What Manor Gardens does

Manor Gardens Welfare Trust Ltd, operating as Manor Gardens Centre, is a registered charity (Charity No: 1063053) founded in 1913 and headquartered at 6-9 Manor Gardens, Islington, London. It delivers a portfolio of integrated community welfare services to residents of North Islington, including multilingual advocacy in 12+ languages, trauma-informed therapy, wellbeing activities, youth work, food support, and early intervention. Its core programmes include the Dahlia Project — described as the UK's only specialist psychotherapeutic service for survivors of female genital mutilation — and Fabian's Place, a culturally responsive mental health and mentoring programme for young Black boys and men. The charity also leads the Islington Food Partnership, a borough-wide network of 243 member organisations, and operates Jean's Café, a zero-waste, pay-what-you-can café launched in February 2025.

The business model combines government contracts and grants (primarily from Islington Council via the North Access Islington Hub partnership launched in 2024), charitable donations through LocalGiving and crowdfunding appeals (including the Dahlia FGM Appeal and Fabian's Place), and ancillary venue hire at £35–£56 per hour. Most direct services are free to beneficiaries; the venue hire arm operates on standard pay-as-you-go weekday/weekend pricing. Research collaborations with Imperial College London, ACERS-UK, and London Metropolitan University support the charity's role in shaping national policy on FGM reconstruction and youth mental health.

In the most recent reporting period, Manor Gardens supported 2,862 people across all services, achieved a 97% recommendation rate among advocacy clients, and diverted 8.5 tonnes of food from landfill. The charity employs 11–50 staff, is governed by a board of trustees chaired by Pardeep Bhatti, and is led by CEO Hekate Papadaki (returned November 2022). It closed its nursery operation in 2023 due to cost-of-living and demographic pressures, and has subsequently redeployed capacity into food security, youth mental health, and integrated early intervention services as set out in its Strategy 2025–2030.

Name

Manor Gardens

Legal name

Manor Gardens Welfare Trust Ltd

Website

https://manorgardenscentre.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1913

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Manor Gardens Centre is a London-based charity founded in 1913 that delivers multilingual advocacy, trauma-informed therapy, food support, wellbeing programmes, and youth services to vulnerable residents of North Islington, funded by local authority contracts and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Health and Social Services

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Community Housing Services (62422), Child and Youth Services (624110), Other Community Housing Services (624229)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD), Homelessness Prevention, Shelter & Supportive Housing Services (BPAIANAC), Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAO)

Keywords

• Community health services
• Multilingual advocacy support
• Trauma-informed therapy
• Food security programs
• Youth support services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Contracts and Grants: Manor Gardens raises most of its money through contracts and grants from local government (Islington Council) and public health commissions.
2. Venue Hire: Meeting rooms and venue spaces rented to external organizations for meetings, conferences, training, and workshops.
3. Donations: Charitable donations through LocalGiving platform, crowdfunding campaigns (Dahlia FGM Appeal, Fabian's Place), Give as You Live shopping portal, and general fundraising events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Manor Gardens Welfare Trust is a registered charity (No: 1063053) operating a community centre in Islington, London since 1913. It delivers integrated social and health services including multilingual advocacy in 12+ community languages, trauma-informed therapy (including the UK's only specialist psychotherapeutic service for FGM survivors through the Dahlia Project), food security programmes (food co-op, zero-waste café, Islington Food Partnership), youth work for at-risk adolescents, and wellbeing activities targeting vulnerable and minoritised residents. The organisation also earns ancillary income through venue hire of meeting rooms and event spaces.

Product overview

Manor Gardens Centre is a community welfare charity offering a portfolio of integrated social services rather than a single product. The core offerings include: therapy services (The Dahlia Project for FGM survivors, refugee/asylum seeker therapy, carers support, Fabian's Place for young Black men); advocacy services in 12+ languages; food security programmes (Islington Food Partnership network of 243 organisations, Jean's Café zero waste café, food co-op); youth work; wellbeing activities; and early intervention services. Key partnerships include the North Access Islington Hub with Islington Council. The organisation also offers venue hire as an ancillary service. These services are person-centred, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and delivered primarily in North Islington, with some national influence through FGM research and advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dahlia Project: UK's only psychotherapeutic service specifically for survivors of FGM, providing therapeutic support groups and trauma-informed care.
• Fabian's Place
• Andover Youth Club
• Jean’s Café
• Andover Youth Service

Products and services

• The Dahlia Project Psychotherapeutic service specifically for survivors of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), providing trauma-informed one-to-one and group therapy, peer-led workshops, and national advocacy support for access to FGM reconstruction. Targeted at women who have experienced FGM, domestic abuse, trafficking, or forced migration.
• Therapy for Refugee and Asylum Seeking Women Albanian language group therapy for refugee and asylum-seeking women who experienced sexual violence, trafficking, and displacement, delivered in partnership with the Shpresa Programme.
• Therapeutic Support for Carers Dedicated support group for unpaid carers offering a safe space to share experiences, learn coping strategies, and reduce burnout and isolation.
• Fabian's Place Culturally responsive mental health and mentoring programme for young Black boys and men in Islington, offering therapeutic one-to-one support, mentoring, group sessions, conversation cafés, art therapy, and peer-led activities.
• Advocacy Services One-on-one advocacy support delivered in 12+ community languages (Arabic, Amharic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto, Tigrigna, Turkish, Somali and more) for people facing complex challenges including benefits access, housing, healthcare navigation, and safeguarding. Supported 1,160 clients in 2024-25.
• Jean's Café Zero Waste Café built on surplus food with a pay-what-you-can model, offering affordable meals, volunteering opportunities, and food waste education to local residents.
• Islington Food Partnership Award-winning borough-wide network bringing together 243 member organisations to coordinate action on food access, cultural relevance, and sustainability; led and hosted by Manor Gardens.
• Manor Gardens Co-op Weekly food co-op providing affordable, nutritious food to local families and residents at £3 per week through a combination of surplus food and collective purchases.
• Wellbeing Services Activities reducing isolation and building social connectedness including social clubs, art and exercise sessions, language classes, LGBTQIA+ support, peer mental wellbeing support, coffee mornings, and specialist projects for mental health support; supported 726 adults and children in 2024-25.
• Youth Work Youth service supporting young people aged 11-18 on the Andover Estate to stay engaged in education, build healthy relationships, and make positive choices through one-to-one support, group sessions, educational workshops, mentoring, and trips.
• Early Intervention and Prevention Accessible, trauma-informed, multilingual early help through advocacy triage, partnership with Islington Council's Access Hub, wellbeing activities, youth work, and targeted health information aimed at preventing crisis situations.
• North Access Islington Hub One-stop-shop early intervention and prevention service for North Islington residents delivering advice and support in work, money, food, home, family, wellbeing, and safety domains, delivered in partnership with Islington Council and hosted at the Manor Gardens Centre.
• Learning and Development System-wide change initiative convening and co-producing knowledge including leading the Islington Food Partnership, national FGM research through ACERS UK and Imperial College London, and developing the first published therapy guidelines for FGM survivors.
• Venue Hire Meeting rooms and venue spaces for hire including a training room (620 sq ft, capacity 30), reception space, and garden space, with competitive weekday and weekend rates (training room from £45/hour weekday; reception space from £42/hour weekday; garden space £35/hour weekday).

Quantifiable outcome

• 97% of advocacy clients would recommend the service
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Islington CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 September 2023Partnership to deliver the North Access Islington Hub at Manor Gardens. The hub provides one-stop-shop early intervention services for local residents in domains of work, money, food, home, family, wellbeing, and safety. Manor Gardens hosts the hub and provides bilingual advocacy and outreach.
• Islington Food PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBorough-wide network of 243 member organisations coordinating action on food access, cultural relevance, and sustainability. Led by Manor Gardens, bringing together statutory, voluntary sector, businesses and individuals.
• Imperial College LondonmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration on FGM reconstruction surgery. Imperial led national study with ACERS-UK and Manor Gardens' Dahlia Project hosted survivor workshops and supported participation.
• ACERS-UKmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational research collaboration centred on survivor leadership for FGM reconstruction. Survivors from Dahlia service informed Women and Equalities Committee findings.
• The Shpresa ProgrammecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership delivering Albanian language group therapy for refugee and asylum-seeking women who experienced sexual violence, trafficking, and displacement.
• London Metropolitan UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration to understand mental health challenges facing young Black men in Islington. Two facilitated focus groups explored trauma from street violence and racism, and barriers to statutory services.
• Early Help, Social Services, Targeted Youth Support, Mayor's Office, Arsenal in the CommunitycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMulti-partner collaboration for youth work delivery including one-to-one support, group sessions, educational workshops, and trips for young people aged 11-18 at risk of gang violence and exploitation.
• Co-located Partner OrganisationscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver a dozen voluntary, private and statutory sector partners co-located at Manor Gardens providing a rich range of services to the local community.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Crisis UK: National homelessness charity delivering housing, education and advocacy services for people experiencing homelessness. Comparable as a UK specialist homelessness and housing-assistance provider, though operating at much greater scale and with a national footprint.
• Mind (National Association for Mental Health): Larger national mental health charity providing advice, advocacy and local services. Manor Gardens operates a comparable person-centred wellbeing and therapy portfolio but at a far smaller, place-based scale, making Mind a useful comparator for outcome measurement and partnership economics.
• Citizens Advice: UK-wide advice and advocacy network providing welfare, housing, and immigration guidance. Directly comparable in advocacy function and benefits-navigation work, which is Manor Gardens' core advocacy proposition, but delivered via a federated national network.
• Refuge: National specialist charity supporting women and children escaping domestic abuse and gender-based violence. Compares directly with Manor Gardens' Dahlia Project and GBV survivor therapy work, but at a national scale with statutory service delivery contracts.
• Centre for Refugees and Migrants (Refugee Council): National charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers with advice, advocacy and integration services. Comparable with Manor Gardens' multilingual refugee and asylum-seeker therapy and advocacy programmes, though delivered at a national scale.

Direct peers

• Bromley by Bow Centre: East London community centre providing integrated health, wellbeing, food, and youth services from a single site. Closest operational analogue to Manor Gardens as a place-based community hub combining therapy, food programmes, and youth services.
• Hestia: London-based charity supporting survivors of domestic abuse, modern slavery and people with mental health needs. Highly comparable with Manor Gardens' domestic violence and modern slavery advocacy work; shares CEO talent lineage and overlapping service models.
• Solace Women's Aid: London specialist charity providing refuge, advocacy and therapy for women and children affected by domestic and sexual violence. Direct overlap with Manor Gardens' Dahlia Project and GBV survivor therapy services in terms of beneficiary group and trauma-informed delivery model.
• The Connection at St Martin's: London-based charity working with people sleeping rough, vulnerably housed, or at risk of homelessness. Comparable as a London place-based social services charity providing frontline support, advocacy and food, with similar funding model dependencies on local authority.

Others

• Locality: UK membership organisation supporting community-led organisations with development, networks and funding access. Relevant peer for benchmarking Manor Gardens' community-led model and Islington Food Partnership network approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3334693
• Instagraminstagram.com/manorgardenstrust
• Xx.com/manor_gardens

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Manor Gardens