Groups invited to apply for money through Crowdfund Lancashire

Crowdfund Lancashire is developed by Lancashire County Council, working in partnership with Spacehive, the UK’s leading community fundraising platform.

Through the £500,000 Lancashire Culture and Sport Fund, Crowdfund Lancashire allows the county council to support grassroot projects through crowdfunding.

To date, 74 projects, including three in East Lancashire, have been successfully funded through Crowdfund Lancashire. The latest funding round opens today (Thursday November 16).

Organisations can apply for up to £20,000 towards their funding target, while individuals and businesses can apply for up to £1,500 towards their live crowdfunding campaigns.

Parish and town councils can also apply for up to £5,000.

Anyone who is thinking about launching a new crowdfunding campaign is invited to a free online launch event today at 12pm.

Creating a crowdfunding campaign is simple and the county council can support people through the process. Once launched, it's an organisation or individual’s job to spread the word and promote the project.

Once they hit 50 per cent of their funding target, the county council will make a funding pledge that they’ll honour if the full funding target is met.

Gemma Allen was the first person to successfully fund a project through Crowdfund Lancashire, raising £744 for her, To Grow a Sewing Group in Barnoldswick, campaign.

Gemma said: "I had recently been turned down for a Parish grant as I am an individual, and thought this could be an opportunity to get support for my community project.

"Spacehive is such a brilliant platform. Once I created my project, I was matched to Crowdfunding Lancashire, and I had the option whether I wanted to pitch my project to them.

“The questions again were really clear, and these helped me explain the benefits of my project in the community."

The Pendle Stitches (Image: LCC)

Since then, the group has continued to thrive and has now formed a constitution, changing its name to The Pendle Stitches.

The group has 16 members and they have taught more than 50 people from their community how to sew and how to be confident on a machine.

Gemma added: "Friendships have formed, and people have said how much our group is helping them for their mental health.”

For this latest funding round, Lancashire County Council is keen for more individuals like Gemma to come forward.

Blaze, a youth-led arts organisation based in Burnley, was able to raise £36,358 for its Stand Out: Youth led LGBT+ Heritage project during the previous funding round.

Blaze pledged to use the money to support more young people in Burnley, Rossendale, Accrington and Pendle to document and celebrate East Lancashire's diverse histories and promote inclusivity.

Braille IT, a community and volunteer project that offers free accredited tuition in Braille skills in learning at centres in Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley and Clitheroe, raised £10,250 for its Visually Impaired and Blind Touch Tours project.

The money raised will help towards the charity's ongoing mission of supporting and encouraging independence, positive outlook on life and general wellbeing of the blind and visually impaired.

County Councillor Peter Buckley, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for community and cultural services, said: "When I first launched Crowdfund Lancashire, I was really looking forward to seeing the innovative and diverse array of ideas residents came up with as I knew local people are best placed to understand the challenges and opportunities in their area.

"We've been so impressed by the way our communities have supported the array of projects that have come forward over these past 12 months.

"This has enabled us to support the grassroots projects we know matter to you and that's what we will continue to do this throughout this latest funding round."

The deadline to launch crowdfunding campaign on Spacehive for this round of funding is February 14 2024.

For more information head to Lancashire County Council’s website.