John McCorry makes an appeal for the Newcastle West End Food Bank

Data scientists are helping a Newcastle charity find better ways to feed the hungry, thanks to new investment by the North of Tyne Combined Authority. In partnership with Newcastle University, the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) paid for scientists from the National Innovation Centre for Data (NICD) to work with Newcastle West End Foodbank to discover exactly who was using the foodbank, where they were from, and what was their need. The information gathered could revolutionise the way the foodbank and other organisations in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland deliver services and plan for the future. “This is about using big data to help a small organisation help a lot of people,” Mayor Driscoll said.