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Quality
Assurance Report – Colchester Foodbank
Project
Overview
Charity Name & Number: 1152387
Postal address of foodbank: 33 Moorside Business Park, Eastgates, Colchester, CO1 2ZF
Foodbank telephone number: 01206 621998
Enquiries: info@colchester.foodbank.org.uk
Foodbank website address:
www.colchester.foodbank.org.uk
Date foodbank opened: 2009
Number of foodbank centres: 2
Please summarise your foodbank’s achievements and
highlights over the last year:
·
Clients come back to the foodbank
centre for a hot drink and chat so they obviously feel welcome and have built
good relationships with staff.
·
Jeannette has set up a Young Ambassadors
Scheme to encourage young people to get more actively involved in understanding
and promoting the work of the foodbank.
·
Over the last year the reputation
of the foodbank has been restored in the local community.
·
Quality of relationships with referral
agencies has improved.
·
A monthly newsletter has been set
up which goes out to all stakeholders.
·
They now have 1516 followers on
Facebook and the foodbank tries to put an item on each day to keep people
informed about the work of the foodbank.
Statutory
compliance
The
foodbank is complying with all aspects of statutory compliance. Up-to-date public and employer’s liability
insurance is displayed and all expected Health & Safety signage is in place
throughout the project. A health and
safety advisory visit was made by an expert from Family Mosaic and their
recommendations have either been put in place or are in the process of being
done so. Fire equipment is annually maintained and a volunteer, Dr
Janis Meanley, has taken responsibility for checking the First Aid Kit on a
monthly basis and keeping it stocked. One bandage was found to be out-of-date; this was obviously an oversight
as all other contents were well in-date.
A Health and Safety Policy and Procedures document is in place and
comprehensive risk assessments covering all areas have been done. Pest
control is carried out by an external organisation (May 2016) and Portable
Appliance Testing (PAT) is carried out. Volunteer training records are kept.
Commendation 1: The
foodbank takes health and safety of their staff and volunteers very seriously
and professional, extensive and thorough measures are in place to ensure
this.
Commendation 2: The
warehouse continues to be well-managed
and a clear stock rotation procedure is in place. A
communications book is available for all volunteers to check daily and make
notes in as required.
Commendation 3: Manual handling information is on display in
the warehouse (Image 1) and this will also go in the Warehouse Volunteer
Induction pack in the process of being created.
Commendation 4: As part of the volunteer
induction process, volunteers read through the health and safety policy and
risk assessments.
Commendation 5: A
clear sign is up in both the foodbank centre and warehouse showing the location
of the first aid kit (Image 2 and 3), name of the appointed person and the
first aid kit is checked on a monthly basis.
Recommendation 1: Ensure you have a written record
/ signatures from volunteers saying they have read all risk assessments.
Recommendation 2: Avoid over-stacking of products (milk on this
occasion) on the top shelves in the warehouse (Image 4). Put up clear signs on the shelving with the
maximum weight and how this equates in terms of crates / layers of products.
Network
compliance
The
foodbank is committed to following the Trussell Trust model and processes within
the Operating Manual. The processes for
weighing and recording food supplies throughout the warehouse comply with those
recommended by the Trussell Trust; rather than using the forms in the manual
they have a book where stock in and stock out is routinely entered and this works
well. Lesley Maukes enters data every
Tuesday. The foodbank has decided to
continue with 2 box sizes, rather than the full 4, due to space
limitations. However, a guideline for
adding items to the current standard and family parcel is being put together. Homeless parcels are also provided.
Commendation 6: The
foodbank is fully committed to complying with Trussell Trust network good
practice and expectations. Jeannette has
acted on all the recommendations from last year’s report.
Commendation 7: Clients
are warmly welcomed and actively engaging with clients through conversation is
regular and expected practice at the centre.
Commendation 8: Effective
measures have been put in place to ensure regular contact with referral agencies regarding
4+ clients to ensure a solution is in place and to be able to assess the
client’s situation and need.
Commendation 9: Signposting resources
have been clearly organised so they are accessible to volunteers; volunteers
found the laminated sheet particularly useful.
Commendation 10: Effective safeguarding measures
have been put in place.
Recommendation 3: Carry out an annual
stocktake following guidance in the Operating Manual. This will ensure the foodbank complies with the
Charity Commission auditing expectations and is able to verify the accuracy of
data on the system.
Colchester
Foodbank is very much a multi-church project with 5 different churches
represented on the project board. This
is a great strength of the project. The
trustees are extremely supportive and the project manager is invited to all
trustee meetings at which she provides a monthly report. Clear line management is in place; Jeannette
meets monthly with the Chair of Trustees.
Richard Priest, Regional Director for Care and Support Services for
Family Mosaic, is a new trustee. His
background brings a wealth of experience to the trustee team. In the last 2 trustee meetings they have been
looking at development of the trustee board and would like someone with
financial expertise. New trustees ‘buddy
up’ with more experienced trustees. The
current ‘Getting to know you’ focus in the newsletter is on trustees; this is a
good way of other foodbank stakeholders knowing the trustees.
Effective
stock management is in place. As a
result of monthly stock checks, the website and Facebook page are regularly
updated and Anne Barney is in regular contact with all supermarkets in terms of
food requirements. This ensures the most
appropriate stock is collected.
They
have in excess of 50 referral agencies.
All the agencies are currently being updated with handbooks and
signatory forms. The foodbank is also in
the process of ensuring all contact details and addresses are up to date. Jeannette attends regular meetings with
agencies and is working directly with the Job Centre. Agencies feel welcome to drop into the
Foodbank and they also talk to volunteers to help them with signposting. JCP have provided some benefits training for
the volunteers and the foodbank also refers clients to them.
Julie Rusiecki,
a trustee, is responsible for all volunteers’ wellbeing. New volunteers are assigned a ‘buddy’ to support
them and Jeannette does regular supervision with lead volunteers. Judi Bastow
is lead volunteer in the warehouse and has appointed ‘deputies’ for each day. Jeannette
has identified volunteer training requirements and the project has secured
£1000 of funding for training. The
foodbank has developed a programme to provide 6 week placements for those with
disabilities. Three volunteers are available to mentor them. Steve, who came from Colchester Institute,
with his Learning Support worker, has now gone on to gain employment at
Broomfield Hospital as a porter. Simon,
who came from Headway, became such an integral part of the team, that at the
end of his placement, he was offered a regular volunteer post. He is now
working through a Volunteer Skills Portfolio that Jeannette has introduced, for
those volunteers who will benefit from it.
The
project has continued to make good use of social media through Facebook and
currently have 1400 followers. They ran a Fair Lent Challenge which
was designed to raise awareness of what it is like to have to live on a food
parcel. This received a lot of publicity and a total of 40 people took part.
Colchester United sent along representatives to a recent food drive. The foodbank is
in the process of setting up a Young Ambassadors Programme for which Jeannette
has written the material. It will be overseen by Claire Marshall, helped by
Claire Naylor and one of the Trustees, Brian Ford, will also be involved.
The
foodbank’s accounts are healthy although they are aware of the need for
continued fundraising.
Commendation 11: The appointment of Jeannette as Project Manager
has put the project on an extremely solid footing. She has put in place all recommendations and
requirements from last year’s QAV report, in addition to other innovative and
effective measures. Her management of
the project is extremely effective. Governance
is also strong.
Commendation 12: Volunteers feel valued and supported and
measures are in place to address training needs. A good support system is in place at the
foodbank centre for volunteers and for those with support needs. A very strong team ethos was evidence during
my visit.
Commendation 13: The project has an excellent profile in the
local community through the website and social networking. Jeannette continues to forge effective
relationships with referral agencies.
Commendation 14: They have been successful in funding,
receiving £10000 towards the manager’s post, £1000 for volunteer training
budget and £1000 for developing their satellite programme.
Recommendation 4: Continue to look at ways to develop
volunteers’ knowledge of local services and signposting skills eg through
inviting key agencies to training.
Recommendation 5: Put together a fundraising plan to help ensure
a regular income stream throughout the year, linking in with grant deadlines.
In
terms of additional services, Colchester Foodbank has partnered with various
local agencies which run regular clinics at the Foodbank Centre: CAP, One Support and they are in the process
of setting up one with PoHwer (Mental Health Advocacy). Some clients return for pre-booked
appointments and find this support valuable.
A women’s refuge have also approached the foodbank enquiring about
running a clinic. They are also involved
in book packages for Home Start visits and have received a grant enabling them
to provide fresh fruit and vegetables.
Commendation 15: Colchester Foodbank has extremely effective
leadership and management. Trustees have
a good understanding of risk and sustainability issues and are continuing to
address these.
Commendation 16: The
future objectives of the foodbank outlined so far are both realistic and timely
given the stage of development that the foodbank has now reached.
Recommendation 6: Once new trustees are in place, look at the longer term vision of the
foodbank and build this into the business plan along with
objectives of how it will be achieved.
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Signed: Jo Stevenson Date: 22nd July 2016