What Daylight Centre Fellowship does

Daylight Centre Fellowship is a registered charity (No. 1100809) and company limited by guarantee (No. 4625186) established in 1994 in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. The organisation delivers integrated services addressing homelessness, food insecurity, poverty, and social exclusion across North Northamptonshire. Its operational footprint comprises a central Community Hub at Queens Hall (housing the TLC rough-sleeper service, Daylight Café, and Support Hub), a delivery-only referral-based Foodbank at Bradfield Road, the Daylight Shop charity retail store on Cambridge Street, and the 1-acre Daylight Veggie Patch organic allotment in Wollaston. A team of approximately 9–13 staff, supported by hundreds of community volunteers and a board of seven trustees, served 192 people in 2024.

The organisation's business model is multi-stream non-profit: individual donations (monthly recurring tiers of £10, £25, and £50 plus one-off gifts with Gift Aid), grant funding from trusts and foundations including DWF Foundation and Homeless Links, corporate partnerships (notably Cummins which funded the kitchen refurbishment), charity shop retail, venue hire (Queens Hall from £25/hr, meeting rooms from £10/hr), and Veggie Box retail sales. Service delivery operates through a referral partner network spanning Citizens Advice, Job Centre Plus, Community Law, schools, housing providers, NHS trusts, and substance misuse specialists. Technology is limited to a standard website, email, and Facebook presence; there is no proprietary software, app, or AI capability.

Growth is driven by rising local demand, service diversification (Veggie Patch and Step-up programme added since 2021), and corporate engagement. Governance is provided by a volunteer board chaired by Rachel Mallows, with Carina Fisher serving as Chief Executive since 2020. The charity is independently operated with no parent company or institutional owner.

Name

Daylight Centre Fellowship

Legal name

The Daylight Centre Fellowship

Website

https://daylightcf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Daylight Centre Fellowship is a Wellingborough-based registered charity delivering integrated homelessness, foodbank, café, charity retail, and allotment services to vulnerable adults and families across North Northamptonshire through a referral-led hub model funded by donations, grants, and trading income.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Homelessness and Social Exclusion Support Services

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Community Food Services (624210), Other Community Housing Services (624229)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL), Meals, Nutrition & Congregate Dining Day Programs (HSABANAM)

Keywords

• Homelessness support services
• Foodbank delivery service
• Community hub operations
• Charity retail shop
• Venue hire services

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellingborough

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: Individual donations collected via website (monthly recurring and one-off), with Gift Aid support for UK taxpayers. Corporate donations and fundraising events.
2. Charity Shop Sales: Daylight Shop sells pre-loved fashion, footwear, homeware, books, toys and more. All proceeds fund client services.
3. Venue Hire: Queens Hall (up to 100 people) and meeting rooms available for hire. Revenue supports charitable activities.
4. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate sponsorship, charity of the year partnerships, staff volunteering programmes, and cause marketing.
5. Veggie Box Sales: Small and large organic veggie boxes sold to local community. Surplus produce sold to raise funds reinvested into project.
6. Grant Funding: Funding from trusts and foundations including DWF Foundation and Homeless Links. Referenced as supporting specific programmes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Daylight Centre Fellowship runs a Community Hub in Wellingborough offering a TLC service for street homeless individuals, a low-cost café, and a Support Hub for signposting to specialist services. It also operates a referral-only Foodbank home delivery service, a charity retail shop, venue hire at Queens Hall, and a one-acre organic Veggie Patch that supplies the café, foodbank, and a Veggie Box pre-order scheme.

Product overview

Daylight Centre Fellowship operates as a single unified charity offering multiple interconnected community services centered around addressing homelessness, poverty, and social exclusion in North Northamptonshire. The core service portfolio includes: the Community Hub (housing the TLC Service, Daylight Café, and Support Hub), the FoodBank (delivery-only referral-based service), the Daylight Shop (charity retail), Venue Hire (Queens Hall and meeting rooms), and the Daylight Veggie Patch (organic allotment with Veggie Box products). Services are designed to work together—produce from the Veggie Patch feeds the Café and FoodBank, venue hire generates income, and all services connect through the Support Hub to provide holistic client support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Daylight Shop: Charity shop selling pre-loved fashion, footwear, homeware, books, toys and more. Proceeds support clients and services.
• Daylight Foodbank
• Daylight Café
• Daylight Veggie Patch

Products and services

• Community Hub (Queens Hall) A central community hub at Queens Hall, 10 High Street Place, Wellingborough, providing practical support, drop-in services, and access to the Support Hub for advice, information, and referrals. It integrates the TLC service (Mon-Fri 10:00-11:30am) for street homeless individuals with hot showers, clothing, bedding, laundry, food, safe address, and computer/telephone access; the Daylight Café (Mon-Fri 11:30am-1pm) serving low-cost freshly prepared meals with free Wi-Fi; and the Support Hub (Mon-Fri 11:30am-1pm) helping service users access specialist support on homelessness, finances, substance misuse, and health. Open to all affected by homelessness, poverty, and social exclusion in North Northamptonshire.
• FoodBank A referral-based food bank providing up to four days' supply of food along with household items and toiletries. Operates as a delivery-only service (no walk-ins) from Unit 3, Bradfield Road, Finedon Industrial Estate, Wellingborough, Mon-Fri 9am-12pm. Referrals are coordinated through partner agencies including Citizens Advice, Job Centre Plus, Community Law, Schools, housing providers, and Substance to Solution.
• Daylight Shop A charity shop at 2 Cambridge Street, Wellingborough, selling pre-loved fashion, footwear, homeware, books, and toys. Accepts donations of quality pre-owned goods. Open Mon-Sat 9:30am-4:30pm (hours vary by volunteer availability). All proceeds support the charity's clients and services.
• Venue Hire Meeting and event space rental at Queens Hall (up to 100 people, from £25/hour, available weekday evenings and all day weekends, with free Wi-Fi and kitchen) and smaller meeting rooms (from £10/hour, with concessions for half-day, full-day, or longer-term bookings, full internet access included). Available to community groups, businesses, charities, and health/social care organisations.
• Daylight Veggie Patch A one-acre organic allotment at The Pyghtles, Wollaston (NN29 7QD), where service users and volunteers grow fruit and vegetables. Produce is served in the Daylight Café and distributed via the Foodbank, with surplus sold as Veggie Boxes to fund the project. Open Monday-Friday.
• Veggie Boxes Pre-orderable boxes of seasonal organic produce grown at the Daylight Veggie Patch. Available in Small and Large sizes containing varieties such as potatoes, carrots, sweetcorn, parsnips, courgettes, sprouts, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, chillies, and butternut squashes. Sold to the local community with proceeds reinvested into the project.

Quantifiable outcome

• 192 people supported in 2024 across North Northamptonshire
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• TLXmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Wellingborough electronics retailer taking on Big Team Challenge walking 7.3 million steps in 42 days, raising food and funds. Joined by Tesco Mobile, John Lewis, Smurfit Westrock, Impact Recruitment, Bigbyte.
• Prince's Trust / Tresham CollegeminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 13 July 2022Students on Prince's Trust Programme volunteered on Veggie Patch as part of community volunteering programme.
• Keelings InternationalminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 28 June 2022Corporate volunteer team supported Veggie Patch over two days. Planted seeds, built bug hotels, assembled shelter from repurposed materials.
• CumminsmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Global company with local Wellingborough base. Funded complete kitchen refurbishment at Daylight Centre. Transformation enables improved café services and skills training for service users.
• Piroto-Labeling LimitedminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Provided 1000 high-quality labels free of charge for Veggie Box packaging.
• Pixooma LtdminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Graphic design partner supporting Veggie Box project with logo design, marketing branding, and label design.
• Nationwide Building SocietyminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Staff volunteered on Veggie Patch as part of Nationwide Social Investment Day.
• Citizens AdvicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoodbank referral partner. Assesses clients and refers individuals and families in need to the foodbank service. Part of the holistic support network.
• Job Centre PluscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment referral partner connecting job seekers and benefit claimants in crisis to foodbank support.
• Community LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferral partner providing legal advice and connecting clients to foodbank services.
• Various Housing ProviderscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHousing association and provider referral partners supporting homeless and at-risk individuals access foodbank and support services.
• Substance to SolutioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialist substance misuse referral partner connecting affected individuals to foodbank and support services.
• North Northamptonshire Council (NNC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal authority partner providing funding and collaborative support for homelessness and social services.
• Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHNC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHS trust partner supporting health and social care integration for service users.
• Mental Health Northants Collaborative (MHNC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership addressing mental health needs of service users alongside Daylight Centre support.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Local Aid UK: UK-based charity supporting local grassroots organizations tackling homelessness and poverty. Comparable in community-led model serving specific UK regions with integrated support services.
• FoodCycle: UK charity combining surplus food, community volunteers, and shared meals to address food poverty and social isolation. Directly comparable to Daylight Centre's foodbank and community café model.
• Emmaus UK: UK charity supporting formerly homeless people through community living and meaningful work including social enterprises. Comparable integrated model combining support services with revenue-generating activities.

Broad incumbents

• Salvation Army UK: UK-wide charity providing homelessness services, food support, and community programmes through local centres. Comparable in delivering integrated frontline services including foodbanks and community spaces.
• Centrepoint: UK charity supporting young people experiencing homelessness with housing, learning, and wellbeing services. Comparable focus on vulnerable populations facing housing instability.
• St Mungo's: UK homelessness charity providing housing, health, and recovery support services for rough sleepers and those in crisis. Comparable in delivering integrated wraparound support for street homeless individuals.
• Crisis: National UK charity working directly with people experiencing homelessness and campaigning for systemic change. Shares Daylight Centre's mission of supporting rough sleepers and vulnerably housed individuals into stability.
• Shelter: National UK charity campaigning for and providing services to people experiencing homelessness and housing poverty. While much larger and national in scope, both organizations address homelessness and housing insecurity as their core mission.
• YMCA England & Wales: National federation providing housing, health, and wellbeing services for vulnerable populations including young people and those experiencing homelessness. Comparable multi-service community model.
• The Trussell Trust: UK-wide foodbank network supporting a network of over 1,400 foodbanks including referral-based models. Operates as the national umbrella for foodbank charity activity, directly comparable to Daylight Centre's foodbank service.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/daylightcentre
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/daylight-centre-fellowship

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 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 Daylight Centre Fellowship