Bring your local project ideas to life through Cheshire West Crowd's first funding round

Community projects are being encouraged to register their ideas by Wednesday 15 September ahead of the Cheshire West Crowd’s first round of funding.

The Cheshire West Crowd, which is being run by Cheshire West and Chester Council in partnership with Spacehive, is an exciting new digital crowdfunding initiative, providing an opportunity for community-led ideas to come to life so the borough can become more vibrant, resilient and connected.

While residents, businesses, donors and anybody else interested are able to donate to community projects, the Council has also put aside several different funding pots.

• £125,000 Cheshire West Crowd Fund
• £50,000 Climate Change Emergency Fund
• £29,675 Suicide Prevention Fund (Public Health)
• £100,000 COVID-19 Recovery and Renewal Fund
• £15,000 Chester High Street Heritage Action Zone Community Engagement Fund

If you have an idea for a project that helps your local area, visit Spacehive and click 'Create' to get started. Your project will be automatically matched to the funds on the platform, where you can pitch for a pledge from the Council by a deadline of 15 September.

Examples of projects funded elsewhere include renovations to much-loved community centres, youth projects, allotments and much more. All project ideas that benefit the community are welcome.

• Create your project on the Cheshire West Crowd

Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “We’ve had an excellent response to the Cheshire West Crowd so far, with hundreds of people attending the virtual launch and showing an interest in adding their projects to the platform.

“There are a number of exciting funding opportunities through the Council, along with possible donations from elsewhere, as part of this first round so I’d encourage everyone to submit their ideas by the deadline.

“If anybody feels the first round might be a bit early, it doesn’t matter as you’ll need to take some time to crowdfund and you don’t necessarily have to begin your project straightaway.

“It’s important you start talking to the team at Spacehive about your idea so you can add it to the platform and begin your crowdfunding journey.

“Local people are best placed to understand the challenges and opportunities in their local area and this model using the Cheshire West Crowd puts them and their ideas in the driving seat.

“I’m really excited to see how the Cheshire West Crowd develops in the coming months and how the different projects come to life.”

• To find out more about the Cheshire West Crowd, visit: spacehive.com/movement/cwc.
• Spacehive is a funding platform for ideas that bring local civic and community spaces to life. Its vision is a world where anyone can shape their local area to create places that make people happy, proud and prosperous.
• The platform pools together funds between councils, businesses, foundations and the local community to pay for projects that improve local places, which typically results in projects securing three times more funding than if they were relying on council funds alone. Projects can range from building a new community centre or improving the local park to building a playground or putting on a street festival.
• The Cheshire West Crowd fits into Cheshire West and Chester’s Play Your Part Council Plan.
• Companies, foundations and public bodies interested in supporting projects alongside Cheshire West and Chester Council should contact: partner@spacehive.com.