Gateshead Food Partnership

What we do

We have a network of around 100 individuals, organisations and businesses with interest in good food in Gateshead. We send monthly newsletters with information and resources, and run monthly events, open invitation, with different food themes. So far in 2024, we've discussed food waste and redistribution; community cooking activities; reimagining responses to food insecurity; and growing food. Coming up this year, we'll be discussing the barriers to healthy diets, and how we can build a local good food economy. 

Our steering group meets monthly, made up of residents, council staff, representatives of local organisations and businesses, and academic researchers. We are working towards a Food Summit in autumn 2024 to 'launch' Gateshead Food Partnership officially, and invite people to pledge their signatures to our Good Food Charter. 

In June 2024 we have made funding available for community food projects, looking to encourage capacity building projects that address food insecurity by trialling new approaches and partnerships. We hope that the funding itself will highlight gaps and opportunities for partnership working. We are also developing a 'food hub' and bulk purchasing project: looking to use our collective purchasing power to bulk purchase food essentials and deliver to organisation partners who provide food for those who are experiencing food insecurity and barriers to buying healthy food. 

Our Food Partnership coordinator gives regular, responsive and consistent support for food partners through meetings, practical help, advice and facilitated networking, and contributes to various groups and alliances in order to have a crosssector, whole-food-system view of activities in Gateshead. We aim to set up working groups for specific areas within food strategy, responsive to feedback and initiative within the network.