Thrive Teesside
Building Better Lives
Thrive Teesside is an award-winning organisation working in Teesside, advocating for the voice of lived experience to be included in decision-making processes.
We do this through research, tailored one-to-one support and taking local action: bringing together local people and institutions. We have three paid members of staff, a group of dedicated volunteers and a Board of Trustees. Thrive has been able to get the voice of people in poverty to those in power in a way no other grassroots organisation in Teesside has.
Many organisations have spokespeople, support workers, advisors and CEOs speaking for their service users, but Thrive, sticking to our principle of “never do for others what they can do for themselves”, has people with direct experience of poverty and financial and social exclusion regularly changing their community and speaking out.
“From local communities to national campaigns, we make sure people with lived experiences of poverty and inequality are heard, valued and acted upon. We want people to have a say in the decisions that impact them.”
Taking Local Action
From Poverty Truth Commissions and community projects to research and campaigning, we work with people across Hartlepool and Stockton to tackle poverty and shape better places to live.
Local Work
“It’s great to get back to grassroots in the community that i’ve grown up in, reconnecting and working with like-minded people to affect positive change, despite the challenges we face, we are an army of committed changemakers who will not be silenced.”
Tracey Herrington- Thrive Manager
#SayItWithFlowers
1. Spot it
Find one of our DIY Flower wheel trims in an area that’s been neglected or needs some love.
2. say it
Scan the QR code to find out more about your Ward and your Ward Councillors, and tell us what you think needs to change.
3. make it bloom
Suggest other areas where we can decorate with a flower and watch our ideas bloom!
OUR NATIONAL WORK
Our national work connects the experiences of people in Teesside with wider conversations about poverty, inequality and social policy. Through networks including Poverty2Solutions, APLE Collective and GRIPP, we work alongside people with lived experience and organisations across the country to challenge the systems that shape people’s lives.
Our Welfare Experiences Comparative Study brings together experiences from different communities to explore what people encounter when navigating the welfare system, helping to turn lived experience into evidence that can influence policy and practice.
Poverty2Solutions
An award-winning collaboration that merges lived and learned expertise of poverty and socio-economic disadvantage to revolutionise policymaking.
APLE Collective
A national collective of individuals and organisations with lived experience of poverty, aiming to create a sustainable, grassroots network across the UK.
GRIPP
Growing Rights Instead of Poverty Partnership (GRIPP) is working together to end poverty across the nations and regions of the UK.
Welfare Experiences
The Welfare Experiences project is an ambitious, innovative project comparing the experience of receiving benefits in five different countries: Estonia, Hungary, Norway, Spain and the UK.
We’re on Facebook!
Follow us on Facebook for more regular updates, photos, videos and more.
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West View Together: A Community Coming Together in 2026
On Wednesday 26 August, we brought West View Together to life, and what a day it was! What started as an idea from the Hartlepool Poverty Truth Commission to bring people together, celebrate West View and create a space for neighbours to connect turned into a brilliant community day, with more than 300 people attending throughout the day….
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West View Together Event- A reflection of our community clean up and day of action.
Back on the 19th September, the community came together for the West View Clean-Up Day, and what a wonderful morning it was! The event was full of litter picking (and our silent disco litter picking), crafts, community conversations, soup, and cuppas, bringing neighbours of all ages together to care for our area and celebrate the strength of community…
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Ghosts by Thriving Women
Ghosts By Thriving Women Ghosts is a compelling new anthology of poetry by Thriving Women, a collective of women with lived experience of poverty and exclusion. Facilitated by Thrive Teesside and Tees Women Poets, the book explores the realities of poverty, inequality, and systemic injustice, giving voice to stories often overlooked. The poems reflect on daily…
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Thrive Teesside: our top tips to support the development and sustainability of mechanisms whereby local people can influence decisions that impact on their lives.
Back in 2022, Thrive Teesside created a Top Tips Guide to Local Decision-Making for the Stockton Poverty Truth Commission- offering key principles for building relationships where local people have genuine influence over the decisions that affect their lives. As Tracey Herrington reflects, “Taking stock and reflecting on our learning to date, we’re always inspired by the community…
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“Nobody thought it was worth the effort”. A poets perspective- Teesside to Geneva for the CESCR 7th Review of the United Kingdom at the United Nations – February 2025
Ode to the French things seen on train journeys through France (Teesside to Geneva) Oh, dear French things in Franceso magnificently magically French.French windmills standing statuesque and serene, arms reaching to the clouds, waiting for the weather to turn their heads.French sun drenching English faces through windows of French trains, defying the isolationist ideals of separation –this French day…
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From Teesside to Geneva- Two “Thriving Women” of Teesside take their voices to the UN!
Two women from Thrive Teesside, a grassroots organisation dedicated to tackling poverty and inequality, are amplifying their communities’ voices on a global stage. Julie Easley, poet and facilitator of the Thriving Women group, and Tracey Herrington, Thrive Teesside Manager, have travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to present powerful testimony and incredibly important GRIPP (Growing Rights Instead…
Thriving Women
Poets from across Teesside sharing honest stories of life, struggle, identity and the places that have shaped them.
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