The Gateshead Big Local area was about a mile west from the centre of Gateshead, a town in North East England across the River Tyne from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The area comprised three estates (Teams, Derwentwater, and Racecourse Estate), bordered to the north by the river, and intersected by a dual carriageway and railway lines.
In 2021, the area had a population of 5,536 (ONS, 2022) and was in the top 20 per cent most deprived areas in England in 2019 (MHCLG, 2019). Social rented housing formed 44 per cent of local housing at the time, compared to 22 per cent in the North East more broadly (ONS, 2023a). There was a high proportion of poor health outcomes, with a greater proportion of residents reporting bad or very bad health, and with lower life expectancy at birth when compared with the wider region (ONS, 2023b; OHID, 2022a; 2022b).
A private riverside development of over 760 new homes began before Big Local and was completed during the programme (Hemingway Design, 2025). There were few local shops, but the area had various green spaces and community venues (like family and youth centres, many of which closed or were at risk of closure).
The Gateshead Big Local partnership identified four priority areas: responding to social needs; building on good things happening in the area; developing skills and confidence for local people and organisations; and improving local community facilities. These priorities were developed through community consultation and largely remained throughout Big Local. Before developing each plan, the partnership sent out a survey to residents and local groups to ensure their views were included.
The partnership established subgroups to work with stakeholders, supporting their aim of responding to social needs and building on good things locally. The subgroups (called ‘network groups’) brought organisations together around key themes from community consultation, like health and wellbeing, older people, and younger people. Over time, the groups opened to residents interested in those themes.
Each group had its own terms of reference, workplan, and a small budget to pilot ideas. The partnership would then consider successful pilot projects for further piloting or broader roll-out. It was sometimes challenging to maintain network group attendance, and the partnership scaled back from six groups to avoid stretching themselves too thinly. However, given the projects that emerged from the groups, the partnership considered the approach successful.
The partnership also ran Quick Wins, a small grants scheme to support local groups to build capacity, launch projects, and reach new people. Several projects (including Teams Wheelers) were developed and led by volunteers, whose involvement was a core part of the partnership’s approach to delivery. They felt it allowed residents to take ownership of projects, which were often the first point of contact between the public and Big Local, and in turn became a source of more volunteer involvement. To encourage the development of volunteer-led projects, the partnership offered access to free training and DBS checks, as well as friendly, informal support for new ideas.
The partnership reflected that they often had a very active, large core of volunteers, only needing to recruit more when specific projects grew. Members also reflected that they learned over time the importance of volunteers feeling valued and part of the team, and to not to ask too much of them.
As Big Local came to a close, the partnership decided to set up a Community Interest Organisation (CIO) – Big Local Gateshead – to continue delivery in the community. The new CIO was set up to manage the lease for their new hub, Pitt Stop, and coordinate activities there, forming a key legacy of the Big Local programme in Gateshead.
A Big Local partnership was a group made up of at least eight people that guided the overall direction of delivery in a Big Local area.
A Big Local Plan set out what changes the partnership planned to make, how they planned to deliver on this and how funds were to be allocated. It was written for themselves, their community and Local Trust, as a guide and action plan.
The Gateshead partnership established a base at The Bungalow (a former caretaker’s bungalow at a local primary school) a few years into Big Local. They found that having a physical venue increased what they could offer the community, as they could host new and established groups. Ideas which developed out of the network groups (like Teams Wheelers, the Teams Tots mother and toddler group, and Pop-Up Shop) were based at The Bungalow.
A few years before the programme ended, Gateshead Big Local activities were exceeding the capacity of The Bungalow, so the partnership explored other venues. Funded by the primary school, Teams Tots continued out of The Bungalow, with the partnership reflecting on it as an example of a volunteer-led project developing beyond Big Local and “spreading its wings”. Gateshead Big Local staff were temporarily based in a local youth organisation’s office, and the Pop-Up Shop was run from a local family centre. Many of the groups which previously ran from The Bungalow set up delivery elsewhere.
The partnership looked into several venues before pursuing a disused health hub. An asset transfer was agreed with Gateshead Council at Big Local was coming to a close, giving the new Big Local Gateshead Community Interest Organisation (CIO) a 35-year lease with a peppercorn rent (a very low rent to make a lease legally valid). The building was much bigger than previous hubs the partnership explored, with kitchen facilities that would allow for a community café. The building was renamed Pitt Stop in honour of the site’s original street name.
As Big Local came to an end the CIO were in discussions about how to use the space, including volunteer-led activities on site and hiring office space to other voluntary organisations.
Teams Wheelers, a volunteer-led cycling club, emerged from the Gateshead Big Local health and wellbeing network group. The group ran local bike rides a few times a week, including introductory rides to help people build confidence, long rides into the countryside, and family rides with easier, low-traffic routes to play parks. They built a wider support system to help residents who were newer to cycling, offering classes (in cycling and bike maintenance), helmets, and opportunities for socialising with coffee and a sandwich during their rides.
All the cycle leaders completed Cycle UK qualifications and first aid training, and the club ran on a membership model. Taking part in a single bike ride cost £1, with yearly membership costing £5 and bike hire available for £1. The membership reached around 70 people, including members who lived outside the area and many with long-term conditions. The partnership reported that the club was beneficial to some attendees who sought ways to stay more active or improve their physical fitness as they got older.
Teams Wheelers became self-sufficient, due to membership subscriptions and funding from British Cycle and Cycle UK. The success of the project led to the partnership getting involved in the local authority’s wider transport planning, sharing insights on how to get residents cycling, and highlighting where cycle paths could be improved to prevent accidents. Teams Wheelers won Sports Club of the Year at Gateshead Council’s 2025 Gateshead Awards. The new community hub, Pitt Stop, was planned to include a ‘bike kitchen’ run by volunteer mechanics to support residents to repair or improve their bicycles and build confidence cycling.
The partnership recognised a lack of local green space that could be used by schools for education, and asked the secretary of the local allotments if they could take over an unused allotment patch. The space was overgrown, so volunteers supported clearing and redeveloping it, with the partnership using their professional networks to build planters and a small pavilion for indoor space.
The aim of the allotment was to provide a therapeutic space for people to enjoy nature, connect with others, and improve their wellbeing. Over time it became a space for intergenerational work, with schools and care homes bringing children and older residents to take part in planting and growing projects. The partnership estimated that it was used by up to 80 people per week, and hired a horticulturalist to lead sessions in the allotment, care homes, and schools.
At the end of Big Local, ownership of the allotment transferred to the new Big Local Gateshead Community Interest Organisation (CIO). The CIO planned for a small group of volunteers to manage the space with light-touch support from the CIO.
Just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the partnership established a pop-up shop to distribute surplus bread donated by a local supermarket. During the pandemic, the project expanded, continuing as the cost of living increased. The partnership reflected that it served as the main weekly food shop for some residents during this time.
The Pop-Up Shop ran every Friday, initially from The Bungalow, then from a local family centre, and then from Pitt Stop. It provided free or low-cost food with no need for a referral, with a ‘free table’, bags of fruit and vegetables for £1, and other food sold for a third of the retail price. Food was provided through FareShare (using Big Local funding) and donated by supermarkets. Volunteers played an important role collecting food from supermarkets and distribution centres. Residents experiencing financial challenges could contact the Pop-Up Shop in advance and have a free bag of food prepared to collect, and could also access support through the monthly Citizens Advice drop-in service.
The shop provided an opportunity for residents to socialise and form friendships, with residents arriving early to chat and swap recipes. As Big Local came to an end, the team at Pitt Stop was exploring how best to use its kitchen facilities to provide a community café to support residents with low-cost food.
Mid-way through Big Local, the partnership set up a membership scheme, asking anyone attending, involved, or interested in a Big Local project to ‘join’ Gateshead Big Local, granting them membership. To encourage people to sign up they ran monthly prize draws for 10 £30 vouchers, increasing these to weekly draws during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The partnership felt that this approach enabled them to reach out to more residents and to create a database of names and email addresses so that they could spread the word about their activities. Within four years of the scheme there were over 500 members, and 200 affiliate members who lived outside the area and weren’t eligible for the prize draw.
This approach strengthened the reach of the partnership’s social media and newsletter, meaning that they could ensure activities were well-subscribed and reaching residents. They offered subsidised coach trips to locations suggested by residents on social media, such as Alnwick Castle, Diggerland, and Northumberland Zoo, meeting a need for cheap summertime family activities. Through the newsletter, 300 seats on the coach trips were sold in under three days.
Early in Big Local, the partnership identified Charlton Walk (a green space near the railway line) as needing redevelopment. It had formerly housed a playpark but was overgrown, and Gateshead residents felt it had become a site of anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.
The partnership worked with Gateshead Council and Network Rail to clear litter and repaint the boundary wall. This enabled the partnership to commission participatory arts company, Baseline Shift, to work with 30 local primary school children to create Park Life — a series of 49 graphic panels for the boundary wall. The partnership also installed large concrete bollards at the entrances to Charlton Walk to prevent fly-tipping, but within a few years, litter, fly-tipping, and other anti-social behaviour returned, and the artworks were vandalised.
The partnership was keen to see new affordable housing in the Gateshead Big Local area, as they felt other new developments had not provided enough housing aimed at existing residents. Given the challenges at Charlton Walk, they proposed new housing on this land to make the best use of the space, and worked closely with Gateshead Council and Homes England to progress the project. The partnership brought in local architects, community-led housing experts, and potential housing association partners.
As the project progressed, rules on funding projects through Homes England changed. This meant that the Gateshead Big Local partnership could no longer be involved, but planning permission was granted for 16 affordable homes of a range of sizes on the land. The partnership was proud of the outcome despite no longer being involved – they felt that they had played an important role in transforming Charlton Walk. At the end of Big Local, the project was still in development, with building works not yet started.
Each Big Local area received approximately £1.2 million (ranging from £1.199 mil to 1.209 mil) to spend over 10–15 years, depending on how much additional funding they accessed from Local Trust to address specific needs. For example, to bring people together at the start of the programme or to access training and support. This has been categorised for areas and at the programme level based on reports received from areas.
Partnerships chose their own priorities and categories for reporting, and were encouraged to use broad categories so they could use the funding flexibly. All areas spent a significant amount of money on ‘Big Local delivery costs’ such as workers’ salaries, stationery and IT equipment. You can find out more about programme level spend in this article. This is how Gateshead Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2025) ‘Universal credit’. (Accessed 5 December 2025)
Hemingway Design (2025) ‘Staiths South Bank’. (Accessed 5 December 2025)
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019’. (Accessed 5 December 2025)
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) (2022a) ‘Life expectancy at birth for males’. (Accessed 5 December 2025)
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) (2022b) ‘Life expectancy at birth for females’. (Accessed 5 December 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 5 December 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023a) ‘UK Census 2021: Social rented housing’. (Accessed 5 December 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023b) ‘UK Census 2021: Self-reported general health: bad health/very bad health’. (Accessed 5 December 2025)
