## **Dorchester Poverty Action CIO Registered No. 1198452** 

## **Trustees’ Annual Report for Year: 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024** 

_Thanks go to everyone who has contributed to and supported the work of Dorchester Poverty Action (DPA)._ 

_**Trustees of DPA during 2023 – 2024: Wendy Hilton (Chair), Margaret Barker,  Simon Booth Kath Joslin, Peter See, and Jean Croot.**_ 

DPA is a community charity and was set up by Churches Together in Dorchester in 1990, registered as a charitable trust with the Charity Commission in 1994.  Its aim was, and remains, to serve those with inadequate income in the DT1 and DT2 area. In the previous year (2022/23), DPA successfully applied to the Charity Commission to convert to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (No. 1198452). This became official on 1[st] October 2023. 

## **Summary of the past year’s work** 

- This year has been another financially challenging year for everyone: families and individuals and professionals.  With continuing high costs of food, fuel and other essentials, many people who previously coped financially, found themselves in financial crisis. DPA grants were greatly appreciated by both recipients and professionals working with them. While the amount given out in grants decreased  by 5% from the previous year (which was 47%  higher than 2021-2202), the number of grants had not changed significantly; the total number was 191, compared with 208 in 2022-23. 

- The Trustees completed the work to convert DPA to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. This involved opening a new bank account  and significant other work particularly for the Treasurer, Chair and Vice Chair. 

- The Advisory Group has been very helpful with various tasks, including the distribution of supermarket vouchers (crucial in providing emergency help to people),  maintaining and improving the website and social media sites, and assisting with fund-raising events, plus the annual Cream Tea and Coffee Morning. 

- As more people have had to rely on food banks, the need for a fridge or fridge/freezer has become necessary to enable people to avoid wasting fresh food given.  DPA works closely with Dorset Reclaim to provide white goods at a reasonable price and currently the increase of such grants to £300 has covered these prices. 

- Through the previous work of DPA Trustees and the Advisory Group almost all local schools now have school uniform swap facilities. DPA grants of up to £100 per student are still required for shoes and certain items and DPA are grateful for donations received from various agencies specifically for this purpose. 

- A significant number of grant requests have been for flooring for families with very young children who have recently been allocated accommodation by local housing agencies. Sadly the policy of these housing agencies is for the previous tenants to have to to remove all carpets, and hence the new tenants have to provide flooring to ensure the safety of babies, toddlers or people with certain disabilities. This cost on top of other moving costs is hard to find for those on limited income. 

- Having identified the usefulness of the Money Management Course run by Christians Against Poverty, DPA have again worked with the local Food Bank to give a £20 voucher to those completing the course. 

- With gas, electricity and oil prices remaining very high causing financial crisis for households on low wages and/or benefits, Fuel Grants of £100 were crucial to many who were faced with the choice of “heating or eating”. The minimum cost of an oil delivery to 



those relying on oil for heating was around £500 again extremely hard for people on limited income to find. 

- Fund raising appeals at the beginning of Winter and at Christmas 2023  (Heating or Eating?) were very successful and DPA was extremely pleased and grateful for individuals’ donations. 

- Through written applications to some organisations, plus publicising the work of DPA, funds have been raised by the Trustees. 

- The Trustees continue to function efficiently, meeting at least quarterly, followed by a meeting including the Advisory Group to ensure everyone is kept informed of all work. 

## **Financial Help Given** 

Dorchester Poverty Action 1041397 formally transferred its activities to Dorchester Poverty Action CIO 1198452 with effect from 1[st] October 2023.  In the period 1[st] October 2023 to 31[st] March 2024: 

**£19,850** was spent directly assisting individuals and families (88 in this 6 month period) who were in urgent need of help, plus funds were made available to other community support agencies such as Citizens’ Advice and Christians Against Poverty. This included:- 

**£5,600** was spent buying £10 Co-op gift cards and distributing them to 16 agencies to support their clients in times of critical urgent need. 

**£ 1,450** was given out in fuel grants (usually £100 per grant). 

**£400** was given out in school uniform grants (usually £100 per student). 

Administrative expenses were £337 (bank fees and printing, insurance and other annual costs were paid in the first half-year). 

## **Examples of what the DPA Grants were for** 

- urgent basic furniture and white goods for families rehoused to escape domestic violence 

- household white goods and furniture to families or individuals 

- floor covering for families or individuals being newly housed in housing association properties where there is a young child or person with a relevant disability 

- winter fuel costs, especially heating oil in villages with no mains gas 

- School uniform and winter shoes for children 

- costs arising because of serious physical/mental ill health of a family member or individual 

- assistance to clear small rent, council tax or fuel arrears. 

- vehicle repairs to enable main earner to get to work or get a family member to appointments 

- travel costs to visit a sick child in hospital 

- nursery equipment 

- deep clean of property for disabled person 

## **Income** 

- From individuals with many kind and generous friends donating by standing order, which is of great help.  DPA was very grateful and impressed by all the individual donations received following the winter and Christmas appeals. 

- From agencies providing grants and donations to enable the work of DPA. Given in no specific order, these include: the Town Council, Alice Ellen Cooper Dean Charity, Roberts Trust, Valentine Trust, the Dorchester Casterbridge Rotary Club, Lions, Round Table, Bunbury Trust, the New Hardy Players, Mayor’s Charity, the Batten Trust, the Grocers Charity, Dorchestra and the Frampton Film Club. 

- From local churches in Dorchester and the surrounding villages offering spaces for fund raising events, or fund raise through various ways. 



- From other community organisations’ events. 

- From our own fund-raising events. 

## **Public Benefit** 

The Trustees reviewed the sources of income and categories of expenditure against the Aims and Objectives of the Charity. It considered that the expenditure reflected the Aims and Objectives and was to the benefit of the public. 

## **Accounts** 

As the activity of Dorchester Poverty Action (Unincorporated Association 1041397) transferred to Dorchester Poverty Action CIO (1198452) with effect from 1[st] October 2023, statutory reports and accounts for the year 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024 have been split across the two Registered Charities. Remaining funds have been transferred to the CIO and application will be made to the Charity Commission formally to close the DPA Unincorporated Association. 

## **Thanks** 

We thank our Volunteer Book Keepers; Claire our outgoing Volunteer Book Keeper, and Irene our incoming Volunteer Book Keeper who rapidly learnt the systems and work required. 

We thank our Independent Examiner (Alec Bailey MA FCA) for his meticulous examination of our accounts and constructive advice. We thank those involved in grant applications, both received and given. We also thank those involved in referrals and grant applications and the efficient and fast processing of these, which can make such a difference to those we work for. 

We thank Jon Sloper at Alacrify (a local website and IT company) for the back-up and support given; this charity and website (Help and Kindness) provides a useful tool to local organisations. 

## **Reserves Policy** 

With no long term commitments, DPA does not target a specific level of reserves. The DPA is fortunate to receive a number of generous regular donations during the year. The Trustees aim to keep around a year’s expenditure in an appropriate bank account. 

## **Partnerships** 

DPA’s work benefits greatly from partnerships with local organisations: 

- DPA’s work with **Citizens’ Advice** benefits both agencies, as well as the many local people who are helped through their work 

- **Dorset Reclaim, Dorchester Carpets, Domestic Appliances Centre and similar local stores** . Payments are made direct to these stores if they are able to supply items needed by the families or individuals. 

- **Dorchester Family Support** for their work to support over 200 families with children, in the school holidays, who are eligible for free school meals. 

- **Dorchester Town Council** keeps in contact with DPA through their community officer (Emma Scott), who is a great support to all community agencies. 

- **Parish Magazines and local radio** throughout the DT1 and DT2 area who willingly publish articles and appeals for help. 

- **Food and Practical Relief** offered by local churches, including the Dorchester Food Bank (Dorford Baptist Church), Food Share (Dorchester Community Church), and the Carers’ Support (Storehouse Church). 

## **Approved by the Trustees on 12th February 2025** 



|CHARITY COMMISSION<br>FOREN6LANDANDWALES<br>ffi<br>lndependent examiner'sreporton the<br>accounts|CHARITY COMMISSION<br>FOREN6LANDANDWALES<br>ffi<br>lndependent examiner'sreporton the<br>accounts|
|---|---|
|lndependent Examiner'sRePort<br>SectionA||
|Report to thetrustees|!)aQ-(N{.s.;/F<br>faJt*rf<br>*(rtaa.r<br>Cle|
|On accountsfortheYear<br>ended|aurrnr<*^cHZ-aL+<br>Gharity no<br>(ifany)<br>ilclf4i'7-|
|SetoutonPages||
||Ireportto thetrusteesonmyexamination of the accounts of theabove<br>charity("the Trust")fortheyearended|
|Responsibilitiesand<br>basisofrePort|Asthe charity'strustees,you are responsible for thePJeparationofthe<br>aCcountsinaccordancewitn the requirements of theCharitiesAct2011|
||("the Act").|
||Ireportin respectofmyexaminationofthe Trust'saccounts carriedout<br>,nd"r.section145of the2011Actand incarrying out my examination,I<br>njvefollowedallthe applicable Directions givenbythe Charity Commission<br>undersection145(5Xb)oftheAct'|





## 

## 

## 

|l.Income|E|||
|---|---|---|---|
|STRIPE|L2,264.94|||
|Stewardship|180.00|||
|Individual one-off<br>Individualregular|7,430.86<br>6,988.02|{||
|Groups|24,565.97|||
|Fundraising|322.40|||
|Interest|25L.24|,||
|GiftAid<br>Total|6,426.76<br>58,429.69|r||
|2.Expenditure|s.|||
|Charitableactivity||||
|DPAGrants|19,610.00|||
|Fuelgrants|1,450.00|||
|School uniform|400.00||,|
|Co-opVouchers<br>Citizens'Advice|5,600.00<br>240.00|(||
|Admincosts||||
|Printing,postage,hall hire,etc<br>Bankcharges|271.80<br>65.00||{|
|Insurancex|00.00|||
|Webhosting|00.00||L|
|Total|27,636.80||)|





|CHARITY COMMISSION<br>FOREN6LANDANDWALES<br>ffi<br>lndependent examiner'sreporton the<br>accounts|CHARITY COMMISSION<br>FOREN6LANDANDWALES<br>ffi<br>lndependent examiner'sreporton the<br>accounts|
|---|---|
|lndependent Examiner'sRePort<br>SectionA||
|Report to thetrustees|!)aQ-(N{.s.;/F<br>faJt*rf<br>*(rtaa.r<br>Cle|
|On accountsfortheYear<br>ended|aurrnr<*^cHZ-aL+<br>Gharity no<br>(ifany)<br>ilclf4i'7-|
|SetoutonPages||
||Ireportto thetrusteesonmyexamination of the accounts of theabove<br>charity("the Trust")fortheyearended|
|Responsibilitiesand<br>basisofrePort|Asthe charity'strustees,you are responsible for thePJeparationofthe<br>aCcountsinaccordancewitn the requirements of theCharitiesAct2011|
||("the Act").|
||Ireportin respectofmyexaminationofthe Trust'saccounts carriedout<br>,nd"r.section145of the2011Actand incarrying out my examination,I<br>njvefollowedallthe applicable Directions givenbythe Charity Commission<br>undersection145(5Xb)oftheAct'|





## 

## 

## 

|l.Income|E|||
|---|---|---|---|
|STRIPE|L2,264.94|||
|Stewardship|180.00|||
|Individual one-off<br>Individualregular|7,430.86<br>6,988.02|{||
|Groups|24,565.97|||
|Fundraising|322.40|||
|Interest|25L.24|,||
|GiftAid<br>Total|6,426.76<br>58,429.69|r||
|2.Expenditure|s.|||
|Charitableactivity||||
|DPAGrants|19,610.00|||
|Fuelgrants|1,450.00|||
|School uniform|400.00||,|
|Co-opVouchers<br>Citizens'Advice|5,600.00<br>240.00|(||
|Admincosts||||
|Printing,postage,hall hire,etc<br>Bankcharges|271.80<br>65.00||{|
|Insurancex|00.00|||
|Webhosting|00.00||L|
|Total|27,636.80||)|