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Help with Food Costs

If you are struggling with food costs, please contact your housing officer or our Welfare Benefits Team so that we can offer guidance and support.

Welfare Benefits Advice
Welfare Benefits Advice

Below are some valuable resources and initiatives to help you access food at a low cost or in emergency circumstances:

Emergency Access to Food: Trussell Trust

Help is available if you need access to emergency food.

You can find your nearest food bank on The Trussell Trust Website: https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/

Low-Cost Food Shopping for All: Community Grocery

For just £5 a year, you can become a member of Community Grocery and access their stock of fresh fruit and veg, shelf items, fridge and freezer items, bakery items, and non-food items.

Small Shop:  12 items for £5

Medium Shop: 18 items for £7.50

Large Shop: 24 items for £10

All you need to do is visit your nearest store (see their ‘Locations’ page to find yours) and let one of the team know it’s your first time. They will then give you a form to fill in and explain how the groceries work.

Being a Community Grocery member means you can shop in-store multiple times each week, helping you save on your shopping budget. They have stores across the country, and your membership can be used in all of them.

Local support

Your local council

Check with your local council to see if they offer support with food costs: https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council

This help is known as “welfare assistance” or the “household support fund”. Each council runs its scheme, and you don’t need to be on benefits to qualify.

Little Sprouts

North Star partners with Little Sprouts to run community shops, lunch clubs, cooking workshops, community gardens and family pop-up events for the Stockton and Thornaby communities. They also work to upskill communities through community cooking workshops and Level 2 Food Hygiene training. Visit their website to learn more: Little Sprouts Charity Health and Well-Being.

Community Pantries and Shops

Stockton-on-Tees

  • Sprouts Community Shop
    The Community Hub
    Havelock Street
    Thornaby
    TS17 6HN

  • The Amal Project Eco-Shop
    Arlington Park
    Adderley Street
    Stockton
    TS18 3GT

  • Norton Grange Community Pantry
    64 Somerset Road
    Norton
    Stockton
    TS20 2ND

  • Norton Methodist Church Pantry
    439 – 445 Norton Road
    Norton
    Stockton
    TS20 2QQ

  • Chad’s Pantry
    St Chad’s Church
    Ragpath Lane
    Stockton
    TS19 9AY

  • Challoner House Community Pantry
    Challoner Road
    Yarm
    TS15 9EL


  • Stockton Family Hub Community Pantry
    Family Hub
    Yarm Road
    Stockton
    TS18 3PJ

  • Ragworth Community Grocery
    Dover Road
    Ragworth
    Stockton
    TS19 9JU

  • Stockton Hope Community Larder
    St Andrew’s Methodist Church
    Hardwick
    Stockton
    TS19 8DW

Middlesbrough

  • Community Choices EMEC
    (Middlebeck Club)
    Homerton Road
    Pallister Park
    TS3 8QD

  • Breckon Hill Community Centre
    Breckon Hill Road
    Middlesbrough
    TS4 2DS

  • The Genesis Project
    St Oswalds Church
    Lambton Road
    Middlesbrough
    TS4 2RG

  • The Sutton Centre
    24 Collin Avenue
    Middlesbrough
    TS4 3HF

  • St Thomas
    Charwood Centre
    Middlesbrough
    TS3 9RE

  • St John’s Church
    Normanby Road
    South Bank
    TS6 6SD

  • Tees Valley Together
    Hemlington Recreation Centre
    Cass House Road
    Hemlington
    TS8 9QW

  • Pioneering Credit Union
    24 Newport Road
    Middlesbrough
    TS1 5AE

  • Streets Ahead
    109 – 111 Parliament Road
    Middlesbrough
    TS4 4JE

  • Ubuntu Multicultural Centre
    49 Clifton Street
    Middlesbrough
    TS1 4BX

  • Middlesbrough Community Grocery
    St Barnabas Church
    1A St Barnabas Road
    Linthorpe
    Middlesbrough
    TS5 6JR

Redcar

  • Redcar Community Grocery
    Redcar Baptist Church
    Park Avenue
    Redcar
    TS10 3LJ

Hartlepool

  • Project 85 – Belle Vue Centre
    Kendal Road
    Hartlepool
    TS25 1QU

Darlington

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