The council has extended the latest Cheshire West Crowd funding round.

With funding available for community projects across west Cheshire, the project enables community-led projects to bring ideas to life.

Run by Cheshire West and Chester Council in partnership with Spacehive, there is still funding available in this latest round.

Just over £58,000 remains in The Community Innovation Fund, with £42,000 left in the Climate Change Emergency Fund.

The average pledge by the council to successful projects to date has been 50% of their funding target (in the region of £5,000 to £10,000).

Since 2021, a total of 192 community-led projects have successfully raised £2.8 million funding.

Councillor Paul Donovan said: "We're delighted to be able to extend the latest funding round, pledging more funds to community projects.

"The Cheshire West Crowd has been very successful, making a real difference to community led projects and the people they support. I'd encourage anyone with an idea about how we can make west Cheshire a better place for people to live to use the Cheshire West Crowd."

An average campaign funding target is £10,000. Larger crowdfunding campaigns can be successful if they have pre-campaign funding in place and a strong campaign plan.

Cllr Donovan added: "You can create a project easily, with plenty of support available from Spacehive and the Council's Communities team on your crowdfunding journey."

An on-line workshop will be held on 2 December, providing an opportunity for would-be project creators to hear more about how community-led projects have benefitted from the initiative in the past. 

You can register for the workshop here.

For the Climate Change Emergency Fund, projects are encouraged to email: [email protected].

You'll then be able to discuss your potential project with the Council's Climate Change Emergency team so you can tailor it and improve the likelihood of receiving the Council's support through this fund. 

Previous projects have included the installation of solar panels, LED lights and insulation.

The deadline for projects to be verified by Spacehive and live on the Cheshire West Crowd, which also includes pitching for Council funds, is Wednesday 29 January 2026.

Funding panels will take place early in March 2026, and projects should aim to hit their crowdfunding targets in April 2026.