Nourish Axminster Trustees Annual Report April 2025 – March 2026
Charity Registration Number: 1206366
Introduction
The Trustees Annual Report provides a comprehensive overview of the activities, achievements and financial status of Nourish Axminster for the period 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026. This document has been produced for submission to the Charity Commission and serves as an overview for donors, beneficiaries, regulatory bodies and the general public.
Objectives and Activities
Nourish Axminster is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The objects of the CIO are for the public benefit, the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill health, disability or financial hardship living in Axminster and the surrounding area. This is done by the provision of home cooked nutritious meals to people who are unable to afford or prepare such meals themselves, together with signposting services designed to encourage such people to seek available support from other key service providers in the local area.
Key Activities
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a. Provision of home cooked meals
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Meals are prepared and cooked in the Nourish professional kitchen by two volunteers who hold Level 2 and Level 3 Safer Food Handling/Supervisor qualifications. Meals are cooked then frozen and stored in a commercial freezer ready for distribution to beneficiaries.
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b. Picnics in the Park
In school holidays Nourish, in conjunction with Devon and Cornwall Police, provides school aged children with a nutritionally balanced picnic once a week.
Achievements and Performance
The number of people being supported with food has increased again during the period under review. At the end of March 2026 Nourish was feeding up to 100 people per week with frozen meals and in the period under review, produced 3,436 nutritionally balanced frozen meals for its beneficiaries. The demographics for the support given ranges from very small children, our youngest beneficiary is two years old, to the other end of the spectrum with our eldest client who is 90.
Collaborative Relationships
Nourish continues to provide food support to the Hub at Pippins Community Centre which supports individuals recovering from addiction, and the Chard Community Hub who provide support to families and individuals in need of access to food and other support.
Nourish receives referrals from East Devon District Council (EDDC), the local NHS mental health team, Axminster Foodbank, Devon and Cornwall Police, local schools, Christians Against Poverty and other community groups within the area.
Picnics in the Park
Nourish provides a nutritionally balanced picnic lunch for school children in Axminster every Tuesday during the school holidays. In the period under review, Nourish provided 931 picnics across Axminster. The picnics have become a holiday highlight, with families meeting up and spending the afternoon in the local parks, allowing children to play together and parents to meet up for much needed support. We have seen an ongoing increase in the number of families attending the picnics and are pleased with the way this is breaking down social isolation for families during the long school holidays.
Financial Review Income and Expenditure
The financial health of Nourish is uncertain with a total income for the year ending March 2026 amounting to: £11,825, which is £2,000 less than the previous financial year. The total expenditure amounted to £16,946 which is higher than the previous year by £3,000.
Nourish relies solely on access to grant funding and charitable donations. In the year under review Nourish received grant funding and cash donations from a wide variety of organisations and individuals. Expenditure has increased significantly over the review period with an increase in food costs. The Nourish Treasurer has undertaken a lot of work to establish more connections with financial organisations who have grant funding options available. The Treasurer will continue to look for financial support from a variety of organisations and will look at other fundraising opportunities to ensure the financial stability of the CIO remains sound.
Structure, Governance and Management
The foundation constitution of Nourish Axminster provides the detail of the CIO status for Nourish. Nourish has three independent Trustees who bring a diverse range of skills and experience allowing them to oversee the running of the CIO. The day-to-day decisions are delegated to the Chair of the CIO and the Treasurer/Secretary who are the two volunteers who run and manage Nourish. They are also listed as Trustees.
Future Plans
Nourish will continue to provide support to the people in the community who are the most vulnerable and who need the services provided. The key initiatives for Nourish for the next financial year are to maintain a high standard of support to its beneficiaries, to work more closely
with Devon and Cornwall Police, the schools in Axminster and other referral agencies to ensure more people that need help with food provision are given access to the support required.
Conclusion
The Trustees are confident in Nourish’s direction and remain committed to achieving its objectives. The Trustees are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported Nourish during the last financial year.
Karen Taylor Nourish, Chair of Trustees 6 August 2026