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North East Freelance Network

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Freelance with a team behind you.

Coworking, practical workshops, expert talks and a private Slack full of North East freelancers who get it.

See what's included
North East Freelance Network Membership

100+

Freelancers in the network

80+

Events run to date

90+

Hours spent working and learning together

12

Expert workshops & talks

NEFN is a membership community for freelancers who are done going it alone. Not a networking group with awkward small talk. Not a course you buy and never finish. A group of people who cowork together, learn from each other, hold each other accountable and actually show up. Based in the North East. Built for the North East. Founded because nothing like this existed.

Why join NEFN?

The slow months, the difficult clients, the imposter syndrome, the weirdness of being your own boss. You don’t have to explain yourself here.

Pricing, LinkedIn, client management, AI tools, getting testimonials: the stuff that actually comes up.

A vetted directory listing, Freelancer Focus features, and a community that refers work to each other.

Everything that's included​

🗝️

Monthly business planning

1st Monday of the month · 10am – 11am

Start the month with intention. A structured session to set your priorities and get focused.

💻

Lunch & learns

3rd Wednesday of the month · 12pm – 1pm

Practical. Genuinely useful.

🗓️

In-person coworking

Typically 10am – 2pm

A proper day of work with people around you. Good for focus, good for your head.

🧠

Expert talks & practical workshops

Throughout the year

Sessions on the things you actually need: pricing, marketing, client management, legal basics, and more.

💬

Private Slack community

Always on

Where the honest conversations happen. Ask questions, share wins, vent about difficult clients, recommend suppliers.

🌟

Vetted freelance directory listing

Included with membership

Be found by potential clients and collaborators looking for North East freelancers.

🎤

Q&A feature opportunity

When you’re ready

Get your work and story shared with the NEFN community.

North East Freelance Network Member Spotlight

A canny community of freelancers in the North East, doing the work together. 

Choose your plan

NEFN isn’t run for profit. Every penny goes back into running the network.

Monthly

£19.99/month Rolling monthly — cancel anytime.

Sign up — monthly

Annual

£199.90/year 12 months for the price of 10.

Best value.

Sign up — annual

Once you join, you’ll get a welcome email. Day-to-day chat lives in our private Slack, and events go out by email and Slack.

Just want a directory listing? Submit your profile here  – free, no membership required.

FAQs

Freelancers, sole traders, the self-employed, and directors of limited companies where you’re the only employee based anywhere in North East England, including Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, County Durham, and Tees Valley. Any industry, any discipline, part-time or full-time.

Sign up here and you’ll receive a welcome email with everything you need to get started. Most of the day-to-day community lives in our private Slack channel. Events are communicated via email and Slack so you’ll always know what’s coming up.

Not currently. Events are for members only — the aim is to build genuine relationships over time, and that works best with a consistent community rather than one-off attendees. That said, we occasionally open lunchtime sessions to guests, so follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn to hear when that happens.

Jade Gillham, a PPC and LinkedIn Ads freelancer based in Gateshead. She went looking for a community for North East freelancers, couldn’t find one, so she built it. Eight years self-employed, and still an active member of the network she founded.

Read the full story of why the NEFN exists.

Email us at admin@northeastfreelancenetwork.co.uk and we’ll get back to you.

Join NEFN and find your people.

Become a member
North East Freelance Network North East Region

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