Grant funding for Community Food Projects

nikkidravers • June 17, 2025

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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 14th 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: 


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.