The city's museums have secured a huge funding boost to help safeguard their future.
In news that will put a smile on your face, Leeds Museums and Galleries have today been awarded a total of £952,000 following a successful bid for a share of the Museum Renewal Fund distributed by Arts Council England.
The fund is aimed at providing urgent support to museums and galleries that are owned and maintained by local authority funding.
It helps to deliver projects to safeguard vital community engagement and ensure continued public access.
Image: Leeds City Council
The crucial funding will support a total of ten inspiring projects being planned by Leeds Museums and Galleries, which is one of the country’s largest local authority run museums and galleries services.
One of the main focuses will be on Abbey House Museum, aiming to produce a long-term development plan that will work towards safeguarding the museum’s future.
Also benefiting from the funding award will be Leeds Art Gallery, aiming to redevelop the gallery and create a larger world-renowned site.
David Hopes, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ head of service, said: “We are so grateful to Arts Council England for their continued support and these essential funds to help stabilise our future.
Image: Leeds City Council
“These development projects will see us make long term plans with the people of Leeds for the sustainability of their museum service, as well as providing fantastic visitor experiences and meaningful engagement for the people of the city and beyond.”
Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, said: “This funding award is fantastic news for our museums and galleries and a massive endorsement of the superb work they are doing to showcase history, heritage and culture to hundreds of thousands of people every year.
“Securing this hugely important funding will support our dedicated and passionate teams on site to form exciting plans for the future, creating a series of new, and engaging experiences for our visitors and showcasing Leeds as a top cultural destination.”
M&S has launched a massive recruitment drive across Yorkshire.
With the festive season fast approaching, and most British stores having already unveiled their Christmas ranges for 2026, one of the country’s largest brands has launched a massive UK-wide seasonal recruitment drives to gear up for what is always one of the busiest times of the year for the retail industry.
M&S has announced it will recruit for plenty of new colleagues across the UK.
As mentioned Christmas is one of the busiest moments of the year for M&S, and seasonal colleagues play a ‘vital’ part in delivering that.
Image: Supplied
New recruits will be tasked with helping M&S deliver a ‘brilliant’ service for customers.
Stores with vacancies span the whole of Leeds - including city centre, Moortown, Crown Point, White Rose Shopping Centre and Pudsey.
M&S says the roles are ‘fast-moving and hands-on’, with colleagues required to work together to make sure customers still get the very best of M&S, even at its busiest.
The roles will pay £13.41 per hour, with successful applicants receiving the training, tools and support needed to get up to speed quickly.
“We can’t wait to welcome over 300 new colleagues to our store teams here in Greater Manchester,” commented Zeba Khan, who is the Regional Manager at M&S.
“As we get ready for our busiest time of year, it’s a great opportunity to join us and help bring a magical M&S Christmas to our customers.
“We have a range of opportunities available, whether joining our city centre flagship or our fresh market-style foodhalls. We’re looking for colleagues who are passionate about delivering great customer service and being part of a team.”
Fancy it then? Applications are now open, and you can find out more and apply on the M&S Christmas careers page here.
A brand-new frozen yoghurt bar is coming to Leeds
Clementine Hall
Everyone's in love with frozen yoghurt, and Leeds is about to get more of it.
Over the past year, the UK has become a little bit obsessed with frozen yoghurt - and Leeds is no exception.
We've had Kefiyo open in Headingley which met to queues round the block for weeks, as well as the UK's leading froyo brand Frurt open up in Kirkstall.
And now, there's a newbie on the block.
Images: Supplied
Introducing 'Yo-Go', your newest frozen yoghurt bar that will be opening up in Leeds' Hyde Park.
We don't know much about Yo-Go yet, but we do know it's female owned and is sporting some pretty cute branding.
The space is currently undergoing renovation, with the owner posting that she received the keys just a couple of days ago.
The window vinyls are up, and people are already getting very excited about the opening as they flock to the comments of Yo-Go's first Instagram post.
Announcing the news of their opening, Yo-Go wrote: "GUYS!! WE’VE GOT THE KEYS. And apparently they don’t come with a finished shop… rude.
"While we get to work, we need your input. Toppings, flavours, very specific requests, we’re taking notes. Drop them below and I’ll try my best to make it happen x"
Comments included requests for 'unlimited toppings' as well as warm sauces, cookie dough, marshmallow and honeycomb.
Sounds pretty delicious if you ask us, but for now, it looks like there's still some work to be done before the shop is ready to welcome its first customers.
We don't know of an opening date just yet, but we'll keep you updated as and when we do.
Clementine Hall -
8th October 2025 
