Guildford: £100,000 available for community projects
Guildford Community Fund will offer up to £5,000 to each project
Last updated 28th Jan 2022
Residents in Guildford are being urged to submit ideas for projects that would benefit local communities in the borough, as part of a crowdfunding initiative.
'Crowdfund Guildford' was launched in November 2021, by Guildford Borough Council in partnership with crowdfunding platform Spacehive.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Joss Bigmore, said: "We want to see proposals from local groups that will benefit Guildford’s communities. Projects will have the opportunity to raise money by creating a campaign on the Spacehive platform. Anyone with an interest can pledge to fund money towards the project.
“We have set up the £100,000 Guildford Community Fund, with up to £5,000 available per project so we can support local projects through the Crowdfund Guildford platform.
"Like councils throughout the country, we face ongoing budget challenges but we are still here to support and empower our communities and their projects.
"For example we also support good causes through Guildford Community Lottery and Guildford Philanthropy a charity we set up in 2014 which has now raised over £1miilion to help those in need in our borough. We know that by supporting local groups who want to make a difference in their community we can have a bigger impact together.”
Deputy Leader and Lead Councillor for Community, Cllr Julia McShane added: "With Crowdfund Guildford, the benefits go far beyond the money. Setting up a project means you can network and build contacts in your community. When you share your project and begin crowdfunding, you get the chance to build an audience that really cares about your project.
“Local businesses and organisations can join us by offering support to projects, whether funding or other ways they can help. Together we can increase the number of successful local projects.”
Community gardens and tenis courts
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Cllr Julia McShane gave some examples of ideas the council would like to hear from residents:
"The idea is to be able to enable and encourage people in local communities who see something that they'd like to provide in their local community. So if somebody wants to set up a community garden or something like that, these are the sorts of projects that we'd like to see coming forward."
She clarified that the funding wouldn't be as suited for charities or organisations, rather smaller projects "with a beginning and an end":
"It's generally not for charities and organisations that are already running projects, it wouldn't be to provide funding for something that's already been created.
"This is more specific, to be able to encourage particular projects in communities, for example providing community gardens or a tennis court or something like that for people's communities across the borough."
A statement from Guildford Borough Council later confirmed that 'projects need to be locally-rooted, tangible, and serve a community purpose. The project creator must be a constituted group, like a friends group or charity.'
Those wanting to put their idea forward, will need to submit an online application and create a crowdfunding page.
There's more information on the council's website.
The deadline to submit a project idea is Wednesday 9 February 2022.