KidsBank Chester successfully crowdfunds through the Cheshire West Crowd

The Cheshire West Crowd has helped KidsBank Chester raise nearly £14,000 to support children who wouldn’t normally receive a present at Christmas.

Run by Cheshire West and Chester Council in partnership with Spacehive, the Cheshire West Crowd allows everyone to put forward community-led projects and attract funding to make the borough more vibrant, resilient and connected.

KidsBank Chester is one of nearly 30 community projects currently crowdfunding on the Cheshire West Crowd, receiving 70 donations from different people and organisations to reach its funding target.

The Council has contributed almost £10,000 towards the initiative, which expects to support up to 1,500 children aged 0 to 12 with pre-loved or new clothing and equipment this Christmas.

Cathy Pettingale, Founder and Chief Executive of KidsBank Chester, said:

“I built a start-up team in October 2018 and we got our first referral in May 2019.

“We’ve helped more than 3,000 children and we hear about these families through referrals from schools, the police, family key workers, hospitals or anyone else who is front-facing and supporting families.

“We’re busier now than we’ve ever been as more and more people are turning to us for help, especially as we’re reaching the winter months.”

Dee Denton, Operations Manager at KidsBank Chester, added:

“It’s the first time we’ve ever used the Cheshire West Crowd to deliver a project and it’s really easy to use.

“It was great to be able to set out the project, what we wanted to use the money for and, if we were in the fortunate position to be overfunded, it can go towards our funds for next year.

“What we’ve found with people who want to make a donation is that they’ve really helped to raise awareness of the project through their networks.

“They really want to see it happen and everyone is very much invested in it.

“For us, the Christmas project really touches a lot of people’s hearts as we’re literally delivering gifts and items to families who otherwise wouldn’t have them at this time of the year.

“A lot of people want to get involved as it’s another way they can support their local community.”

While projects like KidsBank Chester have already reached their crowdfunding targets, others are still calling on the support of their local community.

Check out the different projects

Pictured - The Council has donated almost £10,000 to KidsBank Chester as part of its crowdfunding campaign on the Cheshire West Crowd.