Cheshire East Council is launching an exciting new crowdfunding initiative to encourage and create community-led projects that will make a difference.

Working in partnership with Spacehive, the UK's leading civic crowdfunding platform, the Cheshire East Crowd is an initiative that will give residents who have ideas to improve their community the opportunity to gain funding via the crowdfunding platform.

Cheshire East has allocated a total of £100,000 to the programme, with up to £10,000 (or 50 per cent of total project costs) available per idea to boost projects towards their funding target. The deadline to put forward your idea is Wednesday, 15 September 2021.

The council and Spacehive are holding an online launch event via Zoom on Tuesday, 6 July. You can register to join the launch event here.

People with project ideas are also encouraged to register in advance for one of the two upcoming workshops below: Wednesday 14 July at 12pm, and Wednesday 28 July at 2pm.

Cllr Sam Corcoran, leader of Cheshire East Council, said: "We're excited to launch The Cheshire East Crowd with Spacehive.

"Working together with residents and partners to support people and communities to be strong and resilient, and ensuring Cheshire East is a thriving and sustainable place, are key priorities as outlined in our corporate plan. I can't wait to see the range of ideas that our residents put forward in helping us to achieve these priorities.

"Local people are best placed to understand the challenges and opportunities in their local area. This crowdfunding model puts our residents and their ideas for their communities in the driving seat.

"I'm also calling on companies and organisations that care about Cheshire East to join us in offering support to project ideas, whether funding or in-kind, so we can boost the success of locally-led campaigns.

"The more people that get involved in the Cheshire East Crowd, the more inspiring local places we can create together." 

Misha Dhanak, CEO of Spacehive, said: "Hearing ideas directly from residents as they reimagine their local areas – with the backing of their community – is incredibly inspiring. Spacehive is proud to work in partnership with Cheshire East Council and we are ready to support the ambitious change people want to make happen in their local area."

For more information on the crowdfunding initiative, launch event or workshops, contact: [email protected].