The Cheshire West Crowd can help bring your ideas to life

With nearly £300,000, raised by community projects through the Cheshire West Crowd to date, people are being encouraged to add their ideas to the platform ready to pitch for funding in the spring 2022 round.

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

The first funding round ran earlier this year and the Council pledged nearly £200,000 to 20 different projects through its various funding pots, while residents, businesses and donors all got behind the Cheshire West Crowd and made donations.

Barbara, who has been part of the crowdfunding efforts for the Restore the Ancient Well of Burton project, said: “Having the Council’s pledge has been a vital boost to our campaign.

“Not only did it bring us much closer to our target, but it has also given other backers confidence in our cause, encouraging pledges from individuals who were motivated to help us reach the final amount.

“On a personal level, getting the backing from the Council gave the whole team a real lift and kept us focused on achieving our goal.”

As part of the spring 2022 round, a workshop is being led by Councillor Louse Gittins and Jackie Weaver from noon to 1pm on Tuesday 1 February to help projects get their ideas ready for crowdfunding.

• Register for this workshop

Projects will need to be added to the Cheshire West Crowd and pitch to relevant Council funds by Wednesday 23 March.

• Create your project on the Cheshire West Crowd

Local projects providing a wide range of services, from an arts trail to walking wheelchairs, have used the Cheshire West Crowd to crowdfund. The Council’s funding pots available in spring 2022 will be announced in the New Year.