The Empty Seat Campaign
When no one listens, people disappear
It often begins quietly. A missed game turns into several, messages go unanswered, appointments are postponed. Gradually, a person who was once present in their community begins to withdraw.
Across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, more people are struggling with their mental health while services become increasingly restrictive and waiting lists continue to grow. When someone finally finds the courage to ask for help and is told they do not meet the threshold or must wait months for support, the impact can be devastating. Confidence reduces, isolation increases and the risk of disengagement becomes very real.
The Empty Seat represents that moment.
It represents the seat at a sports event that used to be filled, it represents the chair at work that now remains vacant, it represents the space in a lecture theatre that is no longer taken. It represents the person who slowly stops showing up because navigating systems alone has become overwhelming.
This campaign exists to make sure fewer seats are left empty.
What The Empty Seat Campaign Funds
Every donation to The Empty Seat Campaign directly supports independent community mental health advocacy delivered by Lamp.
Advocacy means that a trained professional listens without judgement and works alongside an individual to help them understand their rights, express their views and navigate complex systems. Advocacy can involve attending appointments, challenging decisions, resolving issues with services, reducing isolation and helping someone regain confidence in speaking up for themselves.
This work is practical, outcome focused and measurable. It restores agency at a time when people often feel powerless, it ensures that when someone reaches out, they are not left to manage alone.
Lamp’s strategic plan is clear that we must grow sustainable unrestricted income to protect the core one to one advocacy service that sits at the heart of everything we do. The Empty Seat Campaign is directly linked to that objective, it is not fundraising for general awareness. It is fundraising tied to real intervention and tangible outcomes.
Why This Matters Now
Demand for advocacy continues to rise, while funding across the sector remains uncertain and increasingly competitive. Recent financial reporting outlines the pressures that charities face when major grant funding ends and new income is not yet secured. Without diversified and sustainable income, the continuation of core services cannot be taken for granted. 
The Empty Seat Campaign has therefore been established as a flagship fundraising campaign to strengthen financial resilience and protect the services that our communities rely upon.
When you donate to this campaign, you are not funding an abstract concept. You are funding the presence of an advocate. You are funding someone to sit beside a person at a critical moment. You are funding the difference between silence and support.
Donate Today
If you believe that nobody should have to face mental health systems alone, please support The Empty Seat Campaign today.
Donate here:
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/theemptyseat
Need Support?
If you or someone you know requires independent community mental health advocacy, please contact Lamp directly.
Email: advice@lampdirect.org.uk
Telephone: 0116 255 6286
No one should feel invisible. No one should feel unheard. Together, we can make sure fewer seats are left empty.
