The new bakery makes sweet and savoury focaccias and more.

Fancy using your loaf and learning a new skill?

Head baker and Sunshine Co-operative co-director, Andrea Clayson, and trainee baker, India | Sunderland Echo

placeholder image — Head baker and Sunshine Co-operative co-director, Andrea Clayson, and trainee baker, India | Sunderland Echo

Sunderland’s newest bakery is opening its doors to the public this weekend, giving people the chance to go against the grain of buying mass-produced supermarket shelf bread to create their own organic focaccia.

The bakery is a new string to the bow of social enterprise Sunshine Co-operative, which opened its shop selling quality, organic and locally-grown produce in High Street West, Sunniside, five years ago, while also providing training and employment opportunities for people who face barriers to employment.

As well as selling savoury breads, such as rosemary & sea salt focaccia, feta & olive sourdough and Cheddar & jalapeño sourdough, the shop, which is next door to Pop Recs, sells sweet loaves, such as pumpkin latte flavour and a jammy focaccia.

The bakery’s been created in an upstairs kitchen and workshop space above the shop thanks to funding from Rank Foundation and stocks the shop with organic focaccia and sourdough on baking days, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Bread is made on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and sold at the two sites | Submitted

The bakery also provides the bread for sandwiches sold at the co-op’s sister site, Sunrise, which opened in Villette Road earlier this year, as well as in buffets they’re commissioned to do.

Head baker, Andrea Clayson, will be sharing her love of baking this Saturday, November 7, as part of Sunniside Open Studios, which will see scores of Sunniside businesses and studios hosting events, displays and workshops so people can learn more about this burgeoning community.

Andrea, who is also one of the directors at Sunshine Co-operative, said: “Opening a bakery was something we’ve been wanting to do for a couple of years as back then there wasn’t a bakery in the city centre.

“Prior to that we’d sold bread from Bread& (a former bakery at North East BIC) and it was a big miss when they closed.

Sunshine Co-operative is one in scores of businesses taking part in Sunniside Open Studios | Sunderland Echo

“I’ve actually been making bread on and off for 20 years, but it’s so different making it in a bakery to at home so I went down to Bakerman in Darlington to learn more. They’re a CiC as well, so they’re on the same wavelength as us.”

All of the bread made at the Sunshine bakery is made using organic flour, made from grains grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers.

They’re also supporters of the national Real Bread Campaign, which is campaigning for bread to be made without ‘unnecessary additives,’ which the bulk of the nation’s bread contains.

The shop sells fresh fruit and veg, loose pulses, pantry goods and more | Sunderland Echo

You’ll be able to learn all about the process yourself at two workshops on Saturday, November 7, taking place at 3pm and 4.30pm.

There will be a choice of festive flavours which you can fold into your own dough to take home, as well as mulled wine included in the price, which is £6 per person for non-alcoholic wine and £9 per person for the alcoholic version. Book your place here: sunshinecooperative.co.uk/pages/events

Also as part of Sunniside Open Studios on November 7, Sunshine Co-operative will be hosting free drop-in massage sessions with Natural Selection Therapies from 3pm and a workshop at 7pm; the Let Your Soul Grow seed library will be at the shop from 3pm-5.30pm and The Holistic Hub NE will be hosting a free massage drop in from 6pm to 7pm where people can learn about Bowen therapy.