Issue - meetings

To provide an overview of the first two years of the South and East Lincolnshire Crowd Funding Scheme (report of the Assistant Director – Housing and Communities enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Housing and Communities which provided an overview of the first two years of the South and East Lincolnshire Crowd Funding Scheme.

The Community Leadership Manager and the Assistant Director – Housing and Communities attended for this item.

The Community Leadership Manager introduced the report to members and the following points were highlighted:

• The scheme had supported ten projects within its first two years, which had totalled £105,497 across the sub-region, of which £59,000 had been contributed by the Crowd and represented a strong return on investment;
• The report did not include projects from the Spring 2025 funding round, which was still active;
• Successful projects in South Holland had included the refurbishment of the museum of the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society, Taste It Lincolnshire and a dog play area at Tydd St Mary’s;
• The Impact Report – Crowdfund was at Appendix A;
• The Climate Change and Environment Impact Assessment Tool was at Appendix B; and
• Of the six current projects, two had reached their funding targets, a further two were in sight of their target with two still actively crowdfunding.

Members considered the report and made the following update:

• Members stated that the figures quoted at point 2.6 of the covering report, in respect of leverage on Council investment, needed to be amended to 1 to 5.8.
  • The Community Leadership Manager would check the figures after the meeting.

• Members referred to the contract with Spacehive and asked for clarification of how this was funded and the value for South Holland.
  • The Assistant Director – Housing and Communities responded that:
    • The scheme operated under an annual contract with Spacehive, valued at £34,000 per year, which was shared equally between the three sovereign councils. The platform cost was not dependent on the number of projects supported, but rather on the population size of the participating councils;
    • The ‘pot’ for each council was dependent upon contributions made by each sovereign council.  South Holland had contributed £30,000 which had been further increased by UK Shared Prosperity Funding. Around £20,000 was currently still available for projects; and
    • The scheme had demonstrated a strong return on investment and community engagement, and officers were looking at ways the scheme could be sustained for 2026/27.

AGREED:

That the progress and continuation of the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Crowdfunding scheme be noted.