Gateshead

Gateshead sits just across the Tyne from Newcastle, a proud, gritty town known for the Angel of the North and the Sage music centre, but life here isn't easy for everyone—average household income in the borough runs around £31,000 a year, well below the national figure, and that gap shows up fastest for people without stable housing. Gateshead Council recorded 187 households owed a homelessness duty in 2023, a number that's climbed as rents rise and support services stay stretched thin. The town has a working-class backbone and people who look out for their neighbours, which is why local groups matter so much here. Gateshead Foodbank can help if you're going without meals, and the Cyrenians have long worked across Tyneside supporting people sleeping rough or in crisis. Search4Change also works locally with people facing homelessness, addiction, and mental health struggles, offering a hand that doesn't ask too many questions upfront. Whatever brought you here, you deserve warmth, food, and someone to treat you like you matter—because you do, and this town has people in it who still believe that too.