Where We Work
Communities of support
Our hubs are the local focus points for building community, where people can come to have a meal together, take part in training sessions, meet a support worker, or access our housing and other opportunities.
Durham
Our Durham hub is located in Langley Moor and houses our woodwork and craft space. We also run a women’s craft group in Gilesgate on Tuesdays.
Handcrafted Durham, Unit 21 Skillion Business Centre, Littleburn Industrial Estate,
Langley Moor,
Durham,
DH7 8HG
Chester-le-Street
In prime position on Front Street, our Chester-le-Street hub is home to a training kitchen where we run cookery sessions every weekday, open to every skill level. We also run a women’s group on Wednesdays. The Chester-le-Street hub also houses our screen printing enterprise project.
Handcrafted Chester-le-Street,
70 Front Street,
Chester-le-Street,
DH3 3BB
Gateshead
Our Gateshead hub is based in a converted pub, offering a training kitchen, community café, a carpentry workshop, on-site supported housing as well as our repurposed plastics enterprise project. We run a women’s group on Thursdays as well as various other activities on weekday afternoons.
Handcrafted Gateshead,
The Shakespeare,
88/96 Fife Street,
Deckham,
Gateshead,
NE8 3RR
The Shakey
The Shakey is our community cafe based in our Gateshead Hub, serving a range of breakfasts, hot & cold drinks, homemade baked goods and snacks. It’s run by some of our fantastic trainee volunteers, who whip up everything from chai lattes to bacon rolls.
Open weekdays 9am-12pm. Food is served until 11am, followed by a free community meal from 12-1pm. All welcome! Closed on bank holidays, weekends, and over Christmas week.
The community space and kitchen is also available for event hire. Please contact Tim, our cafe manager, at timcrichton@handcrafted.org.uk.
The Shakey Cafe,
88 Fife Street,
Deckham,
Gateshead,
NE8 3RR
Sunderland
Our Sunderland Hub is currently based out of the @NextDoorProject in Pennywell, Sunderland where we provide woodwork sessions Tuesday mornings and afternoons, plus weekday afternoons Wednesday through Friday. We also run accredited catering training courses in the kitchens. Like our other hubs, we also now offer supported accommodation.
Handcrafted Sunderland,
Petersfield Road,
Sunderland,
SR4 9BB
Darlington
Our Darlington Hub is currently operating from Darlington Vineyard Church, where we run woodwork sessions every Friday. Alongside this, we offer supported accommodation close by, helping us provide both practical skills and a safe place to call home. We’ve also recently launched a new women’s craft group on Tuesdays, creating a welcoming space to connect, share, and get creative.
Handcrafted Darlington
Salt Yard,
Darlington,
DL3 7DX
Engage
Our Engage teams work with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young care leavers – providing housing, practical and emotional support, and opportunities to take part in activities and build connections.
As our work has grown across the North East, Engage now operates through three regional teams: Engage Tyne and Wear, Engage County Durham and Engage Tees Valley. Together, they enable us to provide locally based support to young people across the region.
Hummingbird
Hummingbird supports young people in and leaving care, providing safe homes alongside consistent, relationship-based support.
Our Hummingbird Homes are designed specifically for 16 and 17-year-olds in care. Rather than living in a large shared setting, each young person has their own front door and their own home, with experienced support workers living alongside them on the same street. This “live-near” model gives young people greater independence and a stronger sense of home, while ensuring trusted support is close by when they need it.
We also support young care leavers as they move into adulthood, providing continued housing and practical and emotional support to help them build confidence, develop independence and work towards their goals.
Testimonials
I have referred a number of offenders to Handcrafted. The offenders can attend the project several times per week if they wish to, if not daily. This means that they have some where to go and something constructive to do with their time. They can learn new skills or continue to develop skills they already have. They are given the opportunity to try projects they would probably never have considered themselves able to do.
They all take great pride in the items they produce and some have expressed interest in forming their own small businesses on the back of the skills they have learned.
Most of my offenders have then begun to work on their own projects outside of Handcrafted, for example, one produced a bench for a new nature reserve. The offender stated that he feels he has left a legacy for other people to benefit from. Again, this gives them something constructive to do with their time, gives them a sense of pride and self worth. All of this is extremely positive for the offender and helps to deter from further offending.