Next Steps for Gateshead Food Hub

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