Creating public access to 26 miles of riverside in Newham and building a local events space in Lambeth are among a host of community projects across London backed by the Mayor Sadiq Khan’s crowdfunding programme.
Projects which have this year successfully bid for Mayoral support through Crowdfund London gathered at City Hall on July 9 for an event to recognise their success and connect them with potential backers who could help them meet their funding targets.
A total of 23 local projects have received Mayoral pledges worth as much as £612,500 through the sixth round of the programme. If all the projects hit their funding targets – including the Mayor’s contributions – this will equate to more than £2.2 million, the highest of any funding round so far.
Since it was launched in 2014, Crowdfund London has backed more than 100 successful projects across the capital – including transforming disused garages into a neighbourhood hub in Elephant and Castle, and a community centre and café in Tottenham.
While support from the Mayor is important to helping make these proposals happen, under the crowdfunding model each project must hit its target or it will receive no funding at all – so the Mayor is urging Londoners to back something in their local area and help bring it to life.
The programme is delivered in partnership with online civic crowdfunding platform Spacehive and is funded by the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP), the local enterprise partnership for London.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Each year Crowdfund London goes from strength to strength. I’m proud to back these 23 fantastic projects which have the potential to make a really positive impact on communities across our city
“Through my crowdfunding programme, Londoners can get behind them too and I urge people to make a pledge to help turn these brilliant ideas into reality.”
Trustee of Union Chapel – which received Mayoral funding in a previous round – Kathryn Dixon, said: “We were delighted and grateful to be a recipient of an award from the Mayor’s Crowdfund London scheme. It is allowing us to open up our beautiful old Sunday school hall to a new generation of local audiences. They will be able to claim this space for themselves as somewhere to learn new skills, share ideas and have fun.”
LEAP board member, Alexandra Depledge MBE, said: “Crowdfund London celebrates the best things about our city and its people. It’s a great chance for people to come together and find creative ways to make a difference to their local communities.
“It’s really important now that everyone, including London’s businesses, gets behind these passionate and driven people to help turn their visions into a reality.”
Founder and CEO of Spacehive, Chris Gourlay, said: “Londoners have come forward with more ambitious ideas for improving their area than ever before and the Mayor is stepping up his backing in response.
“More than half the campaigns got a Mayoral pledge this time – up from a third last time – and City Hall is pledging a record amount. London has led the way with civic crowdfunding and now the city’s creativity is starting to really shine through.”