Sovereign Housing Association is putting £150,000 of its own money into a Crowdfunder fund, in the hope that it will help communities and businesses ‘build back better’.
The second round of investment is being launched by Sovereign via the online platform Crowdfunder, after a first pot of £50k leveraged £190k from other donors.
The housing association recently launched its new five-year ‘Thriving Communities Strategy’, which focuses on place-based development, allowing Sovereign communities to direct their own projects to create great places and spaces.
The plan encompasses three themes: Money and Digital, Communities, and Employment and Training.
Michelle Smith, head of Communities at Sovereign, said: “Crowdfunder is a fantastic platform for fundraising as it allows people to actively show their passion for projects that really mean something to them.
“Whatever they put into Crowdfunder we’ll match, up to £10,000 – we are committed to empowering communities to support them in becoming more resilient and taking control of their long-term goals.”
The next round of funding – available in areas where Sovereign has homes, including Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Dorset, and Devon – is specifically aimed at small local businesses and community projects that support the following themes:
- Health and wellbeing – Co-created projects that improved health, quality of life and reduced health inequalities
- Education – Reduce inequalities, provide opportunities for education and for life, and increasing skills and creativity
- Social inclusion – Intergenerational work, improve economic wellbeing
- Co-creation and building partnerships – Resident-led projects that bring together service providers and residents
- Sustainable communities – Promoting a sense of community through projects that are well-connected, well-served, and inclusive
- Community cohesion – Projects that enable communities to grow in harmony, increasing the sense of connection and safety to the area they live in
- Climate change – Support environmental sustainability and address climate change in ways that involve local residents
Su Johnston from Crowdfunder said: “Crowdfunder is delighted to be partnering with Sovereign Housing for this second programme.
“Thriving communities often come up with good ideas, and I think we’ll all agree that we’ve seen plenty of evidence of that through these past months.
“Together with support from the crowd, this funding from Sovereign Housing will help bring many more of those ideas to fruition.”
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