawley in need of food. I thank God for each and every one.
As trustees, we have been ever aware of our responsibility to manage our resources responsibly and to take strategic decisions to ensure we remain able to support clients in the best way we can. Thus we’ve been able to continue to meet the increasing numbers of Crawley people approaching us in need.
As ever, our grateful thanks are due to our generous landlords at both our warehouse space and our hub at County Mall. I don’t know what we’d do without the blessing of both these spaces which enable us to support our clients.
Blessings
Sharon
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023 2
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OPERATIONAL REPORT
Su Parrish - Operations Manager
I’m writing this report with very mixed feelings – on one hand I’m SO proud of the support the Easter Team has been able to offer our ever increasing number of clients and on the other hand, it saddens me to know just how many people are finding they need the support of a foodbank. The cost of living crisis has triggered a huge increase in requests for support with basic food and small utility top ups and each of these
requests represents a household in food or fuel poverty. A rising proportion of our clients now are in work, but possibly on a low income and no matter how hard or how many hours they work, there just isn’t enough money to pay everything. Many of these clients are skilled at budgeting and once they’ve prioritised housing costs and essential bills, there just isn’t enough money left for enough food. Which is where we can step in to help with crisis food.
It often seems that what we offer is a very small thing, but is significant to each client and they tell us that their food parcels and small utility top ups are a lifeline.
We have only been able to meet the ever growing requests for support due to the committed work of our volunteer team and the food and financial donations we’ve received. We thank and recognise you all. During 2023, I have been interviewed for local and national press and even quoted in Parliament, speaking up for the people serve. I’m reminded of the Bible verse in Proverbs : “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
2023 2023 6212 parcels 1285 households served ( 81.925 tonnes) 3150 individuals served 167,988 meals
2022 2022 1264 households served 4947 parcels 2652 individuals served (64.293 tonnes) 129,820 meals
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2021 2021
861 Households 4658 food parcels
served (34.577 tonnes)
3 www.theeasterteam.org
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The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
The Easter Team buys much appreciated gas and electricity pre-payment meter top ups to help people in crisis with their utility costs. During 2023 we helped clients in this way on 1743 occasions (up from 1223 in the previous year). From January to August 2023 each top up was normally £30. From September to December each top up was normally £20. Since January 2024 each top up has normally been £30. During 2023 we bought 62% of the top ups online or on the phone and the rest were bought by volunteers taking the clients’ top up cards into a shop.
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Number of occasions support given
with utility costs
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2021 2022 2023
Year
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Christmas 2023 was a huge event, both in terms of the numbers of households we were able to support and the amount of festive food and treats we were able to give each one. I had anticipated another big increase in requests, but it was even bigger than I foresaw. Over the week before Christmas, we gave out 439 Christmas parcels in total – an increase of about a third on the previous year (306). Our fantastic team of volunteers worked so hard that week to ensure everyone was able to take away plenty of food and goodies. It was especially good to have the support of volunteers from our partners at Love Your Neighbour, who joined forces with us to serve clients all week.
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439
Christmas food
parcels
plus gifts and treats
in 2023
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The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
www.theeasterteam.org
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Again this year, we have received so much support from local people, churches, schools and other organisations. Every tin, packet of pasta or box of cereal donated has been valued and used to pack our food parcels.
We particularly thank:
West Green School St Pauls Northgate 2[nd] Ifield Scout Group St Andrews School St Andrews Church Balcombe Village Stores Milton Mount School St Marys Church Friends of BPAS Maidenbower Infants School St Johns Church Wates Handcross Park Pre Prep School Crawley Baptist Church Little Holly Hedgehog The Brook School Christ the Lord Broadfield Anise Catering Ifield Community College St Margarets Church and parish Greener Greens Thomas Bennett Community College Holy Trinity Tilgate Crawley Labour Women CBC Parents and Toddlers Group St Peters Church 2[nd] Crawley Guides Caridon Group The Vine Chris Sexton Tesco – Lydia Inns Matmos Hinal Patel Cook Horsham Constable Collectors Mad Dog Coffee D’Nata Marks and Spencer Tesco Fulfilment Centre
RPD Foundation Customers of Pet at Home, Tesco and Sainsburys in store donation stations Infigo Haywards Heath Foodbank Ready Steady Grow Pre School Copthorne Kinders Day Nursery Willow Tree Preschool
A van full of donations collected from West Green School
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
www.theeasterteam.org
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The Easter Team has been blessed to have some significant long term supporters and the three below just illustrate some of the ways it can be done:
Caroline: Constable Collectors.
“…I resolved to do something meaningful with my life and to donate food myself every month. It was suggested to me that I might like to join with another neighbour. Having pondered this, I decided I might be able to do more than this. I came up with the idea of asking people in Constable Road if they would commit to giving one item of food every week.”
Caroline’s neighbours have donated over 20,000 mostly food items since she began coordinating them in May 2019. Caroline and Kit collect from each house weekly and our volunteer Paul collects them each month. Pictured is Jim who is both a donor and a volunteer with just one of the monthly donations – each one of which fill a car. Many of the Constable Collectors have not missed donating for even one week and we so appreciate this community support
Cook Horsham:
The team at Cook have donated at least 30 frozen meals a week every week for several years collected by our volunteer Peter. Over the years they’ve been donating the cost of the meal has increased significantly, but Cook Horsham continue to provide us with the same number free of charge. They are a real treat for our clients and we are incredibly grateful for this generous gesture of a delicious, nutritious meal.
Chris S:
Chris sent a monthly supermarket delivery as a donation all during 2023. He aways asks what’s most needed and then has it delivered directly to our warehouse, which is incredibly helpful. Thank you Chris!
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
www.theeasterteam.org
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Some of our clients said…….
“Thank you to the lovely volunteer who came out in the rain yesterday and helped me with everything I needed.”
“Thank you so much for an amazing food parcel today. I am so very grateful”
“Meeting all these kind people today has lifted .” the spirit a little
“Your care and generosity will stay with me forever.”
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
www.theeasterteam.org
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VOLUNTEER COORDINATION REPORT
Volunteer Coordinator - Dave Orpin
I joined the team in May working 1 day a week. I started off by seeing what happened at the hub and the warehouse and also working different days each week to get to meet all the volunteers.
I was given the task of up dating the volunteer records and transferring all the documents into digital copies. I also took over the recruitment process from receipt of enquiries, sending out application forms, completing references and the Hub volunteers inductions. The Volunteer monthly schedules are also now my responsibility, to complete them and try to fill any gaps and also to find cover for short notice holidays etc.
I am always amazed at all the hours, time and commitment our volunteers give to ensure the work of the Easter Team thrives.
Volunteer Loes taking calls on our parcel request line
Volunteer Isabelle with the food parcels ready to give out
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
www.theeasterteam.org
8
FINANCIAL REPORT
Treasurer’s Report - John Lodemore
Trustees’ Annual Report for the year from 1 January to 31 December 2023
Financial Review
During 2023 the Easter Team had income of £109,464 (up from £72,096 the previous year). God has been amazing in the way he has blessed us with incoming resources and thereby enabled us to do so much for families and individuals in crisis.
During 2023 the main income was grants of £52,266, donations of £37,918 (mostly from individuals and churches), gift aid of £7,895 and contributions of £10,420 from Crawley Open House and Love Your Neighbour towards our shared costs.
During 2023 the Easter Team received donations and grants from:
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Numerous generous individuals
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Balcombe Gardeners’ Association
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Crawley Baptist Church
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Crawley Borough Council (grants of £22,500)
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Crawley Gluten Free Group
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Crawley Social Fellowship
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Dnata UK Catering Ltd staff
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East Grinstead Justice & Peace Group
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Elim Church, Bewbush
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Gatwick Seventh-Day Adventist Church
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Ifield Quaker Meeting
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Kingdom Faith Church, Crawley
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Legal & General Group PLC
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The Longley Trust
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Love Your Neighbour (grant of £6,000)
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The Neighbourly Foundation (from Sainsbury’s)
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PayPal Giving Fund
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RPD Foundation (grants of £10,466 including £6667 from West Sussex County Council)
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St Andrew’s Church, Furnace Green
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St Margaret’s Church, Ifield
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St Mary’s Church, Southgate
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Sussex Community Foundation (grant of £6,000 from Cubitt & West)
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Toyota
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The Vine Fellowship
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Virgin Unite (grant of £5,000)
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Gifts in memory of Marilyn Lake
Our sincere thanks to all the individuals and organisations who supported us financially during 2023.
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
www.theeasterteam.org
9
During 2023 the Easter Team spent £128,421 (up from £65,145 the previous year).
The spending consisted of £47,346 on gas and electricity meter top ups, £45,359 on food (to supplement the food donated to us), £23,881 on the employment of our staff and £11,835 on our other running costs.
At the end of 2023 the Easter Team held a total of £62,120 (down from £81,077 at the end of the previous year). The amount held at the end of 2023 included £31,828 in restricted funds. Summary of Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2023
| INCOME (£) Grants Donations from individuals and churches etc Gift aid Contributions to shared costs Interest Transfer from old Easter Team charity EXPENDITURE (£) Gas and electricity top-ups Food for food parcels Employment of staff Equipment Van, mileage and fares Hire of shipping container at Hub Electricty for Hub Consumables Premises Pest control Insurance Phone calls and text messages Broadband at Hub Accountant Other expenditure Net Expenditure / Income BALANCES AT THE END OF THE YEAR (£) Deposit accounts Current accounts Petty cash |
52,266 37,918 7,895 10,420 965 0 |
2023 £109,464 £128,421 -£18,957 2023 54,176 7,844 100 £62,120 |
25,112 41,511 3,660 624 377 812 |
2022 £72,096 £65,145 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47,346 45,359 23,881 2,679 1,650 1,301 950 867 745 705 656 603 534 390 755 |
25,845 15,381 16,249 955 759 0 193 860 2,051 551 650 561 390 300 400 |
|||
| £6,951 | ||||
| 2022 64,211 16,806 60 |
||||
| £81,077 |
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023
www.theeasterteam.org
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Governance
The Easter Team is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The constitution is dated 7[th] April 2021. The trustees are appointed or re-elected for terms of 3 or 4 years by the trustees.
The trustees of the Easter Team are Sharon Golightly (Chair), Rohan Andrew, Rosemary Benwell (Vice-chair & Secretary), Paul Davies and John Lodemore (Treasurer). They all served for the whole of 2023. In addition Rev Stephen Burston served as a trustee until 15[th] June 2023.
The Easter Team employs a part time Operations Manager (Su Parrish) and since May 2023 has also employed a part time Volunteer Co-Ordinator (Dave Orpin). The Easter Team did not have any other employees during 2023.
None of the Easter Team’s trustees or volunteers receives any remuneration or other benefit.
During 2023 the Easter Team continued to work closely with Love Your Neighbour, Crawley Open House, Christians Against Poverty, Youth With A Mission and local churches in those areas where our interests overlap.
Contact Details
Website: www.theeasterteam.org Email address: office@theeasterteam.org Phone number: 07940 900948 Postal address: c/o Crawley Baptist Church, Crabtree Road, Crawley, RH11 7HJ Hub location: Next to County Mall, behind the Metrobus office Hub opening hours: Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm
The Easter Team – Annual Report – 2023 11
www.theeasterteam.org
| Charity Name The Easter Team |
Charity Name The Easter Team |
Charity Name The Easter Team |
No (if any) 1194018 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
Period start date 1-Jan-23 |
To | Period end date 31-Dec-23 |
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts Grants 20,016 Donations 37,584 Gift Aid 7,895 Contributions to shared costs 10,420 Interest 965 Transfer from old Easter Team charity - - - 76,880 - - Sub total - Total receipts 76,880 A3 Payments Charitable spending: Gas & elec topups 47,346 Charitable spending: Foodparcels 34,645 Runningcosts: Employment of staff 23,881 Runningcosts: Other 6,622 - - - - - Sub total 112,494 - - Sub total - Total payments 112,494 Net of receipts/(payments) - 35,614 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end 65,906 Cash funds this year end 30,292 Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ Sub total(Gross income for AR) A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
to the nearest £ 32,250 334 - - - - - - 32,584 - - - 32,584 - 10,714 - 5,213 - - - - - 15,927 - - - 15,927 16,657 - 15,171 31,828 Restricted funds |
to the nearest £ Endowment funds |
Total funds to the nearest £ 52,266 37,918 7,895 10,420 965 - - - 109,464 - - - 109,464 47,346 45,359 23,881 11,835 - - - - - 128,421 - - - 128,421 - 18,957 - 81,077 62,120 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
| - - - - - - - - - |
52,266 | 25,112 | ||
| 37,918 | 41,511 | |||
| 7,895 | 3,660 | |||
| 10,420 | 624 | |||
| 965 | 377 | |||
| - | 812 | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| 109,464 | 72,096 | |||
| - - - |
- | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | 109,464 | 72,096 | ||
| - - - - - - - - - - |
47,346 | 25,845 | ||
| 45,359 | 15,381 | |||
| 23,881 | 16,249 | |||
| 11,835 | 7,670 | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| 128,421 | 65,145 | |||
| - - - |
- | |||
| - | ||||
| - | - | |||
| - | 128,421 | 65,145 | ||
| 16,657 | - - - - |
- 18,957 | 6,951 | |
| - | - | - | ||
| 15,171 | 81,077 | 74,126 | ||
| 31,828 | 62,120 | 81,077 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Details Deposit accounts Current accounts Petty cash Details Details Details Details Signature Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ to nearest £ 22,348 31,828 7,844 - 100 - 30,292 31,828 OK OK to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Print Name John Lodemore Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
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| - | |||
| OK | |||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| - | |||
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| Current value (optional) |
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| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| John Lodemore | 2-Apr-24 | ||
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of The Easter Team On accounts for the year endod 31.12.2023 Charity no Irf any) 1194018 Set out on pages 1- 2 of the Receipts & Payments Accounts I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above chartyllhe Trusf) for the year ended 3111212023. Re8ponslbllltlos and As the charFty trustees of the Trust, you are r8sponsibl8 for the preparation ba•1* of roport of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (Ihe Acri. I report in respect of my examlnation of the Trust's CoUnts caryled out under seCIn 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examlnation. I have fOllVed the appluble Dlrections gNen by Ihe Charty Commission under Sectlon 14951{bl of the A(1. I have completed my examination. I confim that no material matters have come lo my attention (other than dr8closed below) in conneclion with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material r6spect: accounling record8 were not kept in acoydance with $tIon 130 of the Act or the accounts do ncrt accord wilh Ihe a¢UntIng rrdS Independent oxaminerf8 Statomont I have no concern8 and have ccvne acmss no other matter8 in connection with the exaMinatn to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a prOr understanding of the Onts to reached. sned. 911012024 Nam•: An WKJ10y FCA Rolovant profes8lon•l quallficatlonls) or body Ilf any): Chartered Accountant I IG4EW Addre88: Soteria Accountancy Ground Floor, 8 Magellan Terrace Gatwick Road Cr&vley RH10 9PJ IER October 2018
Section B Disc105ure Only cornpte ifthe examiner needs to highlight matters of concem {see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. direction5 and guhJan¢e fc examiners). Glv• h•re brief dotalls of any items that tho oxaminer wi$he8 to di$¢losg. If nothing to disclos8, plea entsr NA below IER October 2018