The Place At Platt Lane

What The Place At Platt Lane does

The Place at Platt Lane is a registered charity (legal name: Fallowfield Library and Community Resource Centre) operating a community library and resource hub in Fallowfield, Manchester, UK. Founded in 2014 after the local community successfully campaigned to save Fallowfield Library from council closure in 2013, the centre delivers a portfolio of in-person social services spanning food security (Community Pantry at £3/week, Fallowfield and Withington Foodbank via Trussell Trust, Pantry to Plate winter programme), employment support (Job Club delivered by One Manchester), education (Talk English Circles funded by the Economic Activity Trailblazer, Homework Club, Lego Club, Story Time), and health and wellbeing (Lila Jnana Yoga, Sing Yourself To Better Health, Forever Young, Knit and Natter, Men's Social Group, Fallowfield Community Choir). Trinity Community Church is co-located on-site. The Place has only 5 staff and no proprietary technology platform; its website is WordPress-based and it uses Microsoft Forms for sign-ups.

The underlying service model is a co-located, partnership-orchestrated community hub rather than a technology product. Impact metrics include £500,000 unlocked in financial support for residents, 2,500+ volunteer hours contributed, 101 residents supported through Job Club (28 finding employment), 70–80 families served weekly through food programmes, over 5 tonnes of food distributed (12,000 meals at no cost), and 1,100 toiletry packs delivered. Service breadth is enabled by an asset-light partnership model: One Manchester funds and staffs Job Club, Fareshare supplies surplus food, the NHS and Big Life deliver health interventions, Manchester Adult Education supports ESOL provision, and Manchester City Council retains an interest in the library function.

The revenue model combines modest earned income with grant and donation dependence. Earned streams include Community Pantry membership (£3/week), Community Choir (£2/rehearsal), GFS South Manchester (£2/week), and competitive room hire across 14 meeting spaces. The majority of services are free. Strategic funding comes from donations via Localgiving and easyfundraising, partner-funded programmes (One Manchester, Economic Activity Trailblazer), and recurring fundraising including The Place Lottery launched in June 2026. No formal revenue figure is disclosed; headcount of 5 and the single-site operating model are consistent with sub-£1M annual income.

Name

The Place At Platt Lane

Legal name

Fallowfield Library and Community Resource Centre

Website

https://theplacefallowfield.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Place at Platt Lane is a charity-run community library and resource hub in Fallowfield, Manchester, delivering free and low-cost food, employment, education, and wellbeing services to local residents through a partnership-orchestrated model, with 5 staff.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Resource Centre & Library Services

NAICS

Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242), Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Libraries & Information Services (BPAIACAO), Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

Keywords

• Community resource centre
• Community library services
• Community charity programmes
• Food pantry support
• Meeting room hire

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Room Hire: The Place offers a variety of flexible meeting rooms and an IT suite available for hire at competitive rates, generating revenue to support operations and community programs.
2. Donations and Fundraising: The organization accepts monetary donations through Localgiving and easyfundraising, as well as food and toiletry donations, to support its community projects.
3. Community Pantry Membership: The Community Pantry charges £3 per week for members to access groceries worth approximately £15, providing affordable food access while generating modest revenue to support operations.
4. Community Choir and Activity Fees: Some programs such as the Fallowfield Community Choir charge £2 per rehearsal, with the first taster session free. GFS South Manchester charges a weekly fee of £2.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Place At Platt Lane operates a community resource centre in Fallowfield, Manchester, delivering a community-run lending library alongside food support (Community Pantry, Fallowfield and Withington Foodbank, Pantry to Plate), employment and skills assistance (Job Club), free English language learning (Talk English Circles), children's education and youth programs (Homework Club, Lego Club, Story Time, Youth Group), and wellbeing/social groups (yoga, singing, Forever Young, Knit and Natter, choir). It also generates revenue by hiring out its 14 meeting rooms and IT suite to external organisations and community groups.

Product overview

The Place At Platt Lane operates as a single unified community resource centre (not a modular platform), providing a portfolio of interconnected social services under one roof. The core offering is the Community Library, supplemented by food support programmes (Community Pantry, Pantry to Plate, Fallowfield and Withington Foodbank), employment services (Job Club), educational programmes (Talk English Circles, Homework Club, Online Training), and health and wellbeing activities (Lila Jnana Yoga, Sing Yourself To Better Health). Social inclusion is served through youth groups (GFS South Manchester, Youth Group, Lego Club), senior services (Forever Young, Knit and Natter), and specialist groups (Men's Social Group, Fallowfield Community Choir, Create Make & Taste). Trinity Community Church operates on-site, and meeting room hire provides revenue. All services are delivered in-person at the Fallowfield centre, with no technology product or software platform component.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FaresharecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Place sources surplus food from Fareshare, a national charity that redistributes food that would otherwise go to waste. This partnership enables the Community Pantry to offer fresh, nutritious food at affordable prices (£3/week for £12-15 worth of goods) to local families.
• The Trussell TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Place partners with The Trussell Trust through the Fallowfield and Withington Foodbank, which is part of a nationwide network of foodbanks working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK. The foodbank provides three days' nutritionally balanced emergency food to local people referred in crisis.
• One ManchestercoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOne Manchester delivers an Employment and Skills service at The Place, providing dedicated one-to-one employment support including CV writing, job searching, interview preparation, confidence building, and training programme support. One Manchester's Employment Mentors work with residents to achieve career goals.
• Big LifeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Place collaborates with Big Life (a social enterprise) and the NHS to deliver health check-ups, vaccination opportunities, winter warm spaces, diabetes support, and one-on-one counselling services.
• Manchester Adult EducationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTalk English Circles at The Place are funded by the Economic Activity Trailblazer and supported by Manchester Adult Education, Talk English, and the UK Government. This partnership enables free English language support for ESOL learners in the community.
• Trinity Community ChurchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrinity Community Church operates from The Place at Platt Lane, running Sunday gatherings, Taste & See community meals, Talktime English conversation groups, and a Youth Group. The church grew out of Holy Trinity Platt Church and is a distinct but co-located community within The Place.
• Trust to PlugminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrust to Plug runs free electrical safety testing sessions at The Place on the 3rd Saturday of each month, bringing a trained electrician to check household electrical items for residents.
• Fallowfield and Withington FoodbankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFallowfield and Withington Foodbank operates from The Place every Wednesday evening (5-7 PM), providing emergency food parcels to local people in crisis who are referred by care professionals. The foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust network.
• GFS South Manchester (Girls Friendly Society)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGFS South Manchester runs a weekly group for girls at The Place, facilitated by women volunteers, offering age-appropriate activities for girls in school years 3-9. The group meets every Thursday during term time.
• FabFuturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFabFutures runs the Fun Music Session at The Place every Sunday, dedicated to inspiring young musicians and providing accessible music education for children under 12 and all skill levels.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Citizens Advice: National network providing advice on debt, welfare, and employment — comparable to The Place's Money Help service but at far greater scale and brand recognition.
• FareShare: National surplus-food redistribution charity that supplies The Place's Community Pantry. Operates the same redistribution model at much larger scale across the UK.
• The Trussell Trust: UK-wide foodbank network of which The Place's Fallowfield and Withington Foodbank is a member. Comparable as the parent-scale emergency food provider within the same service ecosystem.
• Groundwork UK: Federated charity tackling social and environmental disadvantage through community regeneration — comparable in operating model (place-based, partnership-led) but at national scale.

Direct peers

• Castlehaven Community Association: Camden-based community centre offering room hire, food programmes, youth services, and social activities — a tightly comparable single-site neighbourhood hub model.
• Bromley by Bow Centre: Long-established East London community hub combining health, employment, food support, learning, and social programmes under one roof — the closest functional analogue to The Place's integrated neighbourhood-anchor model.
• Mustard Tree: Manchester-based charity tackling poverty and homelessness through food support, training, and community engagement — directly comparable in geography, mission, and beneficiary profile.
• Manchester Settlement: Long-running Manchester charity delivering community programmes, youth services, and family support — directly comparable in mission, geography, and integrated-service delivery model.
• One Manchester: Manchester-based housing association delivering employment and skills services at The Place. Comparable as a place-based social impact organisation operating in the same geography and beneficiary base.

Emerging players

• The Bread and Butter Thing: UK charity redistributing surplus food via membership hubs at low cost. Comparable to The Place's Community Pantry as a lower-overhead, surplus-food redistribution model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/theplacem14
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/theplacem14

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 The Place At Platt Lane