Our Area

The Trust is based in the North East of England and encompasses the areas of Teesside, Darlington and County Durham, with a total population of just over 1 million. The West of the sub region is predominantly rural and sparsely populated, whilst the remainder is primarily urban with a mix of commercial and industrial towns. 

The population of the Trust area is primarily white British with around 2% being from ethnic minorities. This compares with 2.4% in the North East and 8.7% nationally. Patterns of population density vary across the sub region with the majority of people in the four unitary Authorities in the South being densely populated urban communities, whilst more than half of those in Durham and Darlington live in settlements of less than 10,000 people. 

The region has relatively high levels of unemployment, with levels of economic activity being below the national average. Levels of severe multiple deprivation are also high in the North East having the largest percentage of its population (33.7%), living in the most deprived 20% of wards in England. Within this broader regional picture, the former steel, shipbuilding and mining communities of Easington, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland feature in the most deprived districts.