Press & Media Coverage

Recognition & Awards

Big Issue Changemaker 2025

Recognised for our community organising model and impact addressing food poverty and housing injustice in Newcastle through collective action rather than charity.

Food & Solidarity has been featured in national and regional media for our work organising tenants, fighting evictions, and providing food security through solidarity rather than charity. Below is coverage of our campaigns, member stories, and the issues we tackle in Newcastle. See also our member wins and stories and our full record of campaigns and victories.

Featured Coverage

The Big Issue

January 2025

Big Issue Changemakers of 2025

Food & Solidarity named as a Big Issue Changemaker for 2025, recognised as a democratic membership organisation committed to improving the quality of life in our neighbourhoods through access to essential food resources and direct action on pressing local issues.

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The Big Issue

November 2024

'It can't stay like this': Meet the North East families fighting child poverty

Mwenza Blell, founding member of Food & Solidarity: "People are willing to walk long distances for small amounts of food. Things are rough, not just for the people that you know are struggling but for all kinds of people."

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The Big Issue

November 2025

Can Rachel Reeves' budget deliver the change needed to end poverty?

Analysis of the autumn budget and its impact on poverty organisations and communities across the UK, featuring perspectives from Food & Solidarity and other frontline organisations on what systemic change actually requires.

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Chronicle Live

October 2025

Inside the 'uninhabitable' Newcastle council flats plagued by damp and mould

Food & Solidarity members organised to support tenants dealing with severe housing disrepair in Newcastle council properties. See also our full story of the Breamish House campaign, where collective action won emergency repairs within 24 hours.

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Chronicle Live

May 2025

Newcastle man offered flat after months living in hotels fears he is about to be made homeless again

Dennis faced eviction due to a Newcastle City Council administrative error after months of hotel accommodation. Food & Solidarity organised community support to resist the eviction. Read our full account of the May Day campaign to stop Dennis's eviction.

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Vice

October 2022

'Helpful' Money Saving Tips Are Mostly Bullshit

Food & Solidarity challenges the narrative that individual money-saving tips can solve systemic poverty, arguing that collective action and structural change are what communities actually need.

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Chronicle Live

May 2022

People are 'at breaking point' as UK inflation hits 40-year high

Food & Solidarity responds to the cost of living crisis and its impact on Newcastle families, as inflation reaches levels not seen in decades. Read more about our work on the cost of living crisis.

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Chronicle Live

September 2021

Life in one of the poorest areas in Newcastle

An in-depth look at child poverty in Newcastle's West End, where Food & Solidarity was founded and continues to organise with families facing economic hardship.

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The Canary

June 2020

Community groups plan for a new post-lockdown future

Food & Solidarity emerged during the pandemic as a community network and grew into a permanent democratic organisation. Read about why this organisation exists.

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Academic Citation

British Journal of Sociology

February 2025

"If You Want the University to Change, Don't Theorise, Organise!"

Food & Solidarity is cited in a peer-reviewed article in the British Journal of Sociology as an example of communities creating "dual power" through collective organising. The paper cites Food & Solidarity directly alongside academic literature on non-reformist reform and community power.

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