Hartlepool is all about community, with many individuals, groups and organisations taking actions that benefit the wider public in the town. The Hartlepool Food Partnership wishes to shout out about those doing food-related actions that complement our aim of Healthy, Affordable and Sustainable Food for All in Hartlepool.
Every month in our newsletter we award a ‘Hartlepool Food Star’ award (and send them a certificate), where we share excellent work being down locally for people, and we share it here too, forming a collection of local brilliance. Please click on the names below, finding out about the amazing work being done in our town.
If you would like to nominate someone for this award, please let us know at info@hartlepoolfoodpartnership.co.uk.
April 2026 – St Aidan’s School
St Aidan’s gave a very high number of entries for the Cartoon Mascot competition, a significant number of their pupils getting creative and thinking about healthy food, which was absolutely marvellous, though there is a further reason why, this month, they are this month’s Hartlepool Food Star. The Food Partnership has been working with them for a while now, along with contacts from Hartlepool’s College of Further Education, on the creation of raised beds for children there to have hands on experience with growing (and hopefully then eating) food plants. Like many projects, delays happen though, all being well, the first plants will be grown there this year. It is an exciting time and for that they are this month’s Food Star.
March 2026 – Barnard Grove School
Going back briefly to the Cartoon Mascot competition, as noted several schools were involved, getting many of their children involved, though we were flabbergasted when we received the entries from Barnard Grove Primary School. Virtually every child there from Reception onwards had had a go at being creative, thinking about healthy food and getting involved with the Hartlepool Food Partnership’s competition. For this, Barnard Grove School are this month’s Hartlepool Food Star.
February 2026 – Foodcycle Hartlepool
This month we focus on one of Hartlepool’s many low and no cost food organisations that help those in need. FoodCycle Hartlepool runs a free 3 course meal at Hub South on Mondays 6:30pm with the aim of bringing people together for free and wholesome food. No need to book, you just turn up.
Yet this meal is more than just that, it also aims to get those who attend talking which may for example help tackle loneliness and support mental health. The meals themselves are made from food that would have otherwise gone to waste, and so this initiative helps to locally decrease food waste too, another great outcome. For this, FoodCycle Hartlepool are this month’s Hartlepool Food Star.
January 2026 – the former members of the Hartlepool Food Network
Many people in Hartlepool benefitted from the Hartlepool Food Network in recent years which, a little while ago, closed its doors for the last time. It’s positive impact on the Hartlepool’s food environment is set to continue however since the funds they had remaining are in the process of being distributed between several local organisations. These include organisations providing cookery lessons, a community allotment, gardening sessions at schools, food vouchers for those in need and more. For this brilliant impact, over a good few years, the members of the former Hartlepool Food Network are very worthy recipients of this month’s Hartlepool Food Star.
November 2025 – Hartlepool’s Foodbank and the Community Grocery (Oxford Road Baptist Church)
To mention Christmas a second time within this newsletter, it can be a time when people struggle to balance the financial costs of food, heating, buying Christmas presents for their children and more. As mentioned earlier, Hartlepool is very fortunate to have an amazing array of low and no cost food organisations, there for those who need it, when they need it. These can be particularly beneficial at this time of year, and this month two of these will be focussed on, both being worthy recipients of the Hartlepool Food Star award.
Hartlepool’s Foodbank has been in the town since 2012 and helps c.150 people a week with three days of emergency food, a critical amazing resource for those in food crisis. For those looking to have their money go further on their food shopping, not least due to the significant food price inflation there’s been in recent years, there is the brilliant Hartlepool Community Grocery run by the Oxford Road Baptist Church, available for everyone to use. Both of these places provide an amazing service for Hartlepool and must be commended.
October 2025 – Fairtrade Hartlepool
Did you know that Hartlepool has been recognised as a Fairtrade town, all because of the dedicated work of the town’s Fairtrade Group, for 20 years? They are still going strong, being supported by the Borough Council and working with schools, churches, community groups and the media to spread the word about Fairtrade and how the Fairtrade mark guarantees a fair price for the producer.
They also work with retailers and cafes to stock or provide a range of Fairtrade products for the customer, which can all be found out about on the Hartlepool’s Fairtrade Group page on the Food Partnership’s website.
For all this effort they are a worthy recipient of this month’s Hartlepool Food Star Award.
For anyone interested in finding out more or getting involved, please contact them at fairtradehartlepool1@gmail.com.
September 2025 – Hartlepool Family Hubs
Sticking with the general theme of much of this month’s newsletter, this month’s Hartlepool Food Star is awarded to Hartlepool’s Family Hubs. At first glance people may be curious about this choice since the work of Family Hubs involves a wide range of family topics all the way from antenatal to adulthood, though this award focuses on the vital work they do linked to the feeding and nutrition of 0 to 2 year-olds.
This is a significant part of the critical first 1000 days of a child’s life, a crucial period for physical and emotional development, in part due to the rapid growth of the brain during this time, where the right nutrition is of significant importance. Where help is desired by parents, Hartlepool’s Family Hubs provide indispensable help with Infant Feeding, are contactable at 01429 292444, run weekly ‘feeding and development’ and monthly ‘introducing solids’ sessions, are developing the list of breastfeeding welcome venues and much more.
August 2025 – Hartlepool Allotments and Waverley Outdoor Community Hub
Do you know how many allotment plots there are in Hartlepool? There are 999, spread between 16 sites, the number per site ranging from 1-115 (full details, including an interactive map can be found HERE on our website. There are also further community allotments at Waverley Outdoor Community Hub.
Having an allotment (or doing similarly if you have a suitable garden) has so many positive effects. It increases your physical activity, improves mental wellbeing, and is there anything more rewarding that eating something you’ve grown yourself? You can produce healthy and nutritious food you’ve grown, which somehow always seems to taste better than that from a supermarket. There are beneficial environmental impacts on wildlife and pollinators, and it’s an opportunity for social interaction.
Hartlepool’s allotments do naturally need managing, and for this very appreciated service we are very pleased to award Hartlepool Food Star awards this month to both Hartlepool’s Allotments team and Waverley Outdoor Community Hub.
July 2025 – LilyAnne’s Wellbeing Cafe
Food provides nourishment, pleasure and comfort; this can be at your own home, or in cafés and restaurants where people may also gain the company of friends or those around them. In northern England, c.65% of people visit a café at least once a fortnight, and Hartlepool has many wonderful places to choose from.
This month’s Hartlepool Food Star award is awarded to LilyAnne’s Wellbeing Cafe (part of LilyAnne’s Wellbeing Charity). This is not simply because it is an amazing café in its still-new location of Titan House, but because of what it does for all of Hartlepool. The charity is focussed on supporting people in Hartlepool with their mental health and feelings of loneliness. Any adult can walk in for help with this, and can speak in the café or privately, with all of the profits from the café helping fund this amazing work.
For all of this, combining the nourishment, pleasure and comfort of food, they are a very worthy recipient of a Hartlepool Food Star.
June 2025 – Kiddikins Nursery
Improving access to healthy food, and helping to increase healthy eating habits, is a major aim of the Hartlepool Food Partnership. One way that we wish to help children with this is encouraging and aiding fruit and vegetable growing projects in schools and nurseries. Being involved in these activities, children can appreciate, learn about and be involved with food production. They will hopefully also try the produce they grow and then continue eating it in future.
We are awarding our first Hartlepool Food Star award to Kiddikins Nursery since, even without our help, they are already doing amazing food-related work with their children. They grow potatoes, carrots, strawberries and much more across eight raised beds and further containers. The children at the nursery are encouraged to help and learn, gaining brilliant awareness and appreciation of where naturally healthy food comes from.
The produce is then used in the nursery’s home-made healthy meals, as is produce from the local allotment of one of the team, with the kids encouraged to try what they can. Surplus produce is available for free to parents, which they can take home to cook with and which also opens up discussions with parents. This is an excellent example of healthy food metres rather than food miles.
We could not be more delighted to see this amazing work that Kiddikins are doing. We look forward to following, and aiding if we can, their continuing progress and success.