What we do at The Bank
Cafe & Community Market
The Bank Cafe is open four days a week, serving delicious, yet affordable, hot & cold food and refreshments. Our Community Market is open Thursday to Saturday every week and stocks affordable produce and pre-prepared meals.
At The Bank we provide a ‘pay what you feel’ café with a varied menu of nutritious and affordable meals. Our ingredients are sourced from surplus ‘food waste’ (through our successful supply chain with local supermarkets and food waste distributors). We are open four days a week and provide hot and cold meals and drinks in the cafe, with a ‘Pay it Forward’ scheme for those who need it.
The cafe runs primarily with the help from local volunteers who work with our Chef & Front of House Manager to cook and prepare our amazing meals and serve the customers who come through our door each day.
The Bank is an important bridge between Derwent Street, Chopwell Park’s pump track and Chopwell Woods by providing cyclist and dog friendly facilities, bringing much needed revenue and visitors into the centre of the village.
The Bank is home to our Community Market with fridge and freezer, including home-cooked ready-made meals – available every week from Thursday to Saturday.
Customers are invited to fill a carrier bag with whatever they need for £3 (or less).
Food inequality in Chopwell is severe and we often receive referrals from local partners including Citizens’ Advice services.
The food we provide is surplus food from supermarkets through FareShare as well as food waste from Chopwell Co-op and other local supermarkets. We work extensively with The Gateshead Food Partnership and are part of a food sharing network Newcastle-Gateshead with the Magic Hat Café, People’s Kitchen and Pickle Palace – who share surplus supplies and make sure they get used up.
We have introduced a ‘Pay It Forward’ scheme where you can buy a meal for someone else when you buy your own and put a voucher on a board that someone can use. This is extremely popular with over 100 meals a month being bought for others.
Activities, Learning & Training
The Bank hosts a full programme of activities and courses for people of all ages and backgrounds. Through our work at The Bank we also offer employability training and support, including work experience placements via DWP, and apprenticeships.
Our activity programme is growing all the time, featuring our “Code & Create Club” (computer programming) for children (7 to 11years) to our Mens’ Pie Club on a Saturday afternoon and cookery programmes for 10-16 year olds (“Masterchef”) developing cooking skills, gaining awareness of healthy eating and enhancing life skills.
We work with a range of partners from health and social care, local government, charities, cultural and educational organisations to deliver these programmes.
Events, Hire & Catering
Bringing a 'nightlife' to Chopwell, The Bank hosts regular evening events & restaurant nights for the community. Our facilities also make us a great choice for hiring a space or catering.
CRG runs monthly themed Restaurant Nights at The Bank which brings fine dining to the community at affordable prices. 
In the past we have enjoyed Sri-Lankan curry night, Mexican night, Vietnamese night, Italian, ‘Design Your Own Pizza’, Scottish & French themed evenings.
We regularly host evening events for the community such as Jukebox Bingo, Wine & Cheese Quiz nights. Once a year, we hold ‘Bankfest’ – a celebratory evening of local music and artists, performing to raise money for Chopwell Regeneration Group.
The Bank is a great multi-use space. Why not hire The Bank for your next event or choose us to cater your party?
Commercial Office Spaces
Our commercial office spaces are rented to local businesses and social enterprises - who benefit from affordable and professional letting spaces.
The Bank was refurbished to offer appealing commercial office spaces across the First & Second Floor of the building, boasting fantastic views of Chopwell. Take a look at our page about Office Rental for more information
Our Impact
Since The Bank opened in March 2022, it has been transforming lives. It has brought our community together. It grows optimism and opportunity in a village that faces significant socio-economic hardship. Residents are learning skills, gaining employment, making friends and increasing feelings of self-worth.
people accessing services at The Bank each week
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The Bank project has gained regional and national recognition – find out more about Chopwell Regeneration Group’s recognition here
Bank Stories: Find out how we are working with others to improve lives in Chopwell
The story so far…
2019
Finding a building...
Gateshead Council agreed to lease the former Lloyds Bank building on Derwent Street to Chopwell Regeneration Group for 35 years for a ‘peppercorn’ rent, so that we could bring the building back into community use.
The formal planning application on Gateshead Council's website can be found here.
November 2021
to February 2022
CRG Staff recruited
The first members of Chopwell Regeneration Group staff team are recruited in November 2021: a cleaner and two Front of House Managers. The team was joined by a Learning & Programmes Manager and Chef in early 2022.
3rd March 2022
The Bank Cafe opens
The Bank opened its doors for the first time on 3rd March 2022 and we welcomed customers into the cafe to try out our amazing barista coffee!
2022 onwards...
The journey since The Bank opened...
Since The Bank opened in March 2022, we've never looked back... gaining two consecutive 5-star Food Hygiene Ratings was a massive achievement that our staff & volunteer team are proud of.
Read all about our project highlights for Chopwell Regeneration Group & The Bank here
This video from 2020 about the Chopwell Regeneration Group and The Bannk project was been made by Chopwell-based business Fleetfoot Studios with funding from the Ballinger Trust.
One of the biggest challenges presented to our renovation team was the removal of the old Lloyds Bank safes from the strong room! We didn’t envy their job!
This short film was funded by Bluestone Collaborative through their Well Newcastle Gateshead Fund to document the amazing transformation The Bank has undergone and the continuing journey into becoming a brilliant space where the people of Chopwell can learn, create & enjoy. At that time, we were still hard at work turning The Bank into our vision – as a space to socialise in the café, train in our teaching kitchen & learn new skills at workshops, start and develop local business and volunteer on a range of exciting events.