During the year we have replaced the Information Technology equipment used in DCRSC.   This has been made possible by kind donations from a corporate and an individual benefactor who both prefer to remain anonymous.   We are extremely grateful to them and cannot thank them enough.

All computers are now fit for purpose and we are progressively rolling out support to all of our main service user facing activities.   For example, simple things like accessing maps or finding the nearest doctor can all be done online in seconds, thus allowing our project support workers more time to concentrate on their face-to-face activities with the service users.   Reference and contact information is now held on the computers and in one place, considerably reducing the effort to keep the information up-to-date.

The Internet Suite that we provide for service users own use for keeping in touch with their families and for research on their individual cases is also working far more speedily and reliably, and we have received positive feedback from a number of service users.   All in all we now have the infrastructure in place to further evolve the systems we use to support our service users and our own internal processes.

VISITOR NUMBERS
In 2008 we saw a slight drop in the number of visitors coming to the Clothing Store.   A drop of 93 visitors compared with 2007.   The numbers show that January to June were our busiest months, with around 200 men and women visiting us each month.   The numbers in general, show that more men than women are visiting the store each month;  there were 1,225 male visitors to the 583 women who visited us last year.

STAFF
Staff levels have fallen very low in 2008, leaving us some days unable to open the Clothing Store.   We have one volunteer who comes in both days the Store is open and four others who come in on different days to help downstairs.  DCRSC has advertised (on its website, in its Newsletter and at the University of Plymouth), for more volunteers downstairs, unfortunately, there have been no enquiries made.

RANGES
The Clothing Store still offers the same variety of products to the service users who use the Centre i.e., clothing, shoes, cooking equipment, children’s books and some toys and other household items which are donated to us.   Shelving which was donated to us privately will go towards reorganising our storage area, which will in turn, will make donations easier to get to for our volunteers. During the winter months, it is of no surprise to know that, demand for blankets have been particularly high. And although donations of blankets and duvets were high in 2008, we are in continuous need of these items.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER AGENCIES
Surplus donations (or those we are unable to pass out to service users for various reasons), is now being collected by the Bristol Textiles Company, who buy from us at a set price.   This money is then put back into the DCRSC funds, and the Clothing Store then has money if we are required to make a purchase say, to replace the clothing rails.

STOCK LEVELS
In 2008 we received high levels of donations from various people and church groups and we are always grateful for whatever we receive.   Contributions came in very regularly during the year and in some weeks, it was necessary for volunteers to come into the centre on weekends in order to keep the work load under control for the coming week.   The contributions received during 2008 were a variety of everything we needed, however, clothing for younger people is still in high demand.

The Clothing Store is now run as part of DCRSC, and no longer as previously, by the Churches Together in Plymouth ( CTiP )³⁴.   We would thank CTiP for their support in the past.   The Clothing Store continues to provide a valuable service for our service users and is open on Drop-in Days - Mondays and Wednesdays, and run by a small group of dedicated volunteers.   When possible, the sorting of donations is carried out on Tuesdays (an Appointments-only Day).   We would like to thank all the churches, groups and individuals who continue to supply us with good quality clothes, bedding and household goods.

Our present needs and requirements are:

I would like to say a personal thank you to Charlie, who has had to step down as Clothes store Coordinator.   She has put in a huge amount of work for us, ending with the assembling of the new shelving.   What a difference that has made!

We are looking for more volunteers during 2009, our 10^th Anniversary Year, so do please ring me if you have some time to spare or if you would like to make a donation either in cash or kind.

There was an overall increase in the use of the Food Programme during 2008.   At times our financial resources were severely stretched.   This resulted in an increase in the budget from April onwards.   We very much appreciate the input from the LankellyChase Foundation who have been flexible about the use of their funds committed to this work.

The Harvest Festival Appeal provided DCRSC with a generous supply of foodstuffs which lasted us almost until the Christmas season.

The members of the Food Team continue to support the programme and work hard to meet the demands of the service.

OVERVIEW
The Food Programme continues to provide relief for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (ASR) within the community who would otherwise be going without food.   Quite often, through no fault of their own, any monies due to them are often withdrawn due to a administrative errors.   Such actions leave them destitute without any means to provide for themselves.   Relief is then obtained through the DCRSC Food Programme.   The demand on the services during the year were such that an increase in the monthly food budget was deemed necessary.   Approval for this was given by the Board of Trustees in April.   Further details appear later in this report.

DONATIONS
In addition to the Food Programme Budget, donations of food continues to be delivered to the Centre on a regular basis, or collected by members of our Food Team.   These donations are vey gratefully received and are donated from all over the region by faith groups, schools, etc., and individual supporters.   This has helped our “Nice-to-have” items for which we have no budgetary provision.   The donations also supplement the Basic Items that are purchased from the Food Programme Budget.   A Harvest Festival Appeal in September brought in a very large amount of goods which kept our Store Room full for a couple of months.   Fresh fruit and vegetables were also received which were left in our Reception Area for our Service Users to take on an ad-hoc basis.

FINANCE
It was mentioned earlier in this report that the Food Programme was granted an increase in its in-house allocated budget.   This was to meet the rising demand on our services and the gradual rise in food costs.   Charitable Funding is received from LankellyChase³⁵. The Harvest Festival Appeal, in addition to food donations, also brought in donations of cash.   It is accepted that some faith groups, etc., have their own charitable causes which they continue to support.

FOOD PARCELS
Nearly 1,700 food parcels were issued by the Food Team to our destitute service users during the year which kept our volunteer members of our Food Team very busy indeed and the Food Programme Coordinator has especially asked me to mention how extremely grateful he is for their continued dedication.

FOOD COMMODITIES
We have two lists of food:

Basic Food Items: These are items we nearly always have in our store by way of purchase.
and
Nice-to-Have Items:  These are items which we rely on to receive by way of donation.

The contents of both lists can be seen in our DCRSC Food Brochure.   These can be downloaded from our website at: http://dcrsc.cfsites.org/

FOOD PROGRAMME ORGANISATION
Firstly the food itself.   Our Harvest Appeal as I said earlier brought in a little extra fresh fruit and vegetables which the Food Team used to give a little extra special additions to the Food Parcels.     A large percentage of fruit and vegetables came from the Oasis Centre Food Bank³⁶ which was overwhelmed with donations.   We also take into account any particular dietary requirements that our service users may have. e.g., nut allergies, vegetarians, no pork, etc.   Food is issued on the four days that the Centre is open for business, but the main Issue Days are Mondays and Wednesdays which are the Centre’s Drop-in Days. However, we are encouraging our service users to come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays so as to ease and spread the workload for our volunteers.   Deliveries of foodstuffs from the local supermarket are usually arranged for Tuesdays.   A record is kept of items that we have purchased during the year and this can be seen in Part 3 of this Review.   You will note that the purchase of long-life milk has increased.   This is because dried, powdered milk is no longer an economical purchase.

Secondly, mention must be made of our loyal volunteers who come in on a regular bases to prepare the food parcels, keep the shelves in the Kitchen stocked and organize the forms and filing, etc. Keeping the Kitchen clean and tidy is also a laborious but essential task.   To make our service users feel welcome and sometimes to have a ‘warm-up’, endless cups of tea and coffee are made and served by our Food Team Members.   All this helps in a little way to acknowledge the practical support that DCRSC provides to the ASR.

Finally, during the year, one of our volunteers, Christine Reid, was appointed Assistant Food Programme Coordinator. This has taken some of the workload off Geoff Read by keeping a general eye on things and checking the stock in the Kitchen and Store.   Also undertaking some of the routine paperwork and food ordering if necessary, and generally deputizing for the Food Programme Coordinator.

LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCIES
Relations with other agencies has still continued with regular visits to the Shekinah Mission³⁷, the Resettlement Agency³⁸ and others.   Also during the year, a link has been made with the Food Bank³⁹ and the Salvation Army⁴⁰ in Devonport.   By building up these links it builds mutual help and support.   Once again, publicity was made with our Harvest Festival Appeal, and at the same time the Food Bank was appealing for donations as they were just setting up with their operation, but surprisingly, our paths didn’t cross and our level of donations, both goods and donations was maintained.   This indeed was a tremendous help with supplementing the food budget.

STATISTICS
These were recorded under the same categories as previously:

Permanent Service Users:  Those whose situations are not likely to change in the foreseeable future
and
Temporary Service Users:  Those whose need is short term only.

All cases are reviewed on a regular basis and no food is issued unless authorized by a Project Support Worker.

The complete set of statistics for the Food Programme can be seen at Part 3.

EXPENDITURE
Financially, the year was at times a bit of a struggle to contain the monthly expenditure with the budget allocation but with financial support from LankellyChase and generous benefactors we were able to maintain the level of support to our service users.   The total expenditure of the Food Programme for 2008 was £4,431.86, making an average of £2.65 per Food Parcel. Towards the end of the year, statistics proved that there appears not to be a decrease in our service.