Malvern Hills District Council announce new funding on Spacehive

Malvern Hills District Council has announced new funding to support innovative community projects that aim to enhance the lives of people across the district.

The new £150,000 People Make Places Fund is being launched in partnership with crowdfunding platform Spacehive and is part of the overall £500k Connected Communities Fund package to support the implementation of a new Connected Communities Strategy.

The fund will run for three years, over six rounds and the maximum amount pledged to a project by the council will be £20,000 or 50% of the total project costs. Residents, organisations, businesses, and charities can also donate as little as £2 to support the projects as well.

The People Make Places Fund is available alongside the Ticket to Ride Fund and Ward Member Budget.

Malvern Hills District Council will provide the funding to organisations with project ideas that will help benefit the district and bring the community together.

The fund is underpinned by the principles of equality and inclusivity and so project creators must demonstrate how they have ensured the project is accessible.

The projects should aim to:

• Improve the mental and physical health and wellbeing of your local community.
• Enhance lives through events and activities.
• Support young people's ideas and ambitions.
• Help to tackle the barriers and challenges many of us experience in life, such as poverty, ill health, distance from services, social isolation/loneliness.
• Cultivate food equity - projects that support building a fair food system for everyone.
• Protect and enhance our natural and built environment.
• Invest in and maintain the facilities we rely on for these activities to take place.

Cllr Tom Wells, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Communities at Malvern Hills District Council, said: "This is people-powered regeneration in action, and we want more residents with great ideas for improving their local communities to get involved. I'm also calling on businesses to join us in supporting these brilliant projects, which enable our district's diverse communities to play an active role in shaping the future of their local areas.

"We want to harness the entrepreneurial spirit our district is famous for and apply it to the challenges and opportunities faced by communities across the district, so I urge anyone with a creative project to apply to this year's crowdfunding programme."

The deadline for projects to be submitted to Spacehive is 22 September 2021.

Visit www.spacehive.com/movement/worcs for more information.