Hello Everyone,

Thank you for clicking onto this.. If you haven't seen already, London Queer Mart won't be returning for the foreseeable future (read more here).

If you didn't know already, I am the director, producer but also the person who does all of the boring stuff too.. and I handle it completely on my own and pay for everything on my own too..

At the beginning of 2025, I decided to register LQM as a CIC. What this meant is that I spent a lot of money on fees, registration and a whole lot of other jargon. The reason I did all of this was to earn the "right" to apply for grants.

We struggled to get grants to even look at us because we were unregistered. So to combat that, I thought this was the next step and I took it... and boy, I was so incredibly wrong.

For some reason, I had to set up a PAYE scheme to pay literally just myself (which to this day is the most deluded bs I've ever heard). And of course, all of that incurred labour. But I justified all these costs and fees and told myself that it was an investment. I told myself that it would be worth it because we could at least be eligible for funding. I later found out that, every time I wanted to apply for funding.. I couldn't because of some convoluted reason like not having two names registered to our bank account. As a small community organisation, it's proven to be extremely difficult to put things on and to play by the rules.

So yes, I took a personal massive financial loss in 2025 due to this, which inevitably, lead to my burnt out and mental health deterioration at the end of 2025. In combination with the reasons I'd shared via Instagram, resulted in me giving up LQM completely.

Since then, I've been trying to prioritise my mental health and rest. But unfortunately, running something this big doesn't give space for that in the real world, even if you're mentally and emotionally ready.

I'm currently on Universal Credit, with zero savings and no one to financially fall back on. It's been a really difficult time for sure. I've been doing LQM since I was 22 and I'm 26 now and not only does it feel like my life is falling apart, but it feels like I'm being punished for failing now.

Little did I know, there was more to come. As a result, there have been a lot of unforeseen costs incurred in the "shutting down" of LQM. None of which have been accounted for and I have been paying for myself and on my own.

I would be lying if I didn't admit that I feel like I'm being punished for being a failure and that all of this has been brought on by myself. Everyone tells me that I've contributed to the community a lot and that I've made an impact but it's hard to see when there's all this horrible background noise.

Anyway, some friends encouraged me to ask for help and to reach out. They said I don't have to do this alone and that people would be willing to help. If that's you and you have something to spare and are willing to help, thank you so so so so much. I know it's hard times for everyone right now - sending love and solidarity <3

Cost breakdown:

Employer NI: £2371.66

Accounting costs: £423.50

Administration fees: £800.00

LQM Tax: ?

Further accounting to close LQM:?

Note: All of the money I had saved for tax was then spent on this unforeseen NI bill. Now leaving the tax amount in the dust completely. I will be updating the cost breakdown as I get more info

UPDATE: THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH <3 I cannot believe how much has been raised so far and I'm so grateful to everyone who's donated and supported this fundraiser.

WHERE YOUR MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT SO FAR:

Employer's PAYE and NI: £1042.22 - another completely unexpected and unaccounted for cost.