Leeds Community Sauna

Tucked beside the River Aire at Kirkstall Valley Farm, Leeds Community Sauna is about to bring something completely new to the city: a community-owned, wood-fired sauna and plunge-pool space designed for relaxation, connection, and collective wellbeing. Set to open in early November 2025, the project blends ancient bathing traditions with modern cooperative values, creating a restorative alternative to gyms and pubs – and a new kind of “third space” for Leeds.

A Vision Rooted in Connection

Leeds Community Sauna was founded by Amani Talheth-Fell, Henry Genner, and Adrian Ellis after a spark of inspiration on a trip to Georgia – a place where sulphur baths and sauna are natural parts of life. What began as a casual idea quickly evolved into a fully incorporated worker-led cooperative. The group’s vision is simple but profound: to create an accessible, high-quality space where people can slow down, reconnect with their bodies, and build community through shared ritual and rest.

In a city where affordable social spaces are rapidly disappearing, the sauna aims to fill an important gap. As the founders note, “We’re faced with shrinking options of places to go where we can connect with other people and ourselves.” The project sees heat, cold, and conversation as tools for mental and physical restoration – a way to make wellbeing social, not solitary.

Community-Owned and People-Focused

From the start, Leeds Community Sauna has been structured to put people before profit. It’s a not-for-profit co-operative, meaning any surplus is reinvested into the site, staff, and community programmes.

This cooperative spirit also extends to employment. Every staff member is invited to become an Employee Member with an equal voice in decision-making. Fair pay, transparency, and training in consensus governance are built into the model. “We aim to be professional but never corporately sanitised,” the plan states. “When you speak to us, you’ll be speaking to a human.”

A Space Designed for Everyone

Accessibility is one of the project’s six guiding values, alongside community, quality, people-focus, openness, and sustainability. Leeds Community Sauna has committed to concession pricing, safer-space policies, and partnerships with health and community organisations to ensure that sauna culture is inclusive. The team also plans to build a fully wheelchair-accessible sauna in the future.

Located on Kirkstall Valley Farm, the site offers the ideal blend of nature and city access – just two miles from the centre but surrounded by trees, riverbank, and farmland. Visitors will arrive to find two beautiful wood-fired saunas, cold-water plunges, outdoor seating, and a drinks station for tea and conversation. Communal sessions will be the norm, encouraging connection, though quieter and themed sessions – such as women-only, LGBTQ+, and neurodivergent-friendly hours – will also be offered.

More Than Heat and Steam

The sauna will double as a cultural hub, hosting workshops, poetry nights, yoga, live music, and seasonal celebrations. A smaller mobile sauna will travel to festivals and community events, helping spread awareness while generating extra income. Through its social-prescribing programme, Leeds Community Sauna will also provide free or low-cost sessions for people referred through the NHS, tackling issues such as stress, loneliness, and chronic pain in an innovative, low-carbon way.

Built Sustainably, From the Ground Up

Environmental responsibility runs through every part of the project. The saunas are built using sustainably sourced wood, and the team is exploring grey-water reuse in partnership with the farm. Travel plans encourage cycling and public transport, and the business will undertake a carbon-audit once trading begins. Even the decision to build the saunas on mobile trailers has a dual purpose: flexibility and flood protection. Because the site sits on a floodplain, the trailers can be moved quickly if warnings are issued.

Strong Demand and Local Support

A 2025 market-research survey of 500 people confirmed what the founders suspected – Leeds residents are eager for a communal sauna. Ninety-one percent of respondents said they were “interested or very interested,” and most lived within five miles of the planned site. The project’s early marketing success has also been striking: more than 3,000 Instagram followers, hundreds of mailing-list subscribers, and viral engagement for its launch campaign. Pop-up events, film screenings, and volunteer days have already begun cultivating a strong community base.

A Model for a Warmer Future

Financially, Leeds Community Sauna is projected to become profitable in its second year of operation, with all surplus reinvested into staff, maintenance, and a community fund. In the long term, the cooperative hopes to open a second site in Leeds, but only if it can do so sustainably and without compromising its values.

What makes this project special isn’t just the promise of hot air and cold water – it’s the social vision behind it. In an age of digital distraction and declining community infrastructure, Leeds Community Sauna offers something refreshingly analogue: a space to breathe, to sweat, and to share quiet warmth with others. As the team puts it, “We’re not just building a sauna. We’re building community, one steam at a time.”