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As the cost of food and other essentials continues to rise, Feeding Britain is working with partners across the UK to develop sustainable and dignified approaches to protect people from hunger. From affordable food networks to advice services, from fuel vouchers to school holiday programmes, your donation will make a real difference to communities across the UK.

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South Shields

“We seek to enable and support local people to eat healthily, manage within their budget, and access personal development opportunities in line with their aspirations.”

Affordable Food Clubs in this area include the Key Project’s Food Bus.

The mission

We aim to develop and deliver a community resource in South Shields to provide sustainable and realistic access to a wide range of affordable food. We seek to enable and support local people to eat healthily, manage within their budget, and access personal development opportunities in line with their aspirations.

How we work

The Feeding Britain pilot in South Shields is partnering with the Key Project, a coalition of several churches with extensive community links. Additional organisations are being approached to expand the membership base as new projects get underway. Activities are coordinated by Emma Lewell-Buck MP’s office.

What we’ve achieved

Over the past year the primary activity has been the provision of Holiday food and fun clubs. Children in South Shields were able to access free meals over the Summer holidays, October half term, and winter holidays. A “broth bag” and recipe card are offered at the clubs to help families stretch their budget and pick up some tips on low cost healthy cooking. One of the holiday clubs was focused on providing food and fun for refugees and asylum seekers, as they may face additional barriers to accessing food aid.

What’s next

In addition to scaling up holiday provision across South Shields, plans are also underway for a community shop. The non profit community shop will provide affordable food alongside employment support and advice sessions to provide a holistic and bespoke service to customers. Feasibility studies are being conducted to ensure long term sustainability of the shop, as well as to reduce any potential duplication of services. Early discussions are also underway to link up local food growers with emergency food providers to get more fresh and locally sourced food into food banks.

For more information about the pilot and ways to get involved please contact Ann Best at ann.best@parliament.uk 

Levels of local food insecurity

According to the University of Sheffield’s research into local food insecurity of adults (Jan 2021), in South Shields:

  • 4.41% of adults suffered from hunger
  • 12.27% struggled to access food
  • 13.79% worried about not having enough food

About this research:

The University of Sheffield have published statistics of UK adult food insecurity at Local Authority scale. You can view the map of measures of food insecurity here.

Hungry is defined as having skipped food for a whole day or more in the previous month or indicated they were hungry but not eaten because they could not afford or get access to food.

Struggle is defined as a positive response to at least one of the following:

  • Sought help accessing food
  • Skipped or shrank meal
  • Gave a reason for not having enough food

Worry is defined as choosing very worried or fairly worried about getting food.