New £100 K funding scheme for community projects

A new, £100k match funding scheme for community projects has been launched in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse.

GLL, the UK’s largest charitable social enterprise, in partnership with crowd funding organisation Spacehive, has launched the GLL Community Foundation in the two districts.

The Foundation will provide grant funding and practical ‘in kind’ support with a value of up to £5,000 per individual project, to a wide range of community schemes. These could include creating or renovating public spaces such as parks or gardens, running sports tournaments or supporting cultural or community events.

As well as the Foundation’s financial contributions, GLL staff are available to offer practical support and consultancy, while crowd funder, Spacehive, provides a platform for local schemes to build support and fundraise from within their own community. A successful pilot scheme took part in 2016, seeing the GLL Community Foundation help six projects, raising £64,300 worth of cash and in kind support from 547 individual backers.

Chris Symons, Director of Business Development at GLL said: “We’re delighted to be launching the GLL Community Foundation in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse. We’re calling on local clubs, schools, charities and social enterprises that are looking to make positive change within the community, to consider the crowd funding model we have created. Not only will they have access to match funding of up to £5,000 and practical ‘in kind’ support, they will also have the chance to engage with and seek support from local residents via Spacehive’s crowd funding platform.

Chris Gourlay, Founder and CEO at Spacehive added: “This exciting partnership represents the powerful effect of what can be achieved through the collaboration of communities, councils and companies. GLL are working closely with local communities to create a ‘place for everyone’ and through meaningful engagement with the people who live in the area have done just that.”

Any organisations in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse interested in learning more about the GLL Community Foundation and how it may be able to support their project should email: communityfoundation@gll.org