We are heartbroken to tell you that The Market Place is closing due to the lack of funding.
This is awful news for everyone connected with our charity that has served and supported young people in Leeds for 36 years and we understand that it will be awful news for you too.
The Market Place suffered a devastating 80% reduction in income at the end of June 2024 when our long-standing NHS and Council contract ended. This was an overwhelming blow to the charity and the work that we do to support young people in Leeds.
We restructured the charity last summer in a bid for it to survive on a smaller scale, but over the last fifteen months we have applied for grants from 25 trusts and foundations and been awarded funding by four. We also sought to establish a trading arm, The Space Above, to generate income for the charity, but this has simply not had enough time to bring in the funding we need.
The work we do to support young people across the city costs considerably more than the income we have been able to raise from charitable grants, individual donations, fundraising events and the trading arm we set up in response to our funding crisis.
We no longer have enough reserves to keep the charity open while trying to secure new income, so our Board has had to take the difficult decision to close the charity. We will finish all current work with young people in a managed way before the end of September.
As you will appreciate, our whole team is reeling from this news and the fact that it will mean ending the work that we love doing, which supports so many young people in Leeds.
We are not the first charity to close in the city or the first young people’s charity to close in England and we will almost certainly not be the last. The state of the economy, rising costs, decreasing income from public sector contracts and the wider crisis in the charity sector have brought us here.
It has been a privilege to work with tens of thousands of young people in our great city for over three decades. We know that our work has made a lasting difference in the lives of many young people and their friends and families. Whilst we are all devastated to be in this position now, we know that we have a legacy to be proud of.
If you would like to raise your concerns about our closure and the adequacy of mental health support available to young people in Leeds please consider writing to your local Councillor or Member of Parliament.
Please see the Useful Links page of our website for the helplines and crisis services we are aware of that remain available to young people in Leeds.
The Market Place is a local charity that has been empowering young people in Leeds since 1989. We have supported tens of thousands of young people aged 11 to 25 who live or study in Leeds over the last three decades.
Our charity is young person centred, meaning young people are at the heart of everything we do. We don’t give advice or tell someone what to do, but rather offer support and space for young people to work through their issues, at their pace, in their way(s). We believe young people are the experts in their own lives.
We offer counselling, a youth work-led Drop In support service and a C-Card service during Drop In hours for 11-25 year olds.
If you’re in need of support, we invite you to call us on 0113 246 1659 or get in Contact with us.
Please see our updated information on our Counselling.
Our Drop-In service is open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 3pm – 6pm – with the last walk in session of the day being 5:15pm.
Each Drop-In session is a 30-minute one-to-one session with one of our mental health youth workers. A safe place to talk to a professional about anything that is going on in a confidential and non-judgemental space.
No appointment needed – just stop by for a chat with a youth worker, or to access C-Card. Find us using What3Words
As well as just dropping in, you can book a telephone or face-to-face appointment here.
All members of our staff and volunteer team are highly committed to supporting young people as best as we can. We want every young person to feel comfortable and able to be themselves in this safe space at The Market Place.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported us through this transition, including Children in Need, the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Office, Pears Fund, and all our generous donors and those who have very kindly fundraised for us.
We still need your support, every little helps and your donation could make all the difference.
You can increase the value of your donation by making a gift aid declaration.
