Stockton-on-Tees: co-designing and delivering the council’s first Anti-Poverty strategy

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is committed to the belief that every resident has the right to live a fulfilling life that is fair, equal, and free from the effects of poverty. This principle sits at the heart of the Council’s vision for a fairer borough, where no one is left behind.

The Anti-Poverty Strategy 2024-2027 was developed to put this commitment into action. It was inspired by a clear ambition: to create the conditions in which all residents can thrive, regardless of their background or circumstances. The council recognised that achieving this required more than traditional service delivery, but rather an innovative and preventative approach that works alongside communities, listens to lived experience, and tackles the root causes of hardship.

The strategy builds on the Council Plan, the Fairer Stockton-on-Tees Framework, and the Powering Our Future programme, uniting its partners on a shared mission to improve outcomes and strengthen community resilience.

It is just one of the ways in which the council is bridging the gap in equalities in Stockton-on-Tees.

The council set out to:

• reduce the number of residents experiencing financial crisis
• improve health and wellbeing by addressing the wider causes of poverty
• strengthen community resilience and give our residents a voice to shape local solutions
• ensure lived experience directly informs policy and services
• bring partners together around a single, borough-wide mission to reduce inequalities.

The council began by gathering a strong evidence base, combining local data with lived-experience research, including community-led insight work such as the Thrive Facing Futures project and the Positive Living Forum (a group of people with lived experience of poverty), as well as a range of in-depth surveys conducted with residents, staff and community groups. 

The feedback from peer research conversations by Thrive Teesside provide a snapshot of the key issues and concerns facing the Borough's residents:

• "as a single working mum of four children, times are tough. I'm behind on bills living in an unaffordable property that is overcrowded... Lots of weekends are spent in the house recently, reduced activities for example no play areas access. Trying to reduce heating costs but a struggle to keep warm"
• "I'm always making changes to be able to fit in daily life. I've had to weigh up options and make cuts or compromises until I can next do something. Some weeks if we can't afford to buy food I'll have to attend food banks or if I can't afford fuel to get to work I have to ask people for a lift until I'm next able to fill my car"
• "what changes in Stockton would make life easier for people struggling? - More opportunities to access community education and opportunities to enable them to reach their potential by removing the many barriers that people face in highly deprived areas"

Their input helped identify the real pressures residents were facing and the barriers preventing them from accessing support and social mobility. Meanwhile, early engagement with voluntary and community sector partners, health organisations, schools and local groups helped build shared ownership.

The council was then able to identify four key priority areas to focus on: household poverty, child poverty, participation and voice, and health and wellbeing.

Although the strategy is still in delivery, positive outcomes are already emerging across each area.

A ‘Here to Help’ online hub was set up to signpost people to local support services, including welfare and benefits advice, support to reduce fuel poverty, budgeting advice to help with debt management and income maximisation, and support to secure education, training or employment. 

The one-stop-shop, along with targeted interventions, has supported households struggling with the cost of living:

• in 2022, 17,000 households were assisted with Council Tax Reduction. 7,500 were assisted with Housing Benefits and 679 awards were granted as Discretionary Housing Payment.
• since 2012, the council has supported 4,024 households across the Borough through its Warm Home Health People scheme.1156 boiler services or repairs have been conducted. 117 replacement boilers have been installed.
• over 70 people have registered for CV support, advice and interview tips via the council's Employment and Training 'Hub on Tour' project.
• more than 20 Learning and Skills courses have been held across Community Spaces venues including Billingham, Stockton, Thornaby and Redhill Family Hubs. Other catering and nutrition courses designed to support people manage their budgets, in response to rising food and energy costs, included Air Fryer Recipes, Family Dinner Favourites on a Budget, Festive Cooking on a Budget and Skills to Pay the Bills.

More support to help residents access food and essential household items has also been introduced and has made a significant difference to the lives of our residents.

Established in 2024, The Bread and Butter Thing supports residents at five hubs in the borough, providing high‑quality, low‑cost food to people living in Stockton‑on‑Tees. In 2025, residents purchased 13,590 sets of shopping, saving £339,738. The scheme has made a substantial contribution to reducing the demand for emergency food parcels, with numbers falling by approximately 50 per cent since 2023. As an open‑access service, it helps to remove stigma while also reducing levels of avoidable food waste.

A multibank was also launched, enabling local organisations, NHS teams and council services to access hundreds of thousands of free, donated products to support residents. From toys to toiletries, and cleaning products to clothing, these items, donated by Amazon, are making a real difference to families in need. Christmas gifts, school supplies, backpacks and sports equipment have helped ensure children aren’t excluded from important experiences or learning opportunities due to household income. Since the launch, 725,418 items have been distributed across Stockton-on-Tees, with an estimated value of over £4million.

How else have children and families been supported?

A recent report presented to the cabinet in March 2026 highlighted the wide range of practical measures delivered by the council and its partners to reduce inequality and ensure every child has the best start in life. 

By focussing on the emerging issues at home and in school which directly affect children and young people and their families or carers, we were able to focus on issues such as uniform affordability and increase take-up of Healthy Start vouchers and free school meals amongst eligible families.

In 2025 alone, nearly 400 children were auto-enrolled to receive free school meals, with an increase of almost £500,000 in pupil premium.  

More than 10,000 HAF (Holidays are Fun) programme sessions were attended, which provided over 14,000 free, funded holiday activities and healthy meals. To ease financial pressures further, families were also able to access free school uniform through the council's four Family Hubs, as well as prom outfits and a range of cost-of-living support services.  

One parent said the Here to Help Summer Family Fun Day in July - which offered community support and free school uniform - was "a huge help", allowing her to save on uniform costs while speaking directly to organisations providing information and advice. 

During summer 2025, the council worked in partnership with the Junction Multibank to provide 600 backpacks to children and families across the borough. The backpacks ranged in design so that they could not be identified as ‘free backpacks’ and to avoid stigma.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council understands that poverty isn’t limited to financial hardship - which is why it was vital for the council to improve access to health services and minimise the risk of people experiencing loneliness and isolation. To support this, a council-led social isolation and loneliness working group has been created to develop a strategic approach to tackle these issues and strengthening community connections. 

As part of this work, the council has commissioned Volunteering Matters to develop a volunteer driver service aimed at reducing barriers to services and enabling residents to connect both with each other and vital support. Through the Stockton Volunteer Driver Service (SVDS), trained volunteers now provide safe, door-to-door journeys for those unable to use conventional transport to access medical appointments or social groups that combat loneliness, restoring confidence and independence. The SVDS now has over 300 users and has supported them with more than 4,000 journeys to date. Many using the service describe it as a ‘lifeline’, helping them access opportunities they would otherwise have missed due to financial pressures or a lack of confidence in public transport.

Free community events held in venues across the borough provide a lifeline for those wishing to socialise and take part in group activities. These include our Warm Welcome sessions, where people can enjoy a hot drink, play games and take part activities such as bingo and group days out.

The ‘Something New for You’ sessions arranged by the Fairer Stockton-on-Tees and Community Engagement teams regularly attract hundreds of visitors and encourage new experiences for the community, featuring activities such as cooking demonstrations, chair-based exercises, and interactive sessions, promoting various services and support from over 40 organisations. 

Increased access to early-help support has also reduced reliance on crisis services, with Stockton-on-Tees selected by Government as one of 43 areas across the UK for the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) which aims to tackle health inequalities, move support closer to communities and prevent ill health, including those in areas with the poorest health outcomes.

Alongside the development of the Tees Valley Care & Health Innovation Zone and the Community Diagnostic Centre, this pioneering approach places more support at the heart of our communities meaning people can access the right level of care in more convenient locations, without having to travel far.

We’re empowering people by making sure people affected by poverty have a say in the support available, what that support involves, and how they access it. 

We’re already doing this through the Positive Living Forum and going forward, we will be increasing the voices of young people in decision making, working with residents whose voices may not have been captured through existing networks, for example those who are homeless, and increasing engagement with refugees and asylum seekers.  

This will be undertaken by engaging with:  

• Anti-Poverty Delivery Group: This group will drive forward the Anti-Poverty Strategy and action plan and it includes partners from the public and VCSE sectors.
• Positive Living Group: This group will feed into our anti-poverty work using the insights, priorities and messages from participatory action and research undertaken by groups of people with lived experience of poverty. This work has been and will continue to be supported by Thrive Teesside
• Cost of Living Network and project groups: These groups were set up to help the enable the Council to address specific changes faces by our residents due to Cost of Living challenges.
• Health and Wellbeing Board: The Health and Wellbeing Board leads the improvement of health and wellbeing for Stockton-on-Tees. Our anti-poverty work will feed directly into this board.
• Infinity: This forum is the Financial Inclusion Partnership in the borough, comprising organisations in the borough that are committed to providing and progressing financial inclusion.

• Lived experience must be central to design - it reveals barriers that data alone cannot.
• Prevention is more effective and sustainable than crisis response.
• Strong collaborative partnerships are essential - no single organisation can tackle poverty alone.
• Data needs to be continually updated to respond to changing needs
• Mission-based working helps align teams and partners around shared outcomes.

These lessons are now influencing wider council practice and shaping how services collaborate.

The council’s strategy has been effective in establishing a clear borough-wide mission, strengthening partnerships, and improving access to early-help and financial support. Because it is embedded within the Council Plan and the Fairer Stockton-on-Tees Framework, it is well-positioned to continue delivering impact beyond 2027 which remains relevant, ambitious, and aligned to the needs of our communities.