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Please note this fund is open twice per year for spring and autumn funding rounds - see the About page for more information on the next deadline.

We want to support the creation of projects and activities in Liverpool that are shaped and used by local communities and businesses. Many people have great ideas to make better places and spaces in Liverpool but they don’t always know how to find the help and funding they need to get started. Liverpool City Council are partnering with Spacehive to help you shape the city’s shared spaces - through crowdfunding. This means other funders and supporters can pledge to your exciting projects alongside the council. 

The Inclusive Growth Plan is our plan to deliver a strong and growing city, built on fairness. It's a plan for everyone: staff, residents, visitors, businesses, partners and all those who work here. It sets out the challenges we face, the achievements we've had to date and our six aims:

1. Investing in our children and young people
2. People who live well and age well
3. Quality homes in thriving neighbourhoods
4. A strong and inclusive economy
5. A connected and accessible city with quality infrastructure
6. Liverpool - the most exciting city in the UK. 

We want to encourage projects which support these aims and are supported by the local community. 

Complete our short New Project Idea Form at your earliest convenience to inform us of your project idea and knowledge of crowdfunding. 

PROJECT PAGE & PITCH

Create your online project page which will match you to the Mayoral Inclusive Growth Fund. Start your pitch, where the council will ask you some additional questions about your project. You must submit your pitch to the fund by the 21st April. 

VERIFICATION

The project costs and necessary permissions will then be checked by independent verifiers, Locality. Learn more here. 

CROWDFUNDING

Once verified, run your crowdfunding campaign between May and July. Start by getting lots of small pledges from the community to show local support for your project. This will help unlock bigger pledges.

ASSESSMENT & PLEDGE

The council will review all project campaigns based on local support demonstrated through number of backers and other assessment criteria w/c 31st May. Successful projects will receive a pledge towards their live campaigns.

HIT YOUR TARGET AND DELIVER YOUR PROJECT!

Crowdfund Liverpool is running a funding round where you can pitch your project for a pledge of up to £10,000 from Liverpool City Council (max 40% of your total project value) towards your campaign. To take part, create your project on Spacehive and pitch to the Mayoral Inclusive Growth Fund by 21st April.

The theme for the upcoming round is ‘Build Back Better’. Do you have a project idea that puts local people at the heart of the efforts to help the city build back better? Can your project help create more vibrant, resilient and connected communities, whether that’s by doing things differently, or reimagining shared spaces? You are encouraged to pitch inclusive ideas that support your community’s recovery from Covid-19 by responding to local challenges and opportunities.

We will be running free online workshops to help prepare your idea for crowdfunding so join us to learn more. Visit the News & Events page to register. 

To get started, submit your project idea via this form and a member of the Spacehive team will be in touch. 

You'll start your crowdfunding campaign before your project is assessed by the council w/c 31st May. Please note that the Acting Mayor will not be the first backer to pledge to your project and will want to see community support and backing before pledging to your campaign. You can demonstrate this in the form of smaller pledges for your project from local people. 

The Spacehive team will be on hand to support you at every stage, so if you have any questions contact support@spacehive.com.

To be eligible for consideration, your project must meet the following criteria:

• You must be currently crowdfunding on Spacehive

• You must be based in Liverpool and your project must promote civic pride by enabling people to take a more active role in transforming their local area and/or help to develop resilience within Liverpool’s communities.

• You must be able to deliver the proposal past the idea stage and make it sustainable.

• Your project should deliver outcomes that align to the Council’s priorities 

The Mayoral Inclusive Growth Fund (Crowdfund) will not normally support the activities, services and functions outlined below. Please note this list is not exhaustive.

• Activities which promote a political party or are of a religious nature
• A project/initiative that is part of the applicant’s day-to-day work, including staffing costs related to such work
• Projects by individual applicants
• Any costs incurred in putting together an application for this fund
• Day-to-day running costs of your organisation (i.e. utility bill, rent, for example)
• Work associated with land or building projects where the ownership or lease is not in place
• Projects/initiatives that cannot demonstrate sustainability after the ideas stage
• Items that are purchased on behalf of another organisation

To check whether your project is eligible for the Spacehive platform, please share your idea via this form.