STORY: Newcastle community bakery needs £300 to stay afloat

The Artisan Baking Community hopes to have a permanent home in Shieldfields, Newcastle, by the end of the month, but it has to raise £22,230 to do so.

It is now within touching distance of its target, and needs just £300 to get there – or risk losing the whole lot, which it has drummed up through a crowdfunding site.

So far almost £22,000 has been pledged, and Andy Haddon, who founded the bakery, has urged people to dig deep to help the enterprise achieve its goal.

He says: "There's only a Plan A, no Plan B so if we don't reach the target, that's it.”

The project is part of Andy’s social enterprise Earth Doctors, which develops sustainable food initiatives at a scale that has a positive impact on local communities, as well as offers training for people who otherwise might struggle to find work.

Its current base is at the Biscuit Factory in Shieldfield, Newcastle. It also has groups and schemes in one form or another operating in Clara Vale, Wylam and Dunston. They provide pizza bases for pubs and sell bread products in the region’s food markets.

Artisan Baking Community is its trading arm, which has developed a unique bakery programme operating in the North East over the last five years.

Andy adds: “The biggest achievement is that we've kept going and believed that it would happen. It's been a long six months. We didn't hit our target the first time round but we've had to be resistant. We’ve  dropped the target from £30,000 to £22,000, got grant funding and now people seem to be backing us.

“It's a community bakery. There's no shareholders and it's about having an impact in the community through food. It's not just about making goods and selling them. It's about making healthy food that's available and affordable for everyone.”

The planned new bakery building is currently derelict and requires “a hell of a lot of work”, but refurbishments are well underway.

To donate to Shieldfield Community Bakery and push them over the finish line, visit https://www.spacehive.com/shieldfield-community-bakery