Eating Distress North East – offering independent confidential services to people affected by eating distress across the North East of England.
We exist because every individual affected by eating distress deserves specialist support, hope, and to know that recovery is possible.
Our vision is to offer every individual impacted by eating distress in the North East hope, understanding and a route to recovery.
We are the only specialist eating distress charity in the North East and aim to be a centre of excellence for eating distress support. We offer counselling, support, information, help and hope to anyone in the North East affected by eating distress.
This support is offered to people who are experiencing eating distress with or without a medical diagnosis.
We deliver counselling and psychotherapy, health and wellbeing groups, education, and support to individuals, friends, families and carers, free of charge and by self-referral. Our services include:
Eating Distress North East was set up in 1988 (formerly called NIWE) and now has a track record of 36 years of experience in delivering high-quality services to anyone experiencing eating distress.
We work to raise awareness, increase understanding and influence early identification and treatment.
We align with the NICE Guidelines on Eating Disorders: recognition and treatment. These highlight the need for awareness that eating distress might be a difficult thing to discuss because of feelings of stigma and shame. The guidelines also emphasise the need for people in different protected characteristics groups, with a range of life experiences and across levels of income, to have equitable access to support.
This is why we offer our service for free to anyone over 16 in the North East with or without a medical diagnosis.
EDNE strives to influence the development and improvement of services for anyone affected by eating distress. We do this by engaging with strategic forums and networks locally, regionally and nationally.
We amplify the voices of service users with funders, commissioners and policymakers in various places including:
The North East and North Cumbria (NENC) ICS Adult Eating Disorder Provider Collaborative; the NENC VCSE Partnership Programme and Mental Health subgroups; the ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) Champion Groups; and other relevant networks and forums.
We have also taken part in research into the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on people with eating disorders with Northumbria University, facilitating workshops with clients and researchers.
We are part of the Regional Eating Disorders Charities and Network (REDCAN) which helps us to share our experiences, learn from others, and campaign with a raised profile on issues affecting people with eating disorders.
View the REDCAN website.
You can view our latest annual reports and accounts on the Charity Commission website.
We are funded by the following organisations:
Find out the impact on our service users, prevention and early intervention.
We have a skilled and dedicated staff team who are committed to delivering high quality services across all areas of the organisation
Find out about our paid employment and placement opportunities and help us support people on their route to recovery