Community Food Provision
The North East region has the highest levels of food insecurity in the whole of the UK.
At least one in four children In Gateshead are growing up in poverty.
Poverty is about a lot more than hunger, but the food we eat and what food is available to us is often the first thing to be affected when families are struggling.
Being hungry, not having access to food that is good for you and affordable, affects your whole life, from relationships to education and employment, your environment, health and wellbeing.
Gateshead has been identified as having one of the highest levels of risk of food insecurity when looking at factors such as proximity and access to supermarkets, fuel poverty, and access to online deliveries. 
Voluntary organisations, faith groups, and public services across Gateshead provide a huge amount of support to those who are experiencing food insecurity. These organisations are reliant on amazing individuals who are determined, compassionate, and resilient.
Over the last few years, they’ve seen demand for their services rise whilst capacity and donations decrease. We’re grateful for all they do, and determined that through working in partnership, we can help voices of those living with poverty to be heard, and transformation seen, whether at policy-making or grassroots levels. Ultimately, we want to eliminate hunger in our communities.
Community Food Projects
In June 2024, Gateshead Food Partnership was able to distribute grant funding to organisations around Gateshead who had ideas for ambitious, innovative and effective projects that will help shape Gateshead food systems and practices in the long term.
We gave out over £90,000 funding to organisations piloting new ways of working, new approaches and partnerships, that focus on building capacity and resilience in communities, preventing the need for emergency food provision.
Gateshead Food Hub
Gateshead Food Partnership is also working on setting up a ‘Food Hub’ and electric van delivery service, which will use the collective purchasing power of the network to be able to buy food in bulk direct from producers, saving organisations time and money.
It will also enable redistribution of food surplus from retailers and manufacturers who might have more ad hoc, large amounts of food that one or two small organisations would not be able to handle on their own. Get in touch if you would like to get involved with this project as we begin trials.
Resources
Directory of free and affordable food provision in Gateshead, sorted by locality areas.
Contact us if you would like to amend or add to this directory.
Partner project examples
Embells
Run by members of the community, for the community, Embells is a place of welcome and empowerment, helping to make a better everyday life for individuals and families in need. based in the East of Gateshead, Leam Lane.
Every Friday Embells provides a community market and food pantry. There is no criteria to meet, everyone is welcome to come along. They sell bargain food bags for £4 for which you can pick & mix 12 items of your choice from fresh food, frozen, tinned, and also cleaning products and pet supplies. Embells also run a community lunch service every week, and wellbeing support groups.
With community food project grant funding, Embells aims to bring the local community together with recipe sharing and meal sessions. Through an online group, monthly pop up cooking demonstrations and food ingredients bags with recipe cards, especially those who access the food pantry will be able to share recipe ideas, give tips about using the ingredients they supply at the food pantry, and preventing the food waste.
Peace of Mind
Peace of Mind are a refugee-led charity which supports newly arrived and existing refugees and asylum seekers to integrate into new and unfamiliar surroundings and to overcome some of the difficulties they face.
Peace of Mind runs a drop-in session every week, which includes providing a food pantry where healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food is available to take away for free.
They tackle issues of food insecurity and financial inclusion through our advice, advocacy support, teaching money management skills, wellbeing activities, and signposting.
Peace of Mind offers choice, anonymity and confidentiality, allowing people to develop safe and trusting relationships, building self confidence, self development and independence.
As the team at Peace of Mind co-design our projects with RAS families and individuals, they conducted a survey with their community.
The key findings indicate:
- 85% struggle to afford formula milk for their children.
- 88% struggle to afford nappies for their children.
- 89% find it difficult to afford toiletries and cleaning products.
- 90% struggle to purchase medicine for their children.
- 93% never have enough money to buy food, especially culturally appropriate food.
- 95% struggle to afford necessary clothing, particularly winter clothing for children.
- 96% find it challenging to buy secondary school uniforms and other supplies, including stationery.
Their response to this survey is to continue offering relief in times of need by providing emergency and hardship support, including food, clothing, toiletries, and baby items, as well as casework support, which is vital to ensure the immediate needs of new arrivals are met.
