Cheshire West Crowd launches a new funding round

Cheshire West and Chester Council is looking to support local projects through the Community Innovation Fund on the Cheshire West Crowd, helping create a stronger future where we all play our part in thriving, caring and sustainable communities.

Gold standard projects could receive up to a maximum of £20,000, or 75 per cent of their funding target, should they demonstrate community support from 50 or more backers and align with the majority of the six coproduced missions for the borough.

• Starting well
• Tackling hardship and poverty
• Resilient people living their best lives
• Opportunity in a fair local economy
• Neighbourhood pride
• Greener communities

Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of the Council and Champion for the Cheshire West Crowd, said:

“We’re delighted to be launching the fifth funding round and pledging more funds to community projects.

“Since the Cheshire West Crowd first launched a couple of years ago, 132 projects have raised nearly £2.2 million from almost 7,000 backers.

“This crowdfunding platform, created by the Council and delivered in partnership with Spacehive, empowers local communities to turn project ideas into reality by not only pitching to the Council for funds, but also calling on backing from communities and generating real community spirit.

“I’d encourage anyone with a project idea that would benefit their local community to think about using the Cheshire West Crowd.”

Funding available from the Council:

There are two Council funding pots during this latest funding round.

• Community Innovation Fund – worth £166,902
• Climate Change Emergency Fund – worth £60,000

Potential project creators should note that most eligible projects receive around 50 per cent of their funding target – in the region of £5,000 to £10,000 – from the Council.  

How you can get involved:

• Plenty of support is available from Spacehive and the Council’s Communities team. Express your interest now by completing this short project idea form or emailing: chesterlocality@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk to unlock help.
• Project creators pitching for Climate Change Emergency funding are encouraged to access free professional advice before submitting your project on the platform. Please email your draft project idea as soon as possible to: george.ablett@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk to improve the likelihood of receiving the Council’s support through this fund.
• An online workshop is being held on Wednesday 8 May from 1.30pm to 2.30pm so you can hear more about the Cheshire West Crowd and how projects can benefit from using this innovative funding opportunity. Register for the launch event.

The deadline to create your project, pitch for funding, submit for verification and launch your crowdfunding campaign is Wednesday 5 June. 

Please note that it would be useful for you to complete these steps as early as possible as this will allow you to attract plenty of community backing ahead of assessment.

Several funding panels will take place throughout the summer and all projects must hit their crowdfunding targets by Wednesday 25 September.