Pollen’s owners say they need the support of their fans to help them get it off the ground and grow into the new space they “desperately need”.
The duo behind the bakery, Chris Kelly and Hanna Calvert, successfully used a Kickstarter campaign to move the business from a railway arch near Manchester Piccadilly to their waterside cafe at New Islington marina back in 2018.
They’re famed for their sourdough loaves, cruffins, and other pastries and cakes, with queues out of the door most weekends.
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In the new campaign, they wrote: “The pandemic tested us in many ways but have come out the other side busier than ever and it’s more than our small space can cope with.
“We’ve been running over our realistic capacity for some time now.”
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Popular Ancoats bakery Pollen has launched a new Kickstarter campaign to help build its second site / Credit: Pollen / No Chintz Studio
The Kampus bakery will include a dedicated pastry kitchen with a glass viewing gallery, and a cafe with 60 seats inside and 30 outside.
It’s one of the latest businesses to join the rapidly growing new Capital & Centric neighbourhood, across the water from Canal Street.
Pollen will join the likes of Nell’s New York Pizza and General Stores, as well as the pop-up residencies running at The Bungalow.
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The Kickstarter post continued: “We cant quite believe we are on the cusp of opening a second location and the rate at which the bakery has grown and gone from strength to strength.
“There’s no question without your support this far, we would not be where we are today.
“Everything we do is for you, our customers and the community, this next step will allow us to reach more of you and become more accessible.”
Just days after launching, the Kickstarter has already received £15,000 from more than 200 backers, with 11 days still to go until fundraising efforts end.
Rewards on offer include tickets to an exclusive supper club, the chance to pre-order a wedding or celebration cake, merchandise, workshops, brunches and bread loaves.
Hidden Manchester bar Mala to offer unique ‘movie night’ experiences inside private cabins
Thomas Melia
You can have your own private film experience inside little wooden cabins at a popular Northern Quarter bar this summer.
Manchester city centre secret garden spot Mala is hosting an event where you and your friends can enjoy a private movie night with food, themed drinks, and bucket loads of free popcorn.
Listed as the ‘Cabin Movie Night’, get ready to sit back, relax and watch a cult classic, all from the comfort of your own personal wooden hut.
The film you’ll be watching is very on-brand too, as it’s none other than none than ‘Labyrinth’.
This secret garden spot is hiding right in plain sight over on Dale Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, and as well as hosting events such as these, they’re also home to some top tier eateries too.
Currently El Jefe, Doodles, Wok Bros, Christakis, D&X Caribbean, and Gulf are all serving up some cross-continental delights for you to enjoy in this marvellous space.
Some mouth-watering scran from El Jefe.Wok Bros have some delicious noodle boxes. Credit: The Manc Group
The Cabin Movie Night’ is the perfect way to round up your friends and watch a classic with a cocktail in hand.
There’s a handful of group packages available too at an additional charge, ranging from £30 to £50, which includes themed cocktails for each guest in the booking, and the cost of the ticket.
You can get FREE sandwiches in Manchester this weekend – but only if you have certain names
Emily Sergeant
Hungry Mancs can help themselves to free sandwiches this bank holiday weekend… but there’s a bit of a catch.
You can only get yourself a sandwich if you have one of these particular names.
We’ve been enjoying some absolutely stunning sunshine across Greater Manchester and much of the UK over the past couple of months, and nothing says sunny days more than taking a packed lunch or grabbing a meal deal and taking it to your local park or greenspace for a picnic.
This is why Pret A Manger has decided to make picnics easier for those who are lucky enough to have a certain type of name.
This late May bank holiday weekend, the popular high street coffee shop chain will be dishing out hundreds of free sandwiches across the UK – including here in Manchester – to anyone whose name happens to start with ‘Nic’.
That means people called Nick, Nicholas, Nicola, Nicole, Nico, Nicolette, and plenty of others could be in with a chance of some free feasting over these next couple of days.
You can get FREE sandwiches in Manchester this weekend / Credit: Wikimedia Commons | Supplied
Here in Manchester, it’s the chain’s Portland Street site, just off Piccadilly Gardens, that’s participating in the free giveaway this weekend, and there’ll be 50 sandwiches a day given out, so you’ll need to be quick if your name starts with ‘Nic’ and you’re feeling peckish.
The offer is only limited to Pret’s freshly-made sandwiches, and unfortunately excludes baguettes, wraps, or rye rolls… but free food is better than no food, after all.
All you’ll need to do to grab a freebie is show your ID at the tills of participating stores this Saturday (24 May) to prove your name, and you’ll get to walk out with your lunch in hand, all without having to spend a penny.
Manchester’s Portland Street Pret A Manger will be giving out 50 free sandwiches to ‘Nics’ this Saturday, and they’re on a first-come-first-served basis.
Daisy Jackson -
9th November 2021 
