Meet the Maker – Big River Bakery

As a valued local supplier to The Factory Kitchen, Big River Bakery shares our belief in the importance of community, creativity and bringing people together. Their work goes beyond the bakery itself, creating opportunities and supporting people to develop skills, confidence and connections through food. They work with local businesses and charities to deliver social value by employing 17 people and 2 volunteers, including supporting neurodiverse people into the workplace and ensuring a real living wage.

Their recent initiative ‘National Stottie Week’ (10th – 16th August) offered a chance to celebrate this much-loved North East staple and we invited Gail, General Manager at Big River Bakery, to tell us more about the bakery, its roots in the community and the positive impact it strives to make every day:

‘Big River Bakery started with a simple idea: to make great food while using a bakery as a force for good in the community. From our home in Shieldfield, Newcastle, we’ve grown into a community bakery and social enterprise that brings people together through food, creates opportunities and supports people who may face barriers to employment, confidence or participation in their community.

A big part of what we do is about creating positive social impact. We provide welcoming, practical opportunities for people to learn new skills, build confidence, gain experience and take steps towards employment or further training. We work with people from a wide range of backgrounds, including those who may have been out of work for some time or who need a supportive environment in which to rebuild confidence and realise what they are capable of.’

‘We also believe strongly in tackling isolation and creating a sense of belonging. Food is a brilliant way of bringing people together, and through our bakery, community activities, training programmes and events we try to create spaces where people feel welcome, valued and connected. The impact is not only about jobs; it is about confidence, wellbeing, friendships, skills and helping people feel that they have something positive to contribute.

At the heart of Big River is the belief that a bakery can be much more than somewhere that makes bread. It can be part of the social fabric of a neighbourhood, supporting local people, keeping money and opportunity within the community and using something as simple as good food to create wider change.’

‘We’re incredibly proud of our North East roots, and of course the stottie is a huge part of that. National Stottie Week and the Great Stottie Trail have given us a wonderful opportunity to celebrate not only an iconic regional food, but the stories, people and places that make the North East special. The Biscuit Factory has been a long-standing wholesale customer and friend of Big River Bakery, so it’s particularly lovely to be featured by them during National Stottie Week.’

Enjoy our Big River Stotties in The Factory Kitchen.