Behind Fallowfield Students Group: the legendary student Facebook page

Remember that pig’s head lol?

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Fallowfield Students Group is a pillar of Manchester's student community. How else would we get all those last minute tickets? How else would we return lost bus passes, phones, baggies?

A hub of student community spirit, it's the first place to look if you need something.

The Tab spoke to Mathew Freestone, History graduate from UoM, one of our very own Tab Manchester writers (read his article here) and creator of Fallowfield Students Group to find out where it all began.

How did Fallowfield Students Group start out?

"My parents met in Oak House so I always had this weird connection with Fallowfield. I started uni in 2014 and obviously joined all the freshers and halls groups I could. I found the amount of different groups really confusing though, there wasn't one single space where everyone could see stuff that was being posted. Fallowfield is such a close-knit student bubble I really felt like we needed somewhere that all students could communicate. Obviously there's more than just UoM students in Fallowfield, but all the groups I had joined were just focused on UoM."

Matthew, FSG's creator

Matthew, FSG's creator

How did you manage to grow it into such a huge student space?

"I started off by just combining two Facebook pages. In my first year I was working as a club promoter, I knew there had to be an easier way of reaching people with events than handing out flyers and operating off one or two Facebook groups."

"Luckily at the time I created the group, which was originally Fallowfield Buy and Sell Tickets, my friends and I were all moving into second year. It meant that I had an opportunity to add a new generation of Freshers to the group, and then grow it between first and second years."

How successful has the group actually been? You must make a lot of money off it

"I actually choose not to make money off the group. Having been a student myself I really don't want to start introducing aspects to the group that would alienate some people. Say, if a student is doing a set they want to promote, they likely won't be able to afford to advertise it like a club would. I want to keep Fallowfield Students Group as an open space for everyone."

"I won't bore you with figures, but the group grew 300% in 2016. Which is pretty good. Every new year of freshers that comes to Manchester is a huge influx of members, as long as people keep using the group, it'll keep going."

"I've also made a new group, for Oxford Road, which would be great if you could check it out."

Obviously we've seen some pretty crazy stuff on the group (like the pig's head) are there any other stories you can tell about it?

"I love that people use the community as a place to post hilarious things they've seen and actively encourage our members to do so. My favourite posts include the girl looking to sell her ex-boyfriend's clothes, and more recently the girl that got "M14" tattoed on her foot on a night out. Although, my favourite story is hearing about how a guy sold his pangaea ticket to a girl and they've now been together for over two years."

What do you have to say about the people getting scammed on the group?

"Myself and my amazing moderators do all we can to attempt to keep any potential scammers out of the group. Sometimes a few people slip through the cracks, with over 100 people requesting to join a day. My advice would be to just be very wary who you buy tickets from, a quick profile screen is worth your time. Additionally, try to use paypal goods and services if possible. If anybody messages myself, Farris Ramzy, Roxann Federici or Sahara Bhanot, we will block and delete any scammers as as soon as possible. "