Always on
This project successfully funded on 1st July 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
Launch: Inclusive wellness & creative social space
Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Aim: A space designed for quiet community, yoga, wellness and creativity. Inclusive by design, founded by an autistic woman. Everyone is welcome.
Who we are and what we value
Catherine’s Place will be an inclusive space for quiet community, wellness and creativity. It will fill a gap in Central Leeds by being an inclusive space by design, a space that is truly neurodiverse-friendly.
AI-generated images exploring what Catherine's Place will look like.
Designed as a multi-use space, there will be a yoga studio with weekly classes, workshops on a range of topics from crafting to wellness, and a flexible social space, called The Quiet Place. The open social space will offer coffee and snacks, regular clubs and events (e.g. digital detox hours, co-working hours, cosy Sundays), local artwork and crafts, and a space for alcohol-free social evenings.
Everyone working at Catherine's Place has a deep commitment to inclusion and many of us have experience of living with fluctuating mental health and finding solace through creativity and movement.
The yoga class and creative workshop timetable is supported by an amazing local network of qualified yoga instructors, creatives, artists, educators and wellness practitioners.
Exciting announcement!
Catherine's Place has successfully made it through the murky marshes of business funding and... our business loan has now been approved ! 🎉
What this means 🤔
We are one giant step closer to securing premises and creating our home. The finances we've been awarded are going towards our start-up costs, premises and refurb. (More on this soon!)
What's left to do and how you can help 💞
Although this is fantastic news, we're not quite there yet. We need your support for the last few steps to take Catherine's Place from vision to reality.
This is a call to all who want to be a part of our community, who believe in our values of kindness, inclusion and integrity, who see that LEEDS NEEDS inclusively-designed community spaces.
Please donate whatever you can (and share our Crowdfunder with your friends!).
- £2 will help us buy another cute coffee mug for our quiet coffee space,
- £10 will help us buy another craft kit for our workshops and crafternoons,
- £20 will help us buy another high-quality yoga mat,
- £40 will help us install more dimmable soft lighting,
- £80 will help us buy another soundproofing panel to make our space more sensory-friendly.
From our Instagram page - join us there!
A note from our founder
Hi, I'm Catherine - an autistic 30-year-old woman from Leeds.
I've grown up, worked, studied and lived in Leeds for most of my life. Leeds is great! But, for me, it's always been missing something: welcoming and inclusive social spaces that stay open in the evenings (when all the cafes close) - somewhere else to go that doesn't involve sticky alcohol venues or a pricey meal in a restaurant.
The idea for Catherine's Place sprang from two things I love: travel and teaching yoga. I was on a wintery adventure in Sweden with my partner Ryan when my speedy, messy mind became fixated on an idea: that the calming, design-first spaces and yoga studios in Scandinavia could come to Leeds - and that I am the person to do it.
Inclusion is a part of everything I do. While working in education, I've championed accessibility and diversity, the highlight of which has been the sell-out workshops I run on autism awareness at the University of Leeds. I teach yoga and craft workshops with the aim to help calm busy minds (which I know very well as an autistic person). And Catherine's Place will be inclusively designed from the beginning (rather than as an afterthought), to reduce overstimulation and be a welcoming space for everyone.
I also believe in kindness and fairness. Although Catherine's Place is registered as a limited company, it is run as a social enterprise. As founder, these are my steadfast commitments:
- Create an inclusive space for all - one that is inclusively designed, alcohol-free and overstimulation-free.
- Ensure Catherine's Place is a good place to work, with fair wages (paying above the Real Living Wage), reasonable hours, a supportive culture and advocacy for personal development.
- Provide opportunities for local creatives and yoga teachers through regular workshops, classes and pop-up events.
- Partner with local start-ups and small businesses for our coffee, cakes and mini shop.
- Ensure Catherine's Place meets the highest possible standards of ethics and sustainability, including: avoiding the use of single-use plastics; recycling; and sourcing equipment and supplies from local companies with sound eco and ethical credentials wherever possible.
Thank you for spending time reading to the end.
We know support comes in many forms - donations of all sizes, following and interacting with us on Instagram, buying something from our Etsy shop, sharing our website - and all are highly valued by me and my team, so, thank you!