Compass Group who are one of the UK’s top catering, hospitality, and business support providers, based in Chertsey, have been helping the local homeless with the donation of rucksacks.
Megan at Just a Helping Hand told us
“To have this amazing donation of rucksacks is honestly just incredible, and we are truly grateful.
We have many distributors who issue rucksacks to those who need them most. One such group is women who are released from prison. Many of these women being released are homeless and some come from domestic abuse situations. We take this into account when filling these rucksacks.
Can you imagine the feelings of these women when they open their rucksack and find such lovely things as a wash bag filled with deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrush, nail file, and lip balm. But there is much more – including a pack of new socks and underwear, a flask (with refill information for free at local outlets), hat, scarf and gloves, meal vouchers, and a small Bible.
Such an act of kindness makes such a difference to them from both a practical and an emotional point of view. It has been said to us that such generosity from a stranger provides a real sense of being cared for and thought about. This can ease anxiety, provide hope, help with depression and even remove thoughts of suicide”
Local food banks need your support with donation of non-perishable food or a financial donation.
Runnymede:
Runnymede Foodbank
Food donations to any of the food donation points
Make a financial donation via the Runnymede Foodbank website
Spelthorne:
Community Foodbank - Sunbury and Shepperton:
Food donations to Saviour's Church, 205 Vicarage Rd, Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 7TP.
Contact: community@stsaviourssunbury.org.uk
Make a financial donation at St Saviour's Sunbury Community Foodbank more information on the St Saviours Community Foodbank website
Manna Foodbank
Food donation points https://www.mannafoodbank.co.uk/where_to_donate_
Contact: info@mannafoodbank.org.uk
Make a financial donation at https://www.mannafoodbank.co.uk/how_you_can_help
Stanwell Foodbank
Donations of food to the The Pavilion, Cambria Gardens, Stanwell, TW19 7ER
Contact: info@stanwellfoodbank.org.uk
Make a financial donation at http://www.stanwellfoodbank.org.uk/help.html
The Salvation Army – Ashford
Donations to be placed by the main door at the Community Centre, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, TW15 3HY. Food bank opening hours 9am - 12 midday from Monday to Friday.
Contact : staines@salvationarmy.org.uk
Financial donations by cash and cheque should be sealed in an envelope and posted through the letterbox. Anyone requiring a receipt should include their name and address in the envelope
Bags of Help, Jubilee Church Shepperton
Donations of food - box situated next to the front door at the Jubilee Centre, Manygate Lane, Shepperton, Middlesex, TW17 9EE
Contact: bagsoffood@jubileechurchshepperton.org
Surrey Heath:
Hope Hub
Donations of food to The Hope Hub Building, Rear of Library, Knoll Road, Camberley, GU15 3SY or call 01276 581174
Financial donations via https://thehopehub.org.uk/donate/
Besom Food Bank
Donations of food to High Cross Church, Knoll Rd, Camberley GU15 3SY
Financial donations via https://www.churchestogetherincamberley.org.uk/the-besom-in-camberley/
Payroll Giving is a scheme run through HMRC which allows employees to make simple, tax-effective donations to any UK charity or good cause. Employees can give to any organisation recognised as charitable by HMRC.
As a charity, Payroll Giving provides an unrestricted source of regular income for your cause, and when you receive donations through Payroll Giving there is no need to apply for Gift Aid, saving you money and time. As opposed to Gift Aid where donations can only be increased by 25% regardless of the donor’s tax bracket, Payroll Giving allows charities to receive the full tax relief. This is particularly beneficial for donations from higher rate tax-payers.
For a donor, the advantages of making a donation to charity through Payroll Giving are:
Employers who pay employees or pensioners through PAYE, set up a Payroll Giving scheme through a Payroll Giving agency, using the list of organisations approved and monitored by HMRC to set up a scheme. Deductions are made each time payroll is run by the employer, with the donation taken from employees’ pay before tax (but after National Insurance). The donations are then sent to the Payroll Giving agency who pass them on to the chosen charities. Some agencies charge an administration fee, although the employee can opt for the fee to be deducted from their donation.
As an employer, most corporate organisations realise how important Corporate Social Responsibility is, both for their reputation as a responsible business and a good employer. By having a payroll giving scheme, businesses can offer a genuine employee benefit and boost their CSR at the same time. Choosing a charity for the whole organisation to support each year can also be a great employee engagement activity, with additional fundraising events from time to time building team spirit and pride in the organisation.
And finally the good news from HMRC is that employers can deduct any costs of running the scheme from their business profits before tax.
Details on the HMRC website
If your charity has events where you accept donations you should be reclaiming gift aid from HMRC using the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme GASDS. The maximum donation for which you can make a claim on the GASDS scheme is currently £20 but due to rise to £30 in April 2019, and it's important to note that donations are not a membership or ticket fee
The rules are straightforward, you must already be registered for gift aid and have made a gift aid claim. Your charity can then claim a payment equivalent to gift aid on cash donations of £20 or less, without the need for the donor to complete any paperwork, or for the donor to be a taxpayer. GASDS Claims are made alongside Gift Aid claims using the Charities Online template provided by HMRC. Note that an individual donation can only be eligible for one type of claim. It is either eligible under Gift Aid or the GASDS but not both.
HMRC states that to make a GASDS claim you must have claimed Gift Aid in the same tax year as you want to claim GASDS and without incurring a penalty in the last two years. You must also have claimed Gift Aid in at least two of the last four tax years (without a two-year gap between claims). Your GASDS claim can’t be more than 10 times your Gift Aid claim – so if you receive £100 in Gift Aid donations in a tax year, you can only claim on up to £1,000 of small donations under GASDS for that year (when you actually submit the claim is irrelevant). The maximum GASDS claim is £2000.
I found a really good example on the stewardship.org.uk website:
A charity receives £8,800 in a tax year in eligible cash donations with documented Gift Aid donations of £800 and small cash donations of £8,000. The charity can make claims on all of its donations; £800 under the Gift Aid scheme, and £8,000 under the GASDS because the matching principle allows for a GASDS claim of ten times that of the Gift Aid claim for donations received in the same tax year. The charity will receive £2000 in GASDS (25% of £8000) which is currently the maximum and £200 (25% of £800) in Gift Aid from their £8800 donations.
Good to note that you should inform your supporters that they need to commit to Gift Aid to allow you to make a GASDS claim.