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From Crisis to Resilience

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:37:33 GMT

Feeding Britain’s National Network Gathering: Event Report

On Friday 2 ^nd July the Feeding Britain Network Gathering took place in Newcastle. The theme this year was “From Crisis to Resilience”. Partners from across the UK joined together to share good practice, workshop ideas, and help drive the affordable food movement to help foster resilient communities that can move people away from crisis.

The event was supported by a number of local organisations and Feeding Britain received a small amount of financial support from Gateshead Council from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Gateshead-based organisations were well represented, including St Chad’s Community Project and Feeding Families, and the event featured a new short Gateshead Food Partnership film about the ‘Beyond Foodbanks’ approach in Gateshead: see below.

Professor Greta Defeyter OBE, Chair of Trustees at Feeding Britain and Dean of Social Mobility Policy Engagement at Northumbria University, opened the day covering the data on food insecurity in the UK, showcasing the success of the Holiday Activities and Food programme, and making the provocation,

"You have to be resilient to live in poverty. Why do poor people have to be more resilient? We need to make our systems more resilient to lift people out of poverty. "

Andrew Forsey OBE, from Feeding Britain then gave an excellent overview of the policy levers Feeding Britain are working hard to push through, that will significantly increase the cash in people's pockets and reduce demand for food banks - such as their recent policy briefing about Universal Credit and the 5-week wait , and the petition they have launched to keep the link between free school meal entitlement and access to the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. Please consider signing - Petition for the Holiday Activities and Food programme - keep the link with Free School Meals

It was a privilege to share a little about Gateshead Food Partnership with Edie Miller from St Chad's Community Project and Wayne Dobson from Feeding Families . We showed our new film entitled 'Beyond Foodbanks' - click this link or see below.

"People often talk about alternatives to food banks, but I think what we've also tried to build is an alternative to the supermarket. I think any place which takes food - which is a human right - into the hands of the community, where its distributed by people who take care of each other and build the power of that community - in this day and age that's a miracle".

- Edie about St Chad's Community Project Market.

"We need to protect and invest in these community spaces alongside efforts to reduce poverty, because they do a different kind of work which, in my opinion, is just as important as tackling low incomes: they create a sense of agency and belonging that helps repair the long-term impacts of poverty."

- a bit from Gateshead Food Partnership Coordinator Nikki Dravers' talk.

Workshops and networking throughout the day gave lots of inspiration and practical advice from amazing projects around the UK - from sourcing food to funding to wrap-around support in community food projects. I was floored at the very start of the day to hear from Tim that in Leicester there are now no food banks, and that even the food clubs/social supermarkets are seeing their demand reduce as they provide all the financial advice to maximise incomes, and social support to help people through multiple issues that drive them towards need for food charity.

Finally, we were pleased to have Director of Public Health for Newcastle and Gatesehad, Alice Wiseman MBE, close the day by putting the day's discussions firmly in the context of Public Health and talk about work across Gateshead and Newcastle.

"From a Public Health perspective, our food system is impacting the health and wellbeing of our population more than any other single factor... Access to nutritious, affordable food underpins our health, dignity, and opportunity".

No better call to arms for us as a Food Partnership. If you haven't already, please consider signing our Food Charter and getting involved however you can: we need to work together.

Feeding Britain Network Event

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:48:44 GMT

Beyond Foodbanks: Feeding Britain’s National Network Gathering

Beyond Foodbanks: Feeding Britain’s National Network Gathering

Feeding Britain has chosen to host its annual network gathering in the North East this year. With speakers and attendees from organisations across the UK, this is a valuable opportunity to showcase the region’s commitment to reducing food insecurity and reliance on emergency food aid, while learning from policy, practice, and research from projects nationwide. The day will feature a range of workshops and talks from across the Feeding Britain network, covering topics such as food supply and sustainability, children’s food provision, wraparound support, how frontline charities can influence policy, and wider discussions on moving “beyond foodbanks”.

Date: 3 ^rd July 2026

Time: The event will start at 10:15am (with the venue open from 9:45am) and run until 3:30pm. The venue will also stay open until 4:00pm for those who would like to network with other partners.

Location: Urban Sciences Building, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG.

Please sign up using this registration form by Monday 15th June. The venue has limited capacity, so Feeding Britain have said that if attendance exceeds capacity, they may need to limit attendance to 1-2 individuals per organisation. As places are limited, we are keen to ensure the right mix of attendees to make the event as impactful as possible. If you feel this event would benefit a colleague or partner with influence over policy, commissioning, or service delivery in this area, please do share the invitation with them.

If you have any questions about this event please don’t hesitate to contact Anna Lopez, Project Manager at Feeding Britain, www.feedingbritain.org

Whether you are able to attend of not, I highly recommend reading Feeding Britain's recent survey report of Food Clubs across the UK: click here - Feeding Resilience Report

May 2026 Newsletter

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:02:09 GMT

Gateshead Food Partnership Newsletter May 2026

Here is a copy of May 2026 newsletter sent to all who have signed the Gateshead Food Charter: if you would like to receive emails like this in future, or contribute to the newsletter sharing something with around 200 members, please sign up here.

Hello Gateshead Food Partnership members,

Here is your news from across Gateshead Food Partnership this month. As always, if there is anything you would like to share in future newsletter please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Spotlight on … every month we shine a spotlight on a project or group who are working towards the aims of our Gateshead Food Charter, to raise awareness and champion our local community organisations and to inspire opportunities for partnership working.

This month’s spotlight is on Foodcycle

FoodCycle is a national charity that brings communities together by transforming surplus food into free, nutritious meals, helping to tackle food waste and social isolation. FoodCycle Felling hosts a welcoming community meal every Friday at lunchtime, 12.30pm, offering local residents a chance to enjoy a hot, two-course meal and connect with others in a friendly, inclusive setting.

FoodCycle Gateshead Felling is only possible thanks to great volunteers giving their time, enthusiasm and energy. If you’d like to volunteer at one of these events, they are always looking for cooks, hosts and food collection volunteers. Find out more here.

The Foodcycle regional team are looking to open a community meal at one other venue in Gateshead, and are also looking for projects interested in becoming franchise partners. If you have a setting in mind or are interested in hearing more about partnerships, please get in touch with Steve Sheard stevesheard@foodcycle.org.uk .

1.News, needs, and offers from Food Partnership members

Gibside Community Farm are busy on the fields at this time of year! They’re looking for more volunteers on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and you can subscribe to their lovely organic veg boxes via their new website: Gibside Community Farm | Sustainable organic farming & community in the North East
Food Hygiene training for Kurdish and Farsi speaking volunteers: The team at St Chad's Community Project are organising some food hygiene training session with in-person interpretation into Kurdish and Farsi. The sessions will take place in either June or July, and placed will be limited in line with funding. To give us a better sense of numbers, if anyone at your organisations would be interested in taking part in these sessions, please email Hafsa on hafsa@stchadscommunityproject.org to register interest.
Green Heart Collective have very sadly announced that they are closing their shop and café space on Gateshead High Street, on 19 ^th June. However, sadness is mixed with excitement as they will be taking on a new studio space in Gateshead town centre to continue their upcycling and sewing workshops. Their event The Alt Met Gala last month was a great success and we’re excited to see what they do. Show Andy and Helen your support and thanks for all they’ve done for Gateshead High Street by popping in to the shop before 19 ^th June – everything must go, all clothing and accessories are £3 – grab a bargain!

2. What we’ve been up to

The Late Shows

We had a great time at Gateshead Central Library for The Late Shows. Food Partnership member the brilliant Herb Hub were busy all night making lovely things with dried and fresh herbs; we had a food waste quiz, lots of interesting chat about food system issues and opportunities in Gateshead; and a popular pic'n'mix bag of fruit sweets rescued and dehydrated by REfUSE . The perfect fuel visitors needed as they toured the other activities at the Library all themed around "the power of plants".... then on to the 11 other venues full of creativity in Gateshead Town centre!

Gateshead Railway Quarter Arches event

The launch of Gateshead’s newest event space was a great success, with plenty of sunshine and a fantastic turnout from the local community. Visitors enjoyed an afternoon of food, activities and performances from local organisations and artists, with the backdrop of the beautiful newly painted arches in the Railway Quarter. Gateshead Food Partnership member Hope Beyond Borders were there, running a popular workshop where people got stuck into making delicious vegetarian arepas. If you’re interested in getting involved with an event like this in future – keep scrolling to section 6!

Bensham Bites

Currently funded by an Awards for All, Bensham Bites continues to run workshops in the communities of Bensham, Saltwell, Teams and Dunston with the Comfrey Project, HerbHub, St Chads Community Project, Good Natured and The Chev. The first two workshops of this series of twelve took place at St Chads Community Project and Bensham Court. At St Chads, led by Edie, we made planters using beer Key Kegs. These beer kegs are sold as being sustainable but are single use. Whilst we were making our planters, we had an interesting conversation around greenwashing and the contradictions that can happen with eco-friendly strategies. The second workshop at Bensham Court, was led by Christine of Good Natured, where we learnt about microgreens and how easy it is to grow in small spaces and on windowsills. People went away with their own microgreens to grow from seed and we are looking forward to seeing them grow. To find out how to get involved check out Dingy Butterflies CIC's website and join us for our network meeting on the 15 June at the Comfrey Project, https://www.dingybutterflies.org/bensham-bites-in-june-july/.

3. Upcoming events

Beyond Foodbanks: Feeding Britain Network Gathering. 3 ^rd July 2026.

Following the save the date last month, you can now sign up to attend the Feeding Britain network gathering on Friday 3rd July 2026. The event will be held at the Urban Sciences Building, Newcastle University , 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG. The event will start at 10:15am (with the venue open from 9:45am) and run until 3:30pm. The venue will also stay open until 4:00pm for those who would like to network with other partners.
The day will include a number of practice-sharing workshops and talks from colleagues across the Feeding Britain network, covering topics including food supply and sustainability, children's food provision, wraparound support, and how frontline charities can influence policy, as well as wider discussion on moving beyond foodbanks.
Please sign up using this registration form by Monday 15th June. It would be great to see lots of Gateshead organisations represented there: a fantastic opportunity to hear about policy, practice, and research around the topic of food insecurity, and to learn from projects around the UK.

The venue has limited capacity, so Feeding Britain have said that if attendance exceeds capacity, they may need to limit attendance to 1-2 individuals per organisation.

If you have any questions about this event please contact Anna Lopez, Project Manager, Feeding Britain, www.feedingbritain.org

Bensham Bites Workshops

Join Bensham Bites for a series of FREE workshops for Gateshead residents and organisations exploring community food, nature, and art. See flyer below and attached. Bensham Bites are also seeking a freelance creative to co-develop, with local participants, a nature and food-themed resource for the community, contributing artwork that can be shared in packs, online and at a celebratory event: please help share the advert attached with anyone you think could be suitable.

Sustain webinars on new Crisis and Resilience Fund and the charitable food sector

If you missed it I highly recommend watching the recording of this webinar held on 15 April. Following this, Sustain are working with IFAN to hold a follow up webinar focused on developing wraparound support alongside food aid projects. We will be hearing from frontline speakers about how they developed a strong wraparound offer, what worked or didn’t work, and some practical information and tips for others. This event is aimed at frontline food projects, food partnerships and alliances, local authorities and other interested voluntary and community organisations. Book your spot now: https://www.sustainweb.org/events/jun26-the-crisis-and-resilience-fund/

Pop-up community festivals are happening over the summer on the sites of 4 high rise blocks in Gateshead. There'll be a DJ, food, crafting activities, gardening workshops, lawn games, etc. All are welcome! The events will be taking place on 4 consecutive Wednesdays:

Ripley Court, Harlow Green on 24 June, 3-6pm;
Adelaide Court, Mulgrave Terrace on Wednesday 1 July, 3-6pm;
St Cuthberts Court, St Cuthberts Road, Bensham on Wednesday 8 July, 3-6pm;
Fell Court, Bluebell Close, Beacon Lough on Wednesday 15 July, 3-6pm

4. Food Justice Network

Last month’s newsletter explored more around the work we are doing across the network towards out our shared vision, the first statement in the Gateshead Food Charter, that Gateshead becomes a place where everyone has access to healthy, nutritious, and affordable food, moving from reliance on food aid to food justice and resilience.

We’re launching a new network : a working group part of the Food Partnership that is specifically focussed on this first aim of the food charter. Feeding Families will host the network, which for now we are calling a ‘Food Justice Network’ but we’d love for the name, as well as the terms of reference and specific objectives, to be set by the people who are part of it. We’re looking for people to join this working group to help build a stronger collective voice, work together across Gateshead organisations to share practical solutions, improve quality of food offered, and support more sustainable models. If you would like to be part of this network, please email Wayne wayne@feedingfamilies.org.uk .

5. Summer holiday family support

Brighten the Day is back for the school Summer Holidays. It’s funded fun and food in the holidays for children in years reception to Year 11. Make sure you tell families in your community to check their emails on 23 ^rd June and click on the e-voucher to see what’s on offer and make bookings. Please see the flyer attached for more info and links to guidance about how to sign up.

Great British Summer Savings Keep an eye out for ways families you support can save this summer. From late June to early September, the government’s new “Great British Summer Savings” scheme means cheaper kids’ meals, discounted tickets to cinemas, theatres and attractions, plus free bus travel for 5–15 year olds in August: helping families enjoy low-cost days out while budgets are still tight.

(Incidentally, though it may be positive for families to be able to take kids out for food in the holidays, all parents will know it’s a mixed bag when it comes to kids menus serving up good nutrition – the Soil Association’s out to lunch campaign monitors this in detail. I found this blog post helpful in summarising the issue of relieving short-term pressures but knocking out longer-term priorities.

6. Get involved: Food events in Gateshead Town Centre – Sunday 2nd August

Gateshead Council are hosting a food festival event on Sunday 2nd August across Gateshead town centre: including a Community Cook-off, hot food stalls, children’s activities, and a cookery demo stage. They are inviting organisations and community groups to get involved, it would be great if some of our Food Partnership members could showcase and share their expertise on cooking nutritious food that celebrates plants, diverse tastes and cultures, and boosts health.

Community Cook Off – Railway Quarter
A friendly BBQ cook‑off where community groups can enter a team of 6 (12 teams in total). Food, charcoal BBQs and all equipment are provided. The event will run roughly 10am–4pm and will also include music and family activities. This is being jointly hosted by Gateshead Council Community Safety, the Town Centre Manager and Northumbria Police. Complete the expression of interest form here. Gateshead Food event - Expression of Interest

Food stalls and cookery demonstrations

I’ve committed Gateshead Food Partnership to take on some food engagement activities: the proposal is a cookery demonstration stage and a rota of workshops a bit like we ran at the From Gardens to Gatherings event in Saltwell Park last year. Please get in touch with me – NikkiDravers@gateshead.gov.uk if you are interested in being on stage doing a cooking demo, running a workshop, or selling a product.

7. Call for Northern Farmers to host Learning Hubs

Northern Food and Farming are looking for three Northern Farmers who can work collaboratively to co-develop pilot activities that align with the NFF priority action areas – an opportunity to help shape a fairer, more resilient food system while developing your own farm, with funding and support available for pilot projects. Deadline is 5pm on Monday 8 June to submit an expression of interest .

If you are a farmer embedded in your local networks, and you're open to sharing challenges as well as success. We invite you to apply.

Please read all the details including the selection criteria in the recruitment pack and submit your expression of interest by 8th June.

8. Job opportunity

REfUSE are recruiting a Volunteer Champion: a full-time, hands-on role based at their amazing community café in Chester le Street. You will be leading their volunteer programme, supporting recruitment, training and coordination in a busy, community-focused team. Deadline is soon! 7th June. More info in their recruitment pack : Work with us - REfUSE Durham

9. Recipe of the month

We're lucky to have Chef Anthony O'Shaughnessy on our Food Partnership steering group, bringing energy and ideas around food education and engagement. Anthony has kindly put together a recipe to share with our network: Caldo Verde - Portuguese Green Soup. I've added it to our website’s blog page: Recipe for Spring: Caldo Verde

Let us know if you try it!
Check out Anthony's site COOK'S INSTINCT by @anthonyshock | Substack and follow @AnthonyShock on Instagram for more great recipes.

10. Nourish the Wild’s Edible Plant of the month

Than from Nourish the Wild has kindly offered to provide us with a new addition to the newsletter, highlighting what edible wild plants are out there to try! This month it is…

Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis)

There is no better time of year than now to savour the delicately pink hues of the Lady's Smock or Cuckoo Flower as it's also known. Look out for this wild cousin of your common mustard greens in damp grasslands and even in gardens (another reason to refrain from mowing your grass as often). Being in the mustard family, all parts of this plant are edible. The leaves have a strong kick of Wasabi or Water Cress. You can also try the flowers as a garnish in your salads. However, make sure to leave some for the pollinators. Lady's Smock is also one of the primary food plants of caterpillars of the equally splendid Orange Tip butterfly, which you may well have seen darting around at this time of year.

11. Gateshead Tech4Communities

The Tech4Communities programme has now opened to applications for devices from people living in Gateshead who need access to a mobile phone, tablet or laptop. Devices that were donated locally have been securely wiped and professional refurbished and are now ready to be distributed to their new homes.

Applying is simple: applicants with a Gateshead address will complete the application form with their details, and list a professional who is unrelated to them who can act as their verifier. They will then be contacted automatically to ask them to confirm that the applicant is in need of one of these devices. After verification is confirmed, and the application approved to receive a device, the Digital Poverty Alliance team will ship the device to the address listed on the application. https://digitalpovertyalliance.org/tech4communities/

Please note the number of devices is limited, and these will be 1 per person and assigned on a first come first served basis, once the applications have been verified.

If someone would like support to set up and use their Tech4Communities donated devices, they can book an appointment with the Gateshead Libraries digital team at

Central Library, Birtley Library, Blaydon Library, and Leam Lane Library. To book an appointment, call 0191 433 8422 or email digitalteamlibs@gateshead.gov.uk

I attach a digital leaflet that contains essential information on digital skills, support, and free/discounted connectivity.

12. What to watch/read/listen to

(I had lots in this section last month and am still getting through them myself, so keeping it light this time! If you are receiving this newsletter for the first time and want any copies of previous months please don’t hesitate to ask)

Webinar:

Mentioned above, I highly recommend watching the recording of this webinar held on 15 April about Crisis and Resilience Funding and how charitable food projects can respond.
The Food Foundation create short ‘quite bites’ about food system issues and policy updates, like this one about food price inflation Quick Bites: Could the Iran crisis trigger more food price spikes?

Podcasts:

Eat the system podcast highlights projects around the UK that are working towards food system change, lots of inspiration to be found
The Feeding Britain podcast is always good ‘food for thought’ … this episode includes Prof. Greta Defeyter talking about the future of Holiday Activities and Food Programme

Reports:

New Sustain report: Bridging the Gap – sets out how, amid rising food prices, schemes like vouchers and mobile greengrocers can make healthy, sustainable food more affordable for low-income communities while supporting local growers and economies. How organic in local shops benefits people and communities | Sustain

Thanks for reading! Please be in touch if you have anything to share, any ideas, needs, thoughts, or stories about how we can work together towards our Gateshead Food Charter vision. The challenge is huge but the opportunities to work together are transformational.

Best wishes

Nikki

Recipe for Spring: Caldo Verde

Thu, 07 May 2026 16:38:25 GMT

Portuguese Greens Soup (Caldo Verde)

We're lucky to have Chef Anthony O'Shaughnessy on our Gateshead Food Partnership steering group, bringing energy and ideas around food education and engagement. Anthony has kindly put together a recipe to share with our network: check out his site Cook's Instinct and follow @AnthonyShock on Instagram for more.

Portuguese Greens Soup (Caldo Verde)

Caldo Verde is Portugal’s most beloved home dish. Traditionally, the Portuguese use ‘couve’ greens - a type of cabbage - to make this soup, though you could use any hearty greens like spring cabbage or kale. This soup uses vegetables that were available all through winter, and preserved meat in the form of chourico sausage if they had it, which makes it one of the first dishes you could make to welcome springtime. Ask any Portuguese person about caldo verde and they will tell you just how much they adore it!

Ingredients (serves 4x)

2 tbsp olive oil
½ link chouriço/chorizo or lingui ça (optional - or you could also use plant-based sausages and smoked paprika)
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp salt
3 - 4 medium floury potatoes (350–400g), peeled & large-diced
400ml vegetable or chicken stock
300ml water
1 small head winter greens (cabbage, kale, couve or mustard greens)
½ tsp black pepper (to taste)
Dash lemon juice (to taste)

Method

1. Flavour the oil
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Fry sausage (if using) for 2–3 minutes until fragrant. Remove and set aside.

2. Build the base
Add onion, garlic and salt. Cook 5 - 6 minutes until soft and translucent.

3. Cook the potatoes
Add potatoes, stock and water. Bring to the boil, then simmer 20 - 25 minutes until potatoes are very soft.

4. Blend
Blend until smooth and velvety using a stick blender or jug blender.

5. Prepare the greens
Remove tough stems, roll leaves tightly and slice into thin ribbons.

6. Finish
Add greens to the soup and simmer 3 - 4 minutes until the greens are tender. Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and/or lemon juice.

7. Serve
Ladle into bowls and top with sausage. Serve with crusty bread.

More recipes can be found at WWW.COOKSINSTINCT.COM

April 2026 Newsletter

Tue, 05 May 2026 10:04:44 GMT

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Hello Gateshead Food Partnership members,

I hope you all enjoyed a bank holiday weekend. Here is your news from across Gateshead Food Partnership for the month of April: sorry it’s a few days into May already!

Spotlight on … every month we shine a spotlight on a project or group who are working towards the aims of our Gateshead Food Charter, to raise awareness and champion our local community organisations and to inspire opportunities for partnership working.

This month’s spotlight is on NEDES (North East Diversity, Education and Solidarity) , who do all sorts of activities with refugee, asylum‑seeking and migrant families in Gateshead. Last year NEDES used our UKSPF Community Food Projects grant funding to put on multiple and diverse occasions to learn, cook, and eat together. The project used practical cooking sessions to talk about everyday food challenges such as cooking healthy meals on a budget, planning ahead, storing food properly, eating more plants, and making the most of leftovers. Everything was hands‑on and rooted in foods people use at home, with lots of space for sharing recipes, tips and experiences. Overall, NEDES’ project is a great example of the power of food to bring people together across cultural divides, make people feel welcome, support dignity, and show how environmental sustainability messages land best when rooted in real life.

Families who attended the events said they felt more confident wasting less food, saving money and preparing meals their children enjoy. Just as important, the sessions created time to connect, chat and feel part of something: food as a way into wellbeing, dignity and belonging.

A case study NEDES reported was a mother who had recently settled in Gateshead: “She told us that before joining the sessions she often bought food without a clear plan and sometimes wasted fresh items because she was unsure how to store or reuse them. Through the project she learned simple meal planning, batch cooking and leftover ideas linked to foods her family already used. She said this helped her reduce waste, save money and feel more confident preparing healthy meals for her children.”

News and offers from Food Partnership members

Bensham Court have recently launched their new community garden! We’re so pleased to see the garden in action growing herbs, vegetables and other plants, supported by Herb Hub and Good Natured. As it says in this press release, it is strengthening community in Bensham, creating a shared space that encourages collaboration, improves wellbeing, and celebrates the power of local ideas. More on Facebook here.
Gibside Community Farm are busy on the fields at this time of year! They’re looking for more volunteers on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and you can subscribe to their lovely organic veg boxes via their new website: Gibside Community Farm | Sustainable organic farming & community in the North East
The Hop Garden in High Spen is a haven of biodiversity, a peaceful place where you can learn so much about nature-friendly gardening. Sarah has completely transformed the site over the past 17 years from an overgrown field to a foest garden: see the pictures below. Sarah has decided to hand over the lease of the site to Than, Claire, and Simone from Nourish the Wild : More on this news here . The Hop Garden are running their annual plant swap on 31st May – get yourselves to High Spen to see the garden and swap some plants! Community Plant Swap | Facebook

Organic Food Growing course

Nourish the Wild Nourish the Wild is running a seven week organic food growing course at the Hop Garden between May and June again this year: there are still places available. The course is a mix of theory and practice, modelled on an accredited qualification taking you through all of the key foundations of organic growing. I (Nikki) did the course last year and can highly recommend – Than is the fount of all knowledge and passion for organic and nature-friendly food growing.

Alongside practical skills and knowledge, the course weaves in permaculture principles, ecology, botany and the politics of food. It is intended to inspire self-sufficiency, community resilience and food system change. Email Than if you have any queries. He is also keen for feedback about other days/times/formats that would work better for people if you can’t make this course. Than does have some concessionary places available if cost is a barrier. Book here: Organic Food Growing Course - West Gateshead Tickets, Friday 8 May • 10 AM - 1:30 PM | Eventbrite

Food Hygiene training for Kurdish and Farsi speaking volunteers

The team at St Chad's Community Project are organising some food hygiene training session with in-person interpretation into Kurdish and Farsi. The sessions will take place in either June or July, and placed will be limited in line with funding. To give us a better sense of numbers, if anyone at your organisations would be interested in taking part in these sessions, please email Hafsa on hafsa@stchadscommunityproject.org to register interest.

Upcoming events

Thursday 7th May: Green Heart Collective are hosting an ‘Alt Met Gala’ this Thursday: sounds like lots of creative fun. Green Heart Collective - curated preloved fashion, wellbeing and media
Saturday 9th May: The Late Shows are returning to Gateshead this Saturday. Gateshead Central Library will be showcasing ‘the power of plants’ with creative hands-on activities and things to take home, including Herb Hub herb bags and dehydrated fruit goodies from REfUSE. Pop along and say hello between 6pm-10pm! The Power of Plants! - Gateshead Council
Tuesday 12th May: Our Culture and Food: Small Changes for Better Wellbeing 10:30am - 12:30pm, Unit 12, Interchange Centre, West Street, Gateshead, NE8 1BH. Join Newfound (formerly Tyneside Women’s Health), Connected Voice Haref and Dr Sophia Amenyah from Northumbria University for Our Culture and Food: Small Changes for Better Wellbeing: learn practical tips on healthier cooking using cultural foods without losing the flavours you love. All women are welcome, light refreshments will be provided. To register your interest, contact Newfound on 01914 777898 or enquiries@tynesidewomenshealth.org.uk
From 19th May: Bensham Bites are hosting a series of workshops, from how to grow on your windowsills to learning about seed sovereignty. More info on poster attached, and here: Bensham Bites Tickets, Multiple dates | Eventbrite
31st May: Hop Garden Community Plant Swap Community Plant Swap | Facebook
SAVE THE DATE: Friday 3rd July, Feeding Britain’s annual in-person network event is coming to the North East! This year it will be entitled “Beyond Foodbanks” and will be an opportunity to both showcase the plethora of work going on in the north east, and to hear from others around the country about what we can do in policy, in practice, and in research, to see an end to the need for food banks . It would be great if Gateshead organisations and public sector leaders can attend. More details to follow but for now please save the date: Friday 3rd July.

From Food Aid to Food Justice and Resilience

Our shared vision, the first statement in the Gateshead Food Charter, is that Gateshead becomes a place where everyone has access to healthy, nutritious, and affordable food, moving from reliance on food aid to food justice and resilience.

We were ahead of the curve: this vision is reflected in the new guidelines and criteria set out in the government’s Crisis and Resilience Funding: to “end the mass dependence on emergency food parcels”; and Gateshead’s new ‘Tackling Poverty Together’ strategy begins with the agreement from all partners that we want to rebalance what up to now has been ‘crisis response’ and find more sustainable solutions to address the root causes of poverty. (Find out more and have your say here ).

Members of Gateshead Food Partnership across the borough have been exploring ways to help build initiatives that are part of ‘capacity building’ in our communities: places that build friendships, confidence, skills, a sense of belonging and agency, as well as providing nutritious and culturally appropriate food in an affordable and accessible way. We were lucky to be able to give out around £65,000 of grant funding from the UK Government to projects across Gateshead with this aim. Last week, 50 representatives gathered at the ONE Centre in Pelaw and many of those who received funding last year were able to tell the stories of their projects. From huge and vibrant community cooking sessions and meals for diverse cultures and communities run by NEDES and Hope Beyond Borders, to peer support at Peace of Mind for parents of refugee and asylum-seeking children with autism and neurodiversity who face multiple barriers to eating nutritious food. From St Chad’s community market with its co-operative pricing model, to folk in Chopwell asking ‘Can Chopwell Feed Itself?’ and launching a series of food growing initiatives including a new community allotment and new planters full of herbs placed around the village. experimental and accessible recipe-making from herbs you can grow on your windowsill. It was inspiring to hear all about these projects, it certainly gave me a feeling of hope seeing how much good work, resilience, innovation, and community spirit there is in Gateshead. Thank you to all involved.

Crisis and Resilience Funding

Please find attached the presentation given at the event about Crisis and Resilience Funding: this sets out general information on CRF and the proposed approach from Gateshead Council to deliver the DWP required outcomes. However please note that the delivery plan and spend profile has not yet been fully signed off and therefore is subject to change.

We’re launching a new network : a food partnership working group that is specifically focussed on this first aim of the food charter. Feeding Families will host the network, which for now we are calling a ‘Food Justice Network’ but we’d love for the name, as well as the terms of reference and specific objectives, to be set by the people who are part of it. We’re looking for people to join this working group to help build a stronger collective voice, work together across Gateshead organisations to share practical solutions, improve quality of food offered, and support more sustainable models. If you would like to be part of this network, please email Wayne wayne@feedingfamilies.org.uk .

Feeding Families Regional Food Hub

Across Gateshead and the wider North East, organisations continue to work tirelessly to meet the needs of their communities while managing stretched budgets, limited capacity, and complex systems. The Regional Food Hub is designed to make food provision more efficient and sustainable. By offering wholesale-priced food, simple ordering, and free delivery through our warehouse and logistics network, it enables community organisations to stretch budgets further and support more people - “you order, we source, we deliver.” Find out more: www.feedingfamilies.org.uk/regional-food-hub

Jobs

Feeding Families are recruiting for two new part-time roles:

Food Justice Network & Projects Lead (25 hours) – a hands-on role leading the development of the Gateshead Food Justice Network, bringing partners together, coordinating activity, and turning collaboration into tangible improvements in local food provision.
Trusts & Partnerships Manager (27 hours) – responsible for growing and sustaining our funding pipeline, securing £200k–£300k annually through trusts and foundations, and building strong, strategic relationships that underpin our long-term impact.

Both roles are central to building a more coordinated, resilient, and dignified approach to food support across the region. You can view these opportunities and more on our Work With Us page:
www.feedingfamilies.org.uk/work-with-us

Get involved: Food events in Gateshead Town Centre – Sunday 2nd August

Gateshead Council are hosting a food festival event on Sunday 2nd August across Gateshead town centre: including a Community Cook-off, hot food stalls, children’s activities, and a cookery demo stage. They are inviting organisations and community groups to get involved, it would be GREAT if some of our Food Partnership members could showcase and share their expertise on cooking nutritious food that celebrates plants, diverse tastes and cultures, and boosts health.

Food stalls and cookery demonstrations – Trinity Square

I’ve committed Gateshead Food Partnership to take on activities in Trinity Square: the proposal is a cookery demonstration stage and a rota of workshops a bit like we ran at the From Gardens to Gatherings event in Saltwell Park last year. Please get in touch with me – NikkiDravers@gateshead.gov.uk if you are interested in being on stage doing a cooking demo, running a workshop, or selling a product.

What to read/listen to

Podcasts:

The Food Foundation are great at keeping up to date with national food policy developments such as this one on the recent announcements about school food standards .
Eat the system podcast highlights projects around the UK that are working towards food system change, for example this one about a sustainable food buying club set up by Groundwork Hull.
In case you missed it, This BBC Food Programme episode about eating together is right up our street: the power of social eating spaces, community cafes, and the idea of Public Diners. Read more about the Public Diners idea here.
The Feeding Britain podcast is always good ‘food for thought’ … this episode includes Prof. Greta Defeyter talking about the future of Holiday Activities and Food Programme
I’ll give another plug to Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s series on fibre… BBC Radio 4 - The Fibre Factor

Reports:

In case you missed last month’s newsletter, I highly recommend Feeding Britain’s “Feeding Resilience” report ; and I really recommend this excellent report if you run a ‘foodbank’-type project: Harry has written this report as a ‘food banker’, and he suggests some helpful things you could consider for your organisation.
Along similar themes, Megan Blake’s report: Building Resilience_ The Role of Food Clubs in UK Food SecurityFull Report v4C (1)
For the academically-minded amongst us (who have the mental resilience to hear the anxiety-inducing realities): Root and Reason (formerly AFN+) has been reporting a lot on the UK’s food system resilience, most recently showing how critical out food system is to the solvency of our national and global economy. In the latest resilience webinar , Professor Aled Jones of Anglia Ruskin University discussed how even a modest drop in global food production of 5 to 8 per cent can send prices spiralling by 300 to 500%, with cascading effects on corporate bonds, government debt and political stability. See their Roadmap for Resilience for what they suggest needs to happen across sectors, with urgency.
These resources from IFAN and Trussell are good food for thought: How to end the need for food banks ; Cash First pathway, Cash First illustration

That’s it from me this month: as always, pleas be in touch if you have anything to share, any ideas, needs, thoughts, or stories about how we can work together towards our Gateshead Food Charter vision.

Best wishes

Nikki

The Great Carlin Pea Revival

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:52:23 GMT

The humble Carlin Pea, once a staple of northern kitchens and celebrations, is stepping back into the spotlight as cooks, growers and communities rediscover its flavour, history and potential. Last Sunday was Carlin Sunday : the fifth Sunday in Lent is known as “Carlin Sunday” in the North East, when these peas are traditionally eaten, normally as parched peas - boiled and served doused in salt and vinegar. This custom is unique to the region, and we want to keep the tradition alive.

A Pea With Deep Northern Roots

Carlin peas , sometimes known as black peas or maple peas, have been part of northern food culture for centuries. Their story stretches from medieval monastic gardens to the famous Newcastle siege of 1644, when a shipment of Carlins is said to have saved the city from starvation. Parched peas have been served on Carlin Sunday for generations: do you have any memories of this as a child?!

Delicious, Nutritious and Surprisingly Versatile

Beyond the folklore, Carlins are great to cook with. High in protein, fibre and iron, they’re hearty and delicious. Their flavour is nutty and earthy, similar to chickpeas but richer, and they hold their shape beautifully in cooking, so you work just as well in a classic bowl of parched peas as they do in modern dishes: curries, salads, stews, even a Carlin pea paella. The Hodmedod's Website has loads of great recipe ideas for you.

Good for the Soil and Good for the North

Like other legumes, Carlin peas fix nitrogen in the soil, reducing the need for fertilisers and supporting regenerative farming. Many northern farms already grow peas and beans to improve soil health, but much of this crop ends up fed to livestock or ploughed back into the ground. Reviving Carlins for human food could diversify local agriculture, support farmers, and build a more resilient regional food system that relies less on imported food and animal proteins.

Food of past, present, and future

The tradition of eating Carlin peas is fading in many places, even in their heartlands. Reviving them is about valuing the rich food culture of the North, celebrating ingredients that tell our story, but it is also about celebrating our present and future diverse communities, making opportunities to connect through shared dishes. Carlins (and other peas and beans) feature in recipes around the world, from dal to hummus to foul medames, making them a perfect ingredient for inclusive community food events.

Mick Marston, who is a member of Gateshead Food Partnership Steering group, has been engaging local groups to spread the message of carlin peas and encourage more groups to grow. He will share more on this next month.

We're joining The Food Foundation’s “Bang in Some Beans” campaign, a nationwide effort aiming to double UK bean consumption by 2028 and get more of us cooking, enjoying and celebrating beans, pulses and legumes. The campaign highlights how good beans are for our health, our budgets, and the planet: they’re high in fibre, packed with protein and micronutrients, affordable, and far more climate‑friendly than many other sources of protein.

Celebrity chefs including Hugh Fearnley‑Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver and Tom Kerridge have backed the initiative, reminding us that beans are “fantastic for your health and packed full of fibre.” If you want to learn more about why fibre matters, and why it’s an problem that 96% of UK adults aren’t meeting the recommended 30g of fibre per day, with average intake sitting at around 16g a day - just over half of what we should be eating, Hugh Fearnley‑Whittingstall’s recent BBC Radio 4 series, The Fibre Factor , is worth a listen: it explores why the UK eats so little fibre and how simple, everyday changes (including beans!) can make a big difference. The Bang in Some Beans campaign itself has a podcast, too.

Join the bean revolution, join the Great Calrin Pea Revival!

Try adding a handful of lentils to your soup, swapping half your mince for kidney beans, or exploring a new carlin pea recipe. You can buy dried, jarred, or tinned from the Hodmedod's website.

Try planting some carlin peas and beans! They’re fast and easy to grow, great for adding nutrients to your soil, and lots of them have pretty flowers. Now is a great time for sowing, indoors or under cover from now, or directly outdoors in a week or so once the soil is workable and not too cold.

For recipes, or to order some low-cost, organic and UK-grown peas and beans, Hodmedod’s is the best place to go.

Next Steps for Gateshead Food Hub

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:48:27 GMT

In October 2024, Gateshead Food Partnership and Green Heart NE CIC came together to trial a food hub pilot in Gateshead, aiming to make it easier and cheaper for organisations to purchase food for their community food projects.

The Gateshead Food Hub works by purchasing food in bulk at wholesale prices and delivering it in our electric van to community projects free of charge, supporting them to make their funding and donations go further.

The project has now supplied more than 20 organisations across the borough with a newly set up food ordering system. It has also been able to provide an ad-hoc service distributing free food and other goods between organisations committed to reducing food waste in the North East, including REfUSE in Chester-Le-Street and Olio collectors in Gateshead.

Following the successful pilot, the project is now able to be extended with the help of local charity Feeding Families.

Food pantries, community kitchens and other social impact food projects in Gateshead can continue ordering through the established system, and with support from Feeding Families, the project will be rolled out further across the region.

One of Gateshead's Food Charter aims is that Gateshead is a place where everyone has access to healthy, nutritious and affordable food, moving from reliance on food aid to food justice and resilience. The Food Hub project has a longer-term aim to become a way to distribute sustainable, locally sourced, good food for North East charities and communities. The move to Feeding Families comes alongside the beginnings of a new 'Food Justice Network', aiming to work supportively and in partnership with local projects to help reduce the demand for emergency food provision, move away from traditional food banking and towards more dignified, sustainable models of community food provision.

Councillor Maria Hall, cabinet member for Localities, Communities and Volunteering at Gateshead Council, said: “We are so grateful to Green Heart for their work to establish this scheme.

I am delighted that the trial in Gateshead, led by our Food Partnership Coordinator Nikki Dravers and funded through our UK Shared Prosperity Fund, has resulted in Feeding Families picking up the project to scale up across the region.

Everyone should have access to affordable food, and we need to do everything we can to support families that are struggling in our area.”

Andy Redfern, founder of Green Heart NE CIC, said : “The success of the Food Hub, with the support of Gateshead Council, is largely due to adapting different approaches to food supply until a sustainable model was found. I am excited to see Feeding Families take this project forward, allowing it to grow to the next level.”

Wayne Dobson, Chief Executive of Feeding Families, said: “We are passionate about getting nutritious food into the hands of those who need it. By working together across the region and using Feeding Families UK scale in purchasing power, distribution and logistics, we can support thousands of families struggling with the cost of living. We are thankful for the great foundation laid out by Green Heart and aim to build on the shared vision of releasing people from food insecurity.”

To find out more about how to get involved with the Gateshead Food Partnership, follow our social media channels or sign up to our newsletter by signing the Food Charter.

To find out more about the organisations supporting people to access affordable food in Gateshead, visit Affordable food | OurGateshead or this document maintained by Gateshead Food Bank

January 2026 Newsletter

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:46:04 GMT

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Hello Food Partnership members,

Sending January’s newsletter at the end of the month – probably too late to say ‘happy new year’, but all the same, I hope the first few weeks of the year have found you warm and well.

Gateshead Food Partnership 2025: A Year in Numbers and Pictures

Wow – how much we achieved collectively in 2025! These pictures and stats give just a small snapshot: behind every number are countless stories of the people of Gateshead finding being able to access good food and community, learning new skills, and finding purpose and belonging.

THANK YOU to all of you who have worked so hard and been part of a movement towards food system change!

Here is your newsletter for January: as always, this is aimed to support collaboration and shared learning, so please send me anything you’d like to share with the network in future newsletters.

Swallwell Cabbage Fest!

Save the Date: 22 ^nd February

As you may have followed last year, the brilliant Lucy and Ronni from Tyne Derwent Way ran a series of “Food is Storytelling” workshops in three different Gateshead venues. One of the stories that came out is the amazing story of the Swallwell Cabbage! Intrigued? Well, they’re planning an event to tell the story and celebrate cabbage – and you’re invited! More info will follow but for now, they’re asking you to ‘save the date’ and, “if you have anything cabbage-related to offer on the day please let us know – anyone who grows them, pickles them, cooks with them – we’d take recipes, instructions, cabbages to sell/ give away/ plant – either in advance or help in the day”.

Get in touch with Lucy: lucy.zwolinska@nationaltrust.org.uk

2. Last Chance to Join the HerbHub Recipe Project!

A few spots left to get creative with herbs, cook up some magic, and connect with our community. Don't miss out, get in touch today to secure your place!

3. The Bread and Butter Thing

The second Bread and Butter Thing affordable food club in Gateshead has now opened in Chowdene. The first hub set up in Deckham last year has regularly seen over 80 families saving money by accessing a range of surplus food for £8. Read more here.

4. Right To Food Commission: call for evidence

The Right to Food UK Commission is gathering evidence from individuals, practitioners, and organisations to understand what helps and what hinders people in accessing good food. Your experiences will inform the Commission’s 2030 Action Plan and future Right to Food legislation, with evidence sessions taking place across the UK from January to May 2026. For more info and to submit your evidence, please click here. Alternatively, you could submit any thoughts directly to me, as I will be speaking at one of the hearings and hope to represent food partnership members as best I can.

5. Digital Inclusion: Helping your communities use the NHS App

Last summer Digital Voice launched a brand-new initiative for the NHS, which helped people get online using the app and eased pressure on already stretched local surgeries. In February, they’re running NHS App sessions for the VCSE sector as part of our CPD Programme. On 3rd February there is an online session from 12-1.30 pm. Please share with your networks.

You'll find more info and a link to the booking form on this webpage: https://www.digitalvoice.org.uk/news/helping-communities-get-online-nhs-app-digital-inclusion-training-for-vcse-organisations

6. The risks of digitalisation: Implications for access to food in England

On the topic of digital inclusion: some organisations and individuals in Gateshead were involved last year in some research around digital access and food poverty by SOAS university. They are holding an online event to disseminate their research findings on 12 ^th February: you can sign up to join here.

7. Wednesdays at St Mary’s:

Every week, the Tyne Derwent Way team open up St. Mary's Heritage Centre from 10am to 3pm for tours, chats and their pop-up cafe. Everyone is welcome to stop by for a drink and snack in one of Gateshead's oldest buildings .

8. Training Opportunity: Expression of interest

We are looking at organising a Food Safety and Hygiene Level 2 course, in person, at St Chad’s Community Project. We would aim for this to be free of charge for regular volunteers of food partnership VCS organisations, with an emphasis on training volunteers with English as a Second Language. Date is TBC, but for now please could you let me know by replying to this email if you have volunteers that would benefit from this training?

9. Funding opportunities

Capital Funding for community organisations: The Community Capital Grants Fund is now open for applications: Grants of up to £30,000 available to improve community spaces in Gateshead - Gateshead Council . Please send any queries to externalfundingteam@gateshead.gov.uk and apply by 15 February 2026.
Gateshead Community Fund: The Gateshead Community Fund offers pots of between £500 and £10,000 to support new projects that help residents get active, improve wellbeing and take part in sport, leisure and recreation. Clubs, community groups and not‑for‑profit organisations can apply between 1 February and 30 March. See attached guidance and application form.
UK Government’s Crisis and Resilience Fund: Guidance was published on 13th January: see full guidance here. This supersedes Household Support Funding and will mean significant changes on the type of grant support the council can make to community food providers, with a greater emphasis on services to build financial resilience rather than provision of free food. The funding will go live on 1st April and Gateshead Council are currently developing the mechanisms to deliver it. Further information will be shared in due course. Organisations who were in receipt of HSF are encouraged to read the new guidance and consider implications for your organisations. (Note – HSF monitoring is due on 31st March)

10. Interesting Reports, Policy and Research news

· Feeding Britain

Feeding Britain have produced a new report, Feeding Resilience, which highlights the powerful role Affordable Food Clubs play in improving diets, strengthening financial security and reducing reliance on emergency food parcels. The findings show that these clubs are providing sustained support for households facing food insecurity during a time of rising living costs and deepening dietary inequalities. See this video summarising the key insights . I also heartily recommend Feeding Britain’s podcast : available on all your popular podcast apps, here it is on spotify.

· More than Just a Buzz: Energy Drinks research from FUSE:

Children are surrounded by energy drink advertising and cheap prices that make these products hard to ignore. They see them placed near everyday items, promoted by people and sports they admire, and popping up constantly online. But energy drinks are linked to poor health, including problems with sleep, behaviour, and concentration. This means the youngest and most disadvantaged children are being pushed towards choices that can harm their health. We support strong action — including an age‑16 sales ban, clear rules on where these products can be placed in shops, proper enforcement across all retailers and vending machines, and tighter restrictions on junk‑food advertising — to help protect children’s health and reduce inequalities. Summary here , Read the full paper here. or see their presentation here: energy_drinks_children_HWA_Jan 26.pptx

· Recent Junk Food Advertising policy changes. Recommend listening to Podbite from Food Foundation

It took years to happen, but finally some landmark junk food advertising restrictions were introduced this month that are expected to remove up to 7.2 million calories from children’s diets a year, which could reduce obesity by 20,000 and deliver £2billion in health benefits. But will loopholes undermine their impact? The short Podbites from Food Foundation are always recommended to keep up to date with news like this.

· DEFRA National Security Assessment on Global Biodiversity Loss & Food Security

A newly published DEFRA report reframes biodiversity loss as a national security threat, not an environmental issue. It warns that with global ecosystems edging toward collapse — and the UK importing 40% of its food — we’re far more exposed to future supply shocks, price spikes and geopolitical tension than we think. Other countries are already rebuilding food stockpiles… and the message for the UK is clear: food security needs urgent, strategic attention.

That’s all from me: please do keep me updated with your projects, get in touch if you have any questions, ideas, or opportunities you want to share. Have a lovely weekend!

Best wishes,

Nikki

Don't Eat Alone This Christmas 2025

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 09:56:56 GMT

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The two weeks of Christmas and New Year can be a particularly difficult time for people who are on their own as their usual routines are disrupted and other public services are closed. We have put together this timetable and information listing groups across Gateshead, Newcastle, and Durham which remain open or are putting on special festive events that include hot food. Please share this to help ensure nobody in Gateshead needs to feel hungry or lonely this Christmas.
Go to OurGateshead.org.uk/Christmas2025 to add your group, update your listings, or find out more of what is going on in Gateshead at this time of year.

You can download and share this file so that you can give it out or put it up in your community location: Public Library - Making Every Contact Count Gateshead - Knowledge Hub .

From Gardens to Gatherings: A Celebration of Community Food in Gateshead

nikkidravers@gateshead.gov.uk — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 18:13:59 GMT

From Gardens to Gatherings, a vibrant celebration of our borough’s growing community food movement, took place in Saltwell Park on 21stSeptember. This flagship event showcased the power of food to connect people across cultures and backgrounds, improve health and wellbeing, enhance our environment, and support sustainable local economies.

THANK YOU to all who joined us! We were blessed with sunshine and blue skies, after such a rainy Saturday! It was wonderful to see so many people there and so much engagement with all the activities. A huge thank you to the over 30 different organisations and small businesses involved with the event. It made us proud of Gateshead, proud of our Food Partnership and what we can do when we come together!

The celebration event included:

The chance to eat good food together, trying food from different cultures and supporting local organisations. Hot food offer serving locally produced and organic food cooked by Gateshead College students; tasty homemade soup served by the team at The Bank Chopwell; and Saji's Restaurant Felling serving Punjabi food. Banquet-style communal tables, dressed with wildflowers, encouraging people to eat together and start conversations with strangers.
A colourful stretch tent, draped in colourful bunting made by Gateshead volunteer Art Diamonds group, filled with stalls showcasing voluntary sector organisations and projects based around food growing, creativity, and community food activities, selling fruit and vegetables grown in Gateshead by community groups, products made by local social enterprises.
A schedule of practical workshops: learn about foraging, fermenting and dehydrating foods, tips on how to reduce food waste, make tea with locally grown herbs, and share stories of Gateshead’s food heritage and future.
A Food Theatre Tipi: hosted by Chef Anthony O’Shaughnessy with a variety of local chefs including from voluntary sector organisations
A tipi tent for children and young people, creative play and art activities for all ages, face painting and hair braiding, and making healthy snacks activities for young children throughout the day
A small stage for entertainment and musical performances by Gateshead college students

It was a colourful, inclusive event, free to attend, and all the workshops and activities were be free. The variety of food options were sold at low cost. The event saw over 3,500 people attend over the course of the day.

More than 70 Gateshead College students were involved from 9 different curriculum areas, for example film & photography, marketing & business, performing arts, and children & early years. They gained over 900 hours in work experience hours through the event - a wonderful opportunity for students to gain skills.

This event was funded by UK Government UK Shared Prosperity Fund; as well as funding from North East Combined Authority, and Royal Horticultural Society.

Feedback from visitors:

"I go to a lot of events like this and people are sick of seeing the same food trucks and businesses attending them. Having something local that includes only Gateshead businesses is amazing! There should be way more of these. And the diversity of attendees and stall holders was amazing, well done."

"A lovely feel to the event!"

"Everyone was incredibly positive. I had lots of engaging conversation around the importance of children learning to cook, budgeting and food waste and would love to be involved in the future!"

"The whole event was just great, I couldn't fault it. More more please."

"Well done to the organisers who put on some amazing workshops and help crafted a beautiful community feel good event. Well done!"

"An annual event to bring communities together in Saltwell Park would be welcome. This event was wonderful!"

"Yes I would like to see more events, the park should be used more for the community."

"Loved having local restaurants there, would love to see more events with stalls from small local businesses in Gateshead, and keep up the amazing diversity you had at this event!"

Grant funding for Community Food Projects

nikkidravers@gateshead.gov.uk — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 16:26:48 GMT

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Grant Funding for Community Food Projects 2025-26

Applications are now open for grant funding for community food projects. We expect to award grants of between £500 and £5,000, although larger amounts may be considered.

Do you have a project or idea that could make a lasting change in Gateshead to increase access to nutritious, affordable food? We are looking to fund ambitious, innovative and effective projects that will help to shape Gateshead food systems and practices in the long term.

1. About Gateshead Food Partnership

Gateshead Food Partnership is a collaboration of organisations looking at a joined up, whole system approach towards equitable access to nutritious, culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable food for all. The partnership of public, voluntary and private sector organisations is working towards a Sustainable Food Places Bronze award this year.

The Gateshead Food Charter states that we want Gateshead to be a place where:

everyone has access to healthy, nutritious and affordable food, moving from reliance on food aid to food justice and resilience
diet-related health inequalities are significantly reduced, citizens of Gateshead have the power and resources to demand that healthier food becomes more affordable, appealing, and accessible
everyone has the knowledge, confidence, and motivation to buy, cook and enjoy food and to shape their local food environments
good food contributes significantly to a vibrant and diverse local economy, creating good quality employment
our communities, organisations and businesses are connected and united to work towards a better food system for all, that protects and enhances our environment

We ask all projects and organisations with interest in this funding to join in this vision, help to co-create and deliver a Good Food Strategy and action plan for Gateshead. To sign the Food Charter click here , and please email foodpartnership@gateshead.gov.uk any time with any ideas, resources, events, or thoughts you’d like to share.

2. About the Community Food Support funds

UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), funding is available to share between VCSE organisations in Gateshead.

We’re looking to fund activities and partnerships which could provide insight into and pave the way for long term sustainable food system change in Gateshead. We encourage organisations to think strategically, think ‘outside of the box’, use this funding as an opportunity to pilot new or alternative approaches. We also encourage joint applications for projects run by more than one organisation. We want to use this opportunity to share learning with others in the food partnership network and build a joined-up approach to build community food resilience.

If your organisation received funding from this UKSPF Community Food Projects fund last year, you may apply again: but we will want to know how this repeat funding will be used to embed and sustain, strengthen, expand, or share with others, the work you did last year.

Projects could be varied in addressing any of our ‘ food charter ’ aims: have a browse of our website to read more about each of our priorities. Example projects we might fund could be:

Establishing or developing regular community meals, a community café, affordable pop-up restaurant nights or community breakfast clubs, serving nutritious food in an inclusive and welcoming space, reducing social isolation and connecting people with different cultures and backgrounds over a shared meal
Providing food education, spaces to develop cooking skills and confidence, giving people the skills to grow, cook and eat more plants, batch cooking for the freezer to avoid ready meals, offer opportunities for families to cook and eat together
Trialling a new model for your food bank, such as a membership-based food club, to provide more sustainable support for those struggling to afford good food from local shops, and provide the healthiest possible choice of food
Establishing or developing a community garden, orchard, or allotment, transforming lives of people with mental health, addiction or other wellbeing issues through connecting with nature
Listening to voices of refugees and people seeking asylum to improve access to culturally appropriate food, kitchen space to cook, or workshops for diverse communities to cook and eat food from different cultures together
Working with young people to create youth-led campaigns and projects to advocate for change to their food environments
Running a women’s support group aimed at supporting mums to recognise and overcome the hurdles to feeding their children nutritious food in early years
Building an idea into a social enterprise which might develop employability skills in the food and hospitality sector
Sharing your model and experience in another part of Gateshead: funding your time to take volunteers to visit other projects and communicate with other organisations to share best practice and resources

All activity and spend must be completed by 22nd March 2026 .

To apply, please complete and return this form before Monday 14 ^th July.

A short period of application assessment will take place before all partners are notified of their outcome. We may contact you for further details. The final decision on grants offered will be made by the panel and there will be no right of appeal.

There will be two chances to receive more information, discuss and ask questions before applying, we really encourage you to attend - especially if you have not applied for funding before:

Tuesday 24th June, 4pm-5pm on Teams
Friday 27th June, 3pm-4pm, on Teams Click here to get a Teams meeting link

We really encourage you to use public transport wherever possible to get to this event.

If you have any questions or would like an informal discussion before applying, please contact Nikki Dravers – Gateshead Food Partnership Coordinator.

Email: foodpartnership@gateshead.gov.uk Phone: 07513 484914

3. Criteria for Expressions of Interest

You should be able to tick at least one from both of the following two categories:

Issues to be tackled

Your project works to improve access to healthy, nutritious, culturally appropriate food for those experiencing food insecurity
Your project works to improve the health and wellbeing of those who face the consequences of disadvantage and inequity
Your project helps people connect with and value food, giving people the knowledge, confidence, and motivation to buy, cook and enjoy good food
Your project empowers and amplifies the voices of those affected by inequality or injustice, finding ways to transform their local food environments
Your project helps contribute to a vibrant and diverse local food economy: e.g. developing a social enterprise or project that build employability skills
Your project works to reduce food waste, addresses the root causes of food waste
Your project unites communities, organisations and businesses to work towards a better food system that protects and enhances our environment.

Approach

Your project helps to build efficiency and sustainability into a project you already run
Your project includes sharing best practice, resources and ideas with other organisations in other areas of Gateshead, forming new partnerships with other organisation(s), campaigns, businesses or groups
Your project will be strengthening, piloting or developing new community food initiatives, takes on a new policy, procedure or approach to your community food activities

4. Application process and criteria

Please apply by filling in this form

There is no restriction on capital vs. revenue funding: we can provide organisations with some capital funds to spend on items such as, but not limited to, fridges, freezers, and cooking equipment.

Projects must be delivered in Gateshead only.

At least one organisation in a partnership needs to be constituted and have a bank account. Non-constituted groups may apply only in partnership with one who is. Grants will not be awarded to private individuals.

Before you apply, you must have:

The capability to deliver community food activities
Knowledge of the community that you will be delivering your provision in and how you plan to meet their needs
Appropriate Safeguarding policies and Public Liability insurance in place. If providing food, must be registered with Environmental Health as a food organisation.
Capability and willingness to share the work you do, learnings, successes and failures, with the wider food partnership network: through in-person meetings, social media, and other media

5. Terms and Conditions

Information regarding the fund will be announced via email, social media channels and advertised on Gateshead Council’s website.
Applicants can apply from Friday 20th June until Monday 14th July.
Supporting documentation that has been requested needs to be provided. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
The applicant must declare that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, the information contained in the application is correct and the person signing off the application is authorised to do so.
Organisations and partnerships must be based in Gateshead, and serving communities in Gateshead.
Applications will be evaluated by an assessment panel. The panel’s decision is final and there is no appeal process.
The panel may contact you to discuss the EOI, and may suggest changes to your project in relation to other applications: the aim is to share funds fairly between a number of different projects, and encourage partnership working, so it may be that the EOIs can facilitate alternative, joined-up and mutually supportive work.
The applicant will receive the outcome of the assessment in writing via an email to the contact supplied on the application form. If successful, the applicant will be required to sign and agree Terms and Conditions which constitute an offer of funding, prior to initiating any expenditure.
If the information offered in the application changes, the applicant must inform the Food Partnership Coordinator immediately.
If funding is awarded, it is to be used only for the purposes approved in the offer letter and abide by Terms and Conditions of the Fund. The Fund reserves the right to recover grant aid that is used for any purpose other than the approved purposes.
All successful applicants will be required to complete a Monitoring Form. This must be completed as soon as the grant has been spent. A blank Monitoring Form will accompany the letter of acceptance. Successful applicants will be required to provide evidence of their expenditure including receipts of spending, all monies not spent or accounted for will have to be returned to the Fund.
Funds must be spent before 22nd March 2026, and monitoring forms submitted by 3rd April.

Networking Event: Food Growing

nikkidravers@gateshead.gov.uk — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 17:23:21 GMT

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Food Partnership Networking Event: Food Growing

Gateshead Food Partnership are hosting a networking event focused on ideas and strategies for sharing training and skills related to food growing. This event will provide an opportunity to hear about the types of training that can be offered by groups and individuals, as well as exploring what additional training might be needed to strengthen and support our collective efforts in the community. All ideas and experiences are welcome!

The aims of the event are to:

• Identify gaps in training and resources that we can collectively address

• Hear about community food growing projects already happening in Gateshead

• Sharing and exchanging training ideas that can support food growing and education within our communities

• Building stronger networks of support and collaboration between food growing groups

We believe that by coming together, we can strengthen our individual efforts and create a more resilient and connected food-growing community. If you are looking to offer or receive training in any aspect of food growing, this event will provide a space for valuable conversations and network development.

Location: Comfrey Project, Windmill Hills Centre, Gateshead, NE8 1QB

Time: Monday 14 ^th April, 9.30am until 1.30. Lunch served by Comfrey Project volunteers at 12.30

Book your place by filling in this form

Don't Eat Alone This Christmas

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 09:44:11 GMT

THIS IS 2024 INFORMATION: for this year please go to Don't Eat Alone This Christmas 2025 !

The two weeks of Christmas and New Year can be a particularly difficult time for people who are on their own as their usual routines are disrupted and other public services are closed. We have put together this timetable and information listing groups across Gateshead, Newcastle, and Durham which remain open or are putting on special festive events that include hot food. Please share this to help ensure nobody in Gateshead eats alone this Christmas.
Go to OurGateshead.org.uk/Christmas2024 to add your group, update your listings, or find out more of what is going on in Gateshead at this time of year.

Funding opportunity

nikkidravers@gateshead.gov.uk — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 10:48:33 GMT

Food for People and Planet

Funding Opportunity: Food for People and Planet

A small pot of grant funding has been made available from Gateshead Council for community food projects to apply for. We are looking to fund projects that can help to reduce carbon emissions related to any and all parts of the food system, from farm to fork. For example, work to reduce food waste, address causes of food waste, reduce food miles, or educate and engage communities in ways that encourage the transition to lower carbon diets and lifestyles. We expect to award grants of between £500 and £2,500.

Please click here for more information and funding criteria, and click here to apply before 13 ^th January 2025 .

There will be an opportunity to hear more information, discuss your ideas, and ask any questions on Teams on Tuesday 17th December at 4pm. Click here if you would like to attend.

Upcoming Events - Gateshead Food Summit

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 15:35:46 GMT

The inaugural Gateshead Food Summit will be officially launching Gateshead Food Partnership: a collaboration of organisations looking at a joined up, whole system approach to make nutritious, culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable food affordable and accessible for everyone in Gateshead.

We invite representatives from public, voluntary, and private sector organisations, as well as any interested Gateshead citizens, to join us at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts to hear opportunities and challenges relating to food in Gateshead, network with others, be inspired by work already happening, join in discussions and take action together. We will ask attendees to sign Gateshead's new Food Charter, to help co-create and deliver a sustainable food strategy for Gateshead.

Friday 8th November, 9:15AM to 4:00PM. Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.

More information and reserve your place below:

Growing Food: Community solutions to growing, storing, and sharing produce

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 15:35:45 GMT

Facilitated excellently by Sheinaz Stansfield, we had a day of lively discussion all about the multiple holistic benefits of growing food.

There were some concrete outcomes and commitments from those who attended, including the development of a food growing working group which looks towards organising a festival of Gateshead food growing in 2025.

Lunch was provided for us by 'Meals on Wheels', a CIC that has come out of Gateshead Community Organisation.

It is encouraging that there are now three ‘partnerships’ of sorts beginning to work together on lots of these aims: Bensham Bites - a group of small organisations in Bensham area working together on increasing food growing, preservation, and distribution in their local area. Chopwell Regeneration group - working on a local food strategy for Chopwell; and the HOPE network allotment project bringing community allotments together in the East of Gateshead.

Have a listen to this podcast from Feeding Britain, all about ‘Crop Drop’: how they have worked with local allotments to provide fresh food to local food providing organisations and schools: a simple idea that makes a big impact, both to the growers and to those receiving food support.

Cooking activities

Wed, 15 May 2024 07:08:28 GMT

On Monday 25 ^th March, our Food Partnership networking event focussed on community cooking, organisations teaching food skills and cooking on a budget. We had some excellent discussions and positive networking. Lunch was served up by chef Trevor, who runs St Chad’s Community Kitchen.

20 organisations involved with teaching cooking skills gathered to share what works, what the challenges are, and what resources they can share. Organisations shared tips and ideas to equip them to run more activities, more effectively.

Organisations attending included:

St Chad's Community Kitchen
Nourish
HAF/ Brighten the Day
Men's Pie Club
Gateshead Football Club Foundation
Gateshead Community Organisation
Peace of Mind
St Chad's Community Centre

Resources and links:

Food Ladders: a useful framework when thinking about food projects. Teaching cooking skills and activities around food is in the ‘second rung’.

Food insecurity: reimagining our response

Fri, 10 May 2024 07:08:27 GMT

How do we work together to reduce the need for food banks? What sort of projects build capacity in our communities, to prevent people getting to the point of needing emergency food parcels? As the cost of living crisis continues, and one in four children experience poverty in the North East, can we ‘re-imagine’ our responses to food insecurity?

Over 50 people attended our gathering on Thursday 2nd May to ask these questions. We heard from Andrew Forsey from Feeding Britain to set the scene: challenging us to think about how we can use our collective power to help give freedom to mean that all can live not only free of hunger, but also free of shame and stigma, free of worry, with a household budget that enables them to eat well and thrive in their communities. Professor Greta Defeyter from Northumbria University then gave some fascinating insight into research about co-locating council services in Newcastle food banks (see her fab graphic in the slides), having a person-centred approach to supporting people so that they don’t have to spend all their time and emotional energy telling the same story to multiple agencies.

Lesleyann Watson from Gateshead Foodbank then showed evidence that when people are given more cash, for example through Cost of Living payments, the need for their support goes down. She stressed that the Trussell Trust continue to campaign for an end to the need for food support, and that wrap-around services in food banks make a huge difference: they have gained clients £411,000 through their financial inclusion support, seeing a 23% reduction in the need to return to food banks.

Sam Laing from Citizen's Advice Gateshead then gave an excellent whistle-stop tour of all the support they offer, which is a lot! It was helpful to show that when we're talking about food poverty, we're talking about poverty: there are multiple causes and important solutions unrelated to food.

Wayne Dobson kindly travelled from North Tyneside to tell us about their work at Cedarwood Trust: setting up a professional preparation kitchen to make microwavable, freshly made and nutritious meals from surplus food that they are distributing to food networks in North Tyneside. Wayne also spoke about the journey they’ve been on in developing a food pantry, seeing that by asking for a small fee for their social supermarket, it is accessible and free of stigma for all, and a ‘top up’ for people to buy extra bits of food that they wouldn’t afford in the shops.

Finally, Nikki Dravers, Gateshead Food Partnership coordinator, presented Prof. Megan Blake's "Food Ladders" framework, and asked everyone to colour code their projects one each "rung" of the ladder. A colourful map shows that though there are gaps and concentrations of provision, there is a lot of good already going on and a lot of potential to work together and learn from each other. I hope our recently launched funding opportunity for community food projects will help facilitate action: we're looking to help pilot new, innovative, partnership projects which might help move from the "catching" to the "capacity building" rung on the ladder.

The whole event ended with the most amazing lunch served by the Samosa Sisters: "women empowering women". Thank you so much to them, to Sara and the team at Peace of Mind for hosting us!

Food Redistribution

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 08:08:28 GMT

The first meeting for the newly launched Gateshead Food Partnership, we decided to begin with the subject of food waste and food surplus redistribution. We had 35 attendees from organisations across Gateshead, including some private sector businesses.

The event was held at the Winlaton Centre, who have a community larder where members of the community can select food at a low price, much of which is collected surplus from local retailers, or delivered by Fareshare.

We heard from organisations involved with surplus food redistribution:

BIND in Newcastle who started Eat Smart, a fantastic project reducing waste in primary schools;
REfUSE in Chester le Street who have a 'pay as you feel' community cafe and also run Eat Smart;
Pickle Palace in West Gateshead who have a pop up pantry as well as working in primary schools;
The Comfrey Project who engage their volunteer community in how to be thrifty with food, saving, using and preserving scraps;
Fareshare North East , who redistributed 1,220 Tonnes of otherwise-wasted food in 2023.

We then shared some questions and used big pieces of paper to find out how organisations can support each other and work together more.

Positive outcomes include organisations agreeing to share food and resources via a WhatsApp group (which has proved very effective, active every week); organisations being connected with a large food retailer who is willing to donate surplus and cost-price stock; and initial conversations to develop Eat Smart, a food waste-saving schools project in Gateshead.

Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about this or future events.

Further resources:

This Is Rubbish have a fab series of videos which convey the issues of waste and food poverty: Plenty to Share - This is Rubbish
Sustainab le Food Places website
Gateshead Food Partnership Facebook Page and Twitter/X account : please follow!
Feeding Britain website piloting solutions that prevent food poverty