The deadline is fast approaching to join the Spring round of Stroud Funding, Stroud District Council’s crowdfunding campaign. Local groups have until 7 May to prepare their projects before starting crowdfunding in Mid-May, with a chance to apply for a share of £135,000 from the council to enhance their communities.
Stroud Funding, an initiative by Stroud District Council, aims to support local groups such as schools, sports clubs, community organisations and parish and town councils in raising funds for community improvement projects. The funding can cover entire projects or parts of them, such as feasibility studies, additional classes in existing programmes, or projects that are already partially funded through other sources.
Stroud District Council has allocated £135,000 to pledge towards projects launching in Spring and Autumn 2025. Those that align with council priorities - such as addressing environment and climate change or building community resilience and wellbeing - and demonstrate community support could receive up to £10,000, to a maximum of 50% of their funding target from the council’s fund.
In the first round of Stroud Funding, all 17 projects achieved their funding goals, collectively raising £254,034 from 1,865 pledges from local people, Stroud District Council and other organisations.
These funds are now supporting a variety of projects, including free art classes for people with memory problems and dementia, boxing classes to reduce anti-social behaviour, and an interactive history trail in Minchinhampton.
Community crowdfunding is an innovative way to finance ideas that improve local areas, such as developing skills, promoting sustainability, bringing people together, providing training, or transforming community spaces. People can pledge money towards the cost of projects that appeal to them via an online community fundraising platform managed by Spacehive, a platform dedicated to community fundraising used by local authorities across the UK.
No fundraising experience is necessary - 65% of Spacehive creators are starting a community project for the first time. Spacehive assists project creators with online workshops, 1-2-1 support, and resources, providing advice on everything from project costs to campaign promotion.
For more information on how to register a community project, visit the Spacehive microsite: www.spacehive.com/movement/stroud
Groups that are not ready to start fundraising in May can join the Autumn round which opens for registration in June, with fundraising starting in September.
Stroud Funding is not a match-funding scheme, and not every project will receive the maximum pledge.
Spacehive does not charge a fee to register projects, however, it does charge a success fee of 7.5% + VAT if projects reach their fundraising target. There are also transaction fees. All fees will be added to the project target and are clearly displayed here.
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