Foreword
What a fantastic year for Crowdfund Walsall – 16 more local projects supported, two additional funds made available and 5,356 local people have benefited from the outstanding work that the borough’s community and voluntary sector continue to deliver.
I am delighted to be sharing with you the Year 3 report from the Crowdfund Walsall Programme. Celebrating three years of success since its launch, Crowdfund Walsall continues to be a source of innovation for Walsall’s communities raising over £392,000 for 39 incredible projects. In this last year alone, the programme has reached over 5,000 residents – through projects ranging from improving mental health and wellbeing, to learning new skills, getting active or improvements to place and space.
I am immensely proud of what the community has achieved. The projects funded through the programme highlight the creativity and innovation at the heart of Walsall. However, there are more stories to be written and as such, we encourage residents, communities and organisations, to continue to come forward with their ideas, however big or small, to make Walsall an even better place to live, work and visit.
By reading on, you will learn more about the fantastic projects that have been and continue to be delivered – and how together, we can help shape the future of Walsall.
Councillor Garry Perry Leader of the Council & Portfolio: Strategy, Partnerships & Communities
Introduction
The Crowdfund Walsall Programme is approaching its 4th year of providing funding and support to community led projects that benefit Walsall residents.
The programme is a creative response to the financial challenges facing local authorities and enables the Council to continue to improve local areas, and embrace placed based giving, in collaboration with residents, communities and businesses. We have seen in every funding round, the success of the programme in unlocking larger donations from businesses, external funders and stakeholders.
We encourage all community and voluntary organisations to get in touch with the External Funding Team if they have a project idea that helps to improve the area.
Shaun Darcy, Director - Finance, Procurement & Assurance
What is Crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is an alternative type of finance whereby those seeking investment can engage ‘the crowd’ to provide the support they need.
What is Crowdfund Walsall?
Crowdfund Walsall (CFW) is a civic crowdfunding model, which means community and voluntary sector organisations can harness the necessary support to finance a project which benefits the borough and its residents. It is an ‘all or nothing’ model – pledges are not released until the overall target of a campaign has been reached.
It utilises smart technology to attract funding and support community initiatives as part of Spacehive, the UK’s dedicated civic crowdfunding platform. Spacehive are recognised specialist providers of Crowdfunding platforms and achieve the highest fundraising success rates in the UK. To date they have assisted over 2,000 projects to raise over £30million in cumulative project value. Spacehive partners like Walsall Council, have benefited from streamlined processes involved in proposing, funding, and delivering projects. Additional benefits include verification, due diligence and fundraising support (to help the projects crowdfund and raise money from the ‘crowd’/public), as well as assisting with reporting on the impact of the project’s delivery.
' I found the process to be smooth, as we were well supported by Walsall Council and Spacehive. The platform was easy to use.’
Mettaminds CIC
Funding local projects
CFW continues to offer an alternative way for Walsall Council to co-fund local projects proposed by and for the benefit of the local community. It leverages considerably more project value that it allocates through community grants by matching micro pledges from the community, local partners, and national organisations. Crowdfunding supports the Council’s Resilient Communities Model, of encouraging active communities and a strong, vibrant voluntary and community sector. It provides a mechanism for communities to be public decision makers, take a lead on initiatives which matter to them and build a borough they want to live in and be proud of.
Our years in numbers
Year 1
In its first year, 2021-2022, Crowdfund
Walsall:
• Raised over £61,252 of total project value
• CFW Pledged £24,045
• Funded and supported 11 projects
In
Year 2
In its second year, 2022-2023, Crowdfund
Walsall:
• Raised over £158,570 of total project value
• CFW Pledged £60,336
• Funded and supported 12 projects
Year 3
In its third year, 2023-2024, Crowdfund
Walsall:
• Raised over £172,450 of total project value
• CFW Pledged £121,734
• Funded and supported 16 projects
total over the three years – Crowdfund Walsall has:
• Raised over £392,272 of total project value and supported a total of 39 projects.
• Pledged £206,115 to support community and voluntary organisations.
• made 58 pledges from the funds available*
• Leverage of 190%
In addition to the above – one further project hit its Crowdfunding target but had to decline accepting the funds, due to staff changes. And two other projects had received panel approval and were about to start their Crowdfunding journey, but had to retract from the process, due to limited organisational resources.
The highest total project value was £33,114 for West Midlands Sports Development CIC – Let’s Get Walsall Games Fit project– which raised £8,114 through their own ‘crowd’ and supporters, from their interactive campaign.
*some projects received pledges from more than one fund.
Location breakdown by Wards from 2023 - 2024
Using the indicies of deprivation 2019 report – Decile 1 and 2 are considered the most deprived areas of Walsall. Reference: https://www.walsallintelligence.org.uk/home/demographics/ deprivation/ Projects delivered based on indices
‘Crowdfunding has given us more confidence to apply for new funding’ Mossley Community Connections CIC
Priorities and Vision
The Crowdfund Walsall programme is delivered by the External Funding Team. The programme aligns all of the funds to the Walsall Council Plan priorities, and We Are Walsall 2040 borough wide plan.
Walsall in 2040 will be the most improved borough in the region, a vibrant place where people are proud to live and residents in all neighbourhoods have the same life chances. We will:
• be a safe borough
• be a healthy borough
• be a green borough.
Walsall Council Corporate Priorities
Economic
Enable greater local opportunities for all people, communities, and businesses.
People
Encourage our residents to:
• lead more active, fulfilling, and independent lives
• maintain or improve their health and wellbeing
Internal focus
Council services are customer focused, effective, efficient, and fair.
Children
Our children should:
• have the best possible start
• be safe from harm
• be happy, healthy, and learning well
Communities
Empower our communities so that they feel connected and that they belong in Walsall. Create safe and healthy places whilst building a strong sense of community.
Funding for 2023 - 2024
The Crowdfund Walsall programme launched with Council match funding of £50,000. Over the three years (and moving forwards) – the programme has accessed funding from various internal and external streams to support the Community and Voluntary sector. During 20232024 the following funds were available for VCSE’s to apply for, which included two new funds:
Public Health – Tackling Inactivity Fund (TIF)
aims to get inactive Walsall residents active, promoting healthier living and wellbeing. Total fund value available: £42,500 (plus an additional £40,00 has been provided for 2024-2025). In total £100,000 of funding has been provided for this fund over the last two years.
Public Health – Men’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund (MMHWF)
which aims to address health inequalities and the impact that Mental Health and Wellbeing has on men, using a combination of prevention, early intervention and activities to improve such wellbeing and raise awareness. Total fund value available: £40,000
Town Fund Community Capital Investment Fund (CCIF)
is an allocation of a larger Government programme that aims to drive and sustain economic regeneration of towns, to deliver longer term economic productivity and growth. This funding is for Community capital projects in the Bloxwich and Walsall Town Deal areas – for refurbishment/ renovations, updating buildings and providing equipment that will deliver enhanced learning and support environments to offer local people skills needed for work activity.
Total fund value available: £80,000
UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF)
This is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.
Projects that address ‘Investment in capacity building and infrastructure support for local civil society and community groups’ (E11 intervention) would be able to apply for this funding'.
Total fund value available: £35,500
A small contribution towards the Crowdfund Walsall microsite licence fee was made available by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), this enabled projects to easily apply for their funding and undertake the crowdfunding process on the Spacehive portal. During the past twelve months, 17 project creators started the process and engaged with the platform. And there were 15,708 pages viewed and 3,181 unique users.
Summary of funds available during 2023 - 2024
Public Health Tackling Inactivity Fund
£42,500
Public Health – Men’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund (MMHWF)
£40,000
Town Fund Community Capital Investment Fund
£80,000
UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF)
£35,500
Pledges and support during 2023
- 2024
Total of £198,000 of funds to pledge.
£121,734 has been pledged to date.
£172,450 has been raised as overall project totals to date.
16 projects were funded.
Overall leverage of 142%
“Since Crowdfund Walsall launched in 2021, the programme has successfully supported 42 voluntary and community sector organisations to crowdfund grassroots projects across the borough. The diversity of projects and funds from Walsall Council, businesses and the wider community demonstrates the significant positive impact the programme has had in supporting community initiatives in Walsall.” [June 2024]
Misha Dhanak, CEO of
Spacehive.
Crowdfunding campaigns supported by the council and the results
Crowdfund Walsall is currently piloting an open process, as opposed to having two funding rounds per year. This change allows for easier and quicker applications and panel approvals, so projects can start their Crowdfunding journey earlier.
Over the three years :
• £206,115 has been pledged to projects
• Over 39 projects have been supported
• £392,272 has been raised in total project value
• Overall programme Leverage is 190%
The following funds have been accessed over the three years:
• Crowdfund Walsall (CFW)
• The National Lottery Heritage Fund
• Platinum Jubilee Celebration Fund
• Public Health - Tackling Inactivity Fund (TIF)
• Public Health – Men’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund (MMHWF)
• Town Fund Community Capital Investment Fund (CCIF)
• UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF)
£186,157 of the pledges have come from a mix of communities, residents, local businesses, and other supporter pledges (excluding the Crowdfund Walsall pledges).
In the last year - the programme (with panel approval) agreed to increase the pledge amounts to aid the cost-of-living crisis and to support the projects reach their Crowdfunding target. In years one and two –the maximum pledge amounts were limited
to £3,500 and 40% of the total project values. Now the programme can support up to 60%, 80% and 90% of the total project values (depending on the fund available).
Projects applying to more than one fund, if eligible, can receive pledges up to 80% of the total project value. As expected, this has affected the leverage rates – as the programme is supporting the projects more, with less for the projects to raise from the ‘crowd’. Projects have been appreciative of this increase in support.
Projects are able to apply to more than one fund at a time. Of the 39 projects supported, 18 projects have received funding from more than one fund – helping the projects to reach their targets faster.
Of the 39 funded projects - 46% of projects exceeded their crowdfunding target. The highest overfunded project, overfunded up to 153%. (Projects can choose to ‘overfund’ and receive pledges over and above their original target).
Of the 39 funded projects, pledges from 1,682 backers have been received. The greatest number of backers per project was 161 for Let’s get Walsall games fit. This shows tremendous community support to all projects, confirming that there is a need and a want for these innovative project ideas in the local areas. The Programme Officers always like to see projects demonstrate evidence of community ‘backing’ (people putting pledges onto the Spacehive portal) before adding the Crowdfund pledge – to ensure that the community support the project idea.
Year on year, Crowdfund Walsall pledges have doubled.
Over 50% of funded projects were delivered in areas considered the first and second most deprived Wards in the borough. (For more information about support in the different wards - please refer to the information on page 7).
Local businesses have supported Crowdfund Walsall and in total, pledged £12,442 in 2023-2024. Over the three years –business support has amounted to £47,218.
The External Funding Team actively share and encourage projects to seek further external funding opportunities. These can be used to support the project’s Crowdfunding campaigns, but also for future funding, post project delivery. At least 14 of CFW projects have applied for further funding and one of the most recent projects, Mossley Community Connections CIC, has secured additional funding from two different funders, to continue with their delivery.
Where possible, CFW projects are encouraged to think and plan for sustainability and longevity of their proposals. Mettaminds CIC project has secured future bookings at a venue trialled through Crowdfund Walsall delivery, to continue increasing engagement numbers. Their project purchased a bell tent for their self-care delivery programme and this can now be used to hire out and generate further income for the organisation. Willenhall Lock Stock have recently thanked the External Funding Team for their support, as they are now self-sufficient (with the support of local sponsors) in hosting their annual music festival events, following initial funding and support through Crowdfund Walsall.
‘With the support of Crowdfund Walsall we have successfully purchased and installed decorative lights over quite a large area, they have brightened up the dark nights over this winter period.’
Short Heath Lest We Forget.
Crowdfunding allows early buy in, by reaching out to the community at the early stages – so many organisations have found they have built relationships with their community, including local businesses. Short Heath Lest We Forget networked with local businesses and obtained a lot of local business interest whilst Crowdfunding for the festive lights during their campaign. One business that pledged to the project, offered a discount to anyone purchasing from the store, for people who had donated to the campaign, which has increased community cohesion.
Summary of PLEDGES made from the funds:
*Please note that some of the projects have since received UKSPF funding since the last report
Summary of TOTAL PROJECT VALUES:
What else do the External Funding Team do to support Crowdfund Walsall projects?
CFW pride themselves on supporting all Community and Voluntary organisations within the borough, with particular focus on supporting grass root organisations who may be applying for funding for the first time, or who have recently been established.
In addition to financial pledges, CFW provide projects/organisations with information about alternative and external funding and grant opportunities, to assist with hitting the Crowdfunding campaign target – as well as for post-project delivery and sustainability.
The team also reach out to businesses and alternative funders such as local supermarkets to promote projects crowdfunding and to obtain further support through these stakeholders. This can be in the form of pledges or donations of food for example.
Over the last 12 months, the External Funding Team along with partners Spacehive, have hosted 4 project creator and 2 council
focused workshops on-line – sharing information about the programme, the funds available and how projects can apply. In total 121 registrations on Eventbrite were received.
Officers within the External Funding Team liaise with organisations as the project ideas develop and the groups apply for funding This includes signposting projects to council departments for permissions, licenses, and event planning, as well as guiding the project through the pitch and project page process along with the next steps. Support also includes providing projects with a ‘fundraising plan’ which offers tips and advice, links to Spacehive help guides, creating promotional material (where required) and offering alternative fundraising opportunities to support the project’s fundraising campaigns.
Bring Your Own Device sessions have been introduced where the External Funding Team can meet projects to support organisations developing project pages and pitches, going through the steps on their own devices, face to face. The team and Spacehive partners are on hand to support with any questions or queries as well as fundraising ideas to help projects hit their overall target.
The Funding Officers continue to liaise with the projects as they hit their target and begin their delivery. Financial and monitoring meetings take place at the very start, to explain the programme and monitoring requirements and ensure that regular contact is maintained with the projects to support their delivery. Impact and evaluation reports are completed and shared within the Council, Government departments and other funders, once the evaluation process has taken place.
The team have developed relationships with the VCS Locality leads and signpost organisations to the most appropriate provider, if groups are starting out and require information about setting up an organisation or constituting their group – or require further advice about policies/procedures required for the CFW programme.
In the past three years, the Crowdfund Walsall social media channels have been set up on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Currently there are 212 Facebook followers and 400 X followers. The team promote projects who are fundraising to gain additional support and publicity. During the year, CFW X followers - increased from 126 to 400, this demonstrates that CFW continues to mature with their social media presence and reach, as well as being able to update community groups / organisations with funding opportunities.
As a community catalyst, CFW recognises the importance of organisations working together and because of Crowdfund Walsall (sharing resources and contacts) the programme continues to support this. The team are planning a celebration event where projects can come together, share their amazing success stories and network further - to encourage more partnership working.
The External Funding Team are now recording non-financial support outcomes. The team continue to support project creators directly (pipeline projects and those projects who progress to Crowdfunding) and give business development advice, support and signpost to other services within or outside of the Council. CFW look forward on being able to report on this additional support that is now being recorded - in the next report.
“Trust
in the Crowdfunding team. Listen to all advice from the team, they want you to succeed and don’t be shy in asking questions, if the team don’t know the answer- they will find out for you.”
Mossley Community Connections
What have the Crowdfund Walsall projects delivered during
2023-2024?
There have been two funding rounds during 2023-2024, Round 5 and 6. Round 5 projects have completed delivery and evaluations (with one project that is still delivering) and the Round 6 projects are still in the delivery phase.
Completed projects (funding round 5)
In the middle of 2023, eight projects started fundraising and most had hit their Crowdfunding target during the Autumn of 2023. Projects started delivery from September 2023 onwards. These projects received a mixture of UKSPF funding and Tackling Inactivity funding with some projects, where eligible, receiving funding from both funds.
Cumulative
impact and outcomes/outputs delivered by these projects in Round 5:
• 7 delivered projects (one project still delivering).
• 370 backers
• £53,307 amount of funding
• Overall total project value £77,130
• Leverage 145%
In total - across the 7 organisations - 36 volunteers were recorded, giving over 1,719 volunteer hours to support the projects. Using the ‘Power to Change’ website - the estimated average equivalent market hourly rate across the range of activities is around £13.70 per hour. Using this figure, the volunteering time has saved the projects approximately £23,550 on additional staffing costs.
Cumulative totals:
• 137 activity sessions delivered
• 17 tools hired
• 12 community/celebration events hosted
• 1 large piece of artwork created
• 5,356 participants/beneficiaries
• 450 surveys completed
• From the surveys, 268 beneficiaries recorded that they were new engagements.
• On average 60% of users/ participants were new engagements
Using the HACT Social Return On Investment (SROI) measures – to account for the social, environmental, and economic value of an organisations’ activity – for the projects that have recorded more than 12 volunteer hours, per volunteer (with completed timesheets)the adjusted total social value is: £29,926 of savings for 2023-2024*.
*(Please note the HACT measures state volunteering must be for one session a month, over 12 months – however due to the project delivery having shorter timescales – this measure has been used for projects who have delivered more than 12 hours over a few months).
We sincerely thank all of
the
• Mossley Community Connections CIC (MCC CIC) had 6 people who now want to volunteer for their organisation, having taken part in their activities as an end user.
• MCC CIC were a newly established organisation when pitching to CFW and have since received further funding (from two different funders) after demonstrating the success of the CFW pilot.
• 44 self-care pledges have been made.
• 1 website and software application has been created for community tool hire services.
• 1 Greenway library centre created for community use.
• 10 mom’s received financial and wellbeing training (with 80% of these people now having a positive outlook on finances).
• An increase from 24 people the year before completing a Christmas Walk, to 835 people completing the 1.7 mile walk of the Festive lights in Short Heath during November 2023- January 2024. And a further 31 lights purchased as a community asset.
• A hugely successful music festival event with over 4000 people attending (990 more people attended than the year before)–and 25 local bands performing (6 were up and coming bands).
The Tackling
Inactivity survey responses
89% of responses said they became more active
95% of people who attended the sessions/events said they enjoyed event/activity*the
63% met friends/family
58% enjoyed the Programme
72% enjoyed the atmosphere
50% mixed with new people
42% did something together as a family
44% got moving/physically active
55% felt it improved their mood/ helped with their mental health
24% found out about other local groups
*results from surveys completed
84% learned something new 98% felt more positive
39% said they were interested in joining a club
9% have joined a club, as a direct result of attending the interventions.
95% of people enjoyed their surroundings of the project delivery'
UKSPF outcomes
CFW have exceeded their UKSPF outcomes for 2023-2024. The programme was profiled to have a 10% increase in engagement numbers from the projects delivered.
Projects still delivering (funding round 6)
Men's Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund
In the second half of the year, the External Funding Team were really pleased to introduce the new Public Health – Men’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. This fund addresses health inequalities and the impact that Mental Health and Wellbeing has on men, using a combination of prevention, early interventions, and activities to improve such wellbeing and raise awareness. There was £40,000 of funding available. 5 projects applied for this funding.
A total of £21,663 has been pledged to these projects. They have a total project value of £39,301 with a leverage of 181%.
5 Men’s Mental Health and Wellbeing projects are currently being delivered in the borough for the benefit of Walsall residents and they include:
Brain Tech – Building and piloting a mental health and wellbeing app, for free 24/7 access for men in the borough (involving 20 Walsall male residents).
Fish On – an angling initiative for men in the borough covering mental health, fishing, filming and blogging, whilst appreciating the borough’s greenspaces (involving 10 Walsall male residents and the project have estimated that 200 residents will view the premiere of the film that the project are producing).
60% of the participants/users from the surveys completed, stated that they were new engagements and it was their first time of attending the event/ sessions.
Veterans being well in Walsall – this project is designed to educate and enable real time practice with supporting mental and emotional wellbeing for veterans in the armed forces. This includes reaching out to employers and veterans families (involving 20 Walsall male veterans, families or employers in the borough).
Men’s retreat – Mettamindkind – Men’s wellbeing retreat that will explore wellbeing, mental health and promoting self-care - with follow up sessions post retreat (involving 10 Walsall male residents).
Mind Body and Goal – provide football for men to improve their mental and physical health – whilst making new friends and getting active (involving 16 Walsall male residents, plus up to a further 24 men to attend organised match day events).
The Public Health team are delighted with the diverse range of projects to support men to improve their mental health.
Each of the five organisations have all committed to:
• signing up to the NO WRONG DOOR scheme, where anyone who needs support, only needs to tell their story once, before being appropriately sign posted for relevant support.
• undertake suicide prevention training.
• join Walsall’s Men’s Development group to improve mental health support for men in the borough.
• recording wellbeing measures for the participants (at the start and end of the intervention). Measures such as, WHO 5 (measuring current
wellbeing quality of life), ONS 4 (feelings on aspects of personal life and wellbeing), SWEMWBS (monitoring of general wellbeing) and PHQ 2 (measures potential depression in first step approach), as examples.
• handing out and reviewing (where possible) the Council's 'My wellbeing plans'.
100 men will benefit from the positive mental health related interventions (+200 residents to watch a premier of the ‘Fish On’ film).
5 organisations receiving suicide prevention training
5 groups have already joined the Walsall Men’s Development group
58 sessions will be delivered, plus a weekend retreat for self-care, and a number of supportive sessions for the 20 Brain Tech App working group.
Town Fund Community Capital Investment Fund
There are three further projects who are currently delivering and received Town Fund Community Capital Investment funding – who are based in the Walsall or Bloxwich Town Fund deal boundaries.
The first two projects below also received Tackling Inactivity funding, as the project delivery will include getting inactive residents active.
Let’s Get Walsall Games Fit – is converting an unused Warehouse in the centre of Walsall, into an interactive sports, fitness and entertainment play centre – for schools and the community to use. Learning through sport.
Learner assisted outcomes : funded apprentices.
£34,063 of pledges have been made to the projects from the fund and in total the project values are £56,019. A leverage of 164% for this fund.
Converting 240 m2 of disused land into a community allotment
Grow to Donate – utilising some unused land, the club will build and deliver a community allotment that will involve local school children working with volunteers. The children will learn how to grow healthy sustainable food, as well as sharing the produce with the vulnerable in the community.
Learner assisted outcomes: training 5 volunteers with health and safety, safeguarding, first aid and welfare sessions.
Bounce into Employment – providing employability skills and development of the health and social care sector by acquiring essential equipment to enhance the facilities and contribute to the betterment of the community.
Learner assisted outcomes: training 25 learners in health and social care
Project creator experience and feedback
Following project delivery, project creators have summarised their experiences:
86% of the completed surveys agreed that CFW enabled them to achieve a positive impact in the borough.
‘I found the Crowdfund process to be a smooth process, as we were well supported by Walsall Council and Spacehive. The platform was easy to use.’ Mettaminds CIC
‘Not only have we been able to host the biggest musical social event in the town, but we are also able to support additional music and community events throughout the year.'
Willenhall Lock Stock
83% of the completed surveys said that they would recommend CFW to others.
Quotes from completed surveys
‘Overall, we found the experience very positive and would recommend other community organisations to take part. Crowdfunding offers key insights into audience perceptions of ideas for projects and gives audience buy-in towards the goals of the organisation.’
Urban Hax
‘I think Crowdfund Walsall is a fantastic programme, the staff members are knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and incredibly keen to help and support your project. I would recommend everyone that is considering completing a project to take a look and see if it suits their needs.’
Short Heath Lest We Forget
Extract from the recent Walsall Council National Lottery Heritage Fund Evaluation Report..
The Crowdfund Walsall programme administered £10,000 of funding on behalf of The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
‘A major benefit of Crowdfunding is how it helps to promote community buy in and build early-stage support for a project idea. The National Lottery Heritage Fund have been impressed with the approach and have even included it as part of their new strategic framework. Publicly funded projects, particularly those in Local Authorities can have an element of ‘do to’ – in that communities don’t have a say in what happens in their area, or with available funding. This model gives that power back to the people. It invites new ideas, tapping into the huge creative spirit of the people of Walsall (or any community). It lights a fire in others, which promotes further innovation, and that can only be a good thing.’
Participant Feedback
From the 7 projects that have completed delivery during 2023-2024 – where possible, participant surveys have been completed. The responses received from the public and residents (project beneficiaries) has been fantastic.
Feedback from surveys & social media posts
‘Absolutely amazing day yet again, roll on next year – thank you to all who organised it – you do a fantastic job.'
‘Great instructor and a very calming class where I always feel welcome.’
‘You have enabled me to build a raft to aid my own self-care. I have learnt that setting my own boundaries and becoming self-aware is critical to my future and wellbeing.’
'This has helped me to build my confidence and has made me more determined to start my own business.'
‘This project is rather unique….the emphasis being on widening the education of local people on the effects of climate change.’
‘Great evening being out in the community – the atmosphere was brilliant too.’
‘The Motivate Moms program has given me more confidence to talk in front of others. We have been able to talk about family as well as our own goals and dreams.’
‘Achieved something new, trying out new tools.’
What promotions have taken place?
Crowdfund Walsall continues to promote themselves in the borough. The programme has developed good links with the Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) Locality leads, One Walsall, Walsall Housing Group (WHG) and Mid Counties Cooperative Walsall Regional Network.
Social Media
The programme is increasing its social media presence year on year. In 20232024 a variety of social media posts have been shared from Crowdfunding projects. Posts have helped projects hit their target, promote project creator workshops and share project events for the community to enjoy. Both CFW Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages are used on a regular basis.
Press Releases
Where possible, the programme promotes the funding available through press releases and internal Council communications, as well as sharing good news stories to promote community cohesion.
Partnership working
Spacehive continue to share and promote Crowdfund Walsall through their own communication channels. Crowdfund Walsall have presented at a number of the Spacehive partner events. The team have most recently presented about ‘How Walsall Council unlocked £200k for Community projects’. These events have been valuable sharing and learning from other council experiences to help improve the programme.
Workshops
The programme has worked alongside their partners Spacehive and co-presented 4 workshops this year to potential project creators. This is an opportunity to explain in detail about the Crowdfund Programme, fund availability and eligibility - and what the next steps are in creating a project and pitch page.
Good news stories
2023-2024 has been an incredible year for Crowdfund Walsall supporting community projects.
Migrants Memories - The Tale Of Ten project from Round 3, hosted a book launch and exhibition in the Walsall Lichfield Street Hub. The Mayor and guests from the Polish Embassy attended. The European Welfare Association CIC collated memories, photos and stories shared between the Polish and Walsall community over the past 10 years of their Polish Saturday School. A book was published, and an exhibition took place to share with the wider community the heritage of the school and encourage open dialogue. With thanks to part funding through the National Lottery Heritage fund - Thanks to National Lottery players.
The External Funding Team received an allocation of the National Lottery Heritage fund for Borough wide projects in year two. After the successful delivery of 5 CFW projects that received funding from the Heritage fund, the overall fund evaluation was very complimentary to Crowdfund Walsall. It emphasised that funding this way, allowed the Heritage funding to reach groups who had not previously received funding from the Heritage Fund before, raising awareness of heritage amongst communities in Walsall, and increasing confidence in delivering a publicly funded heritage project.
The External Funding Team nominated one of their earlier projects
‘The Nectar Room’ for the West Midlands Combined Authority – The Natural Environment Awards. This was a partnership between Pelsall Village School and Djogs Landscape Architects- and they were shortlisted as finalists and received a Highly Commended Education Award. This was in recognition for the school using some of its derelict land to create an outdoor learning and activity hub which was accessible to the school and local community. This project focused on the environment, sustainability and health and wellbeing. This included creating a wildflower meadow trail, outdoor classroom, seating area, attenuation pond, and habitat boxes for birds and bats, as well as planting a small orchard. Congratulations to both partners on their fantastic achievement.
What is next?
The Crowdfund Walsall programme is nearing the end of another funding panel cut off point. Many of the projects are going through or are in the process of being verified, so pledge amounts have not yet been confirmed. However, the programme could potentially fund a further 6 projects, – total project value circa £99,190, total pledges from CFW approximately £70,000.
Project deliverables vary and include, supporting dementia groups, offering counselling through bereavement services, community events to support 150 years of the Walsall Arboretum, building a Men’s Shed and fishing project for adults with special educational needs, installing a stair lift into a community space to ensure inclusivity for all and refurbishing a building in need of repair, to host Muay Thai boxing sessions.
We look forward to sharing the success of these projects in the next report.
Looking forward to 2024/2025
The team have just presented their first face to face project creator workshop to advise community groups about the funding available through Crowdfund Walsall. Eight different groups attended, and projects can start pitching and applying for funding, if eligible.
With the array of funds available, there is the option for projects to apply to more than one fund, if it compliments their project idea and aligns to the fund outcomes/outputs. An example may be - applying for capital funding for a capital project, and requiring revenue funding from a different fund, to deliver some sessions/courses from the newly renovated site, making the project more sustainable.
The External Funding Team plan to deliver further ‘project creator’ sessions at the four locality lead venues, to develop additional interest and interact with new local groups in venues closer to them.
Indicative pledge amounts for the first panel in 2024-2025*
£10,000 Men’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund
£20,000 Community Capital Investment Fund
£13,332 Tackling Inactivity fund
£15,060 UKSPF Revenue fund
£12,436 UKSPF Capital Fund
£70,828
Total indicative pledges
£99,190 indicative project totals Indicative 140% leverage
*These figures are subject to change as projects have due diligence and verification checks completed.
Remaining funds** available for the rest of 2024-2025:
£8,337 from the Men’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund
£25,937 from the Community Capital Investment Fund
£55,882 from the Tackling Inactivity
£19,940 from the UKSPF Revenue fund
£37,564 from the UKSPF Capital Fund
£147,660
Total funds available in Round 8
**These figures are indicative, as the Round 7 funds are yet to be confirmed.
Improving the process for projects
Crowdfund Walsall is always learning and adapting to improve the processto make it simpler for the projects.
With another successful third year delivered, we are heading into the fourth year with more experience and array of available funds. Last year we said we were going to address some of the following and this is what the programme has completed to date:
What we said we would improve
Securing and introducing new internal and external funds. So that more organisations can apply, as there will be more variety within the funds.
Consider adding in an extra funding round – or having more flexibility of timescales within the rounds. Discussions are already underway with Spacehive regarding this.
Can we demonstrate social return on Investment to support projects to apply for future funding.
Encourage projects to share more information on their project update pages.
The Crowdfund Walsall panel will be considering increasing pledges and / or micro grants to help with the cost of- living crisis, to encourage projects to continue to apply for funding and help reduce fundraising pressures.
At the first workshop sessions - share and address barriers to Crowdfunding. Give the projects a list of actions that they can take away from the workshops to help prepare them for their application. Early consideration of permissions or pre-campaign funding will assist the projects in the later stages.
Continue to review and improve the process to make the Crowdfunding process as streamlined as possible.
How we have improved
CFW introduced two new funds and a further fund this year in Round 7 (UKSPF Capital fund).
Following a change in the CFW model this year, all funds will remain open, with projects working towards panel dates, the next panel being scheduled for July 2024. Projects will work towards panel dates on a first come first served basis.
We have been able to record Social Return on Investment for Volunteer hours. These figures will also help the projects when applying for further funding.
Some projects use the updating tool to inform their backers of their progress – however we will continue to promote this facility for projects to use on the Spacehive portal.
Pledge amounts have increased from 40% and £3500 maximum pledges in the first two years – to now up to 60%, 80% and 90% pledges of overall project value. Community Capital fund has a 90% pledge amount up to a maximum of £20,000.
All of this information is now shared during the initial workshops – and projects now have a ‘checklist’ sheet of ‘where are you now’ that they can take away with actions and considerations before they start applying for funding.
The team continually review this – and we hope that we can make the monitoring and review process as easy as possible, by just asking funder and programme specific questions on the evaluations.
In Summary
We are delighted to share the success and growth of Crowdfund Walsall, over the last three years, supporting 39 organisations, pledging £206,115 and project values totalling £392, 272 with leverage of 190%.
With Round 7 projects (figures still to be confirmed) it is likely that the programme will reach £490,000 of project value and potentially £277,000 of pledges.
We look forward to continuing with the rolling panel dates and supporting the current projects applying for funding with over £147,000 of funding available to support the spaces, places and residents within the borough over the next 12 months.
As of June 2024, over £400,000 has been raised through Crowdfund Walsall. This is a fantastic milestone to reach and shows how much value has been added to the communities in the borough. Thank you to all supporters and anyone who has pledged to help make these projects happen and benefit Walsall communities.
We encourage all stakeholders to share the Crowdfund Walsall Programme with local groups/organisations, as the team are always keen to discuss any potential project ideas and establish eligibility/fund(s) suitability.
To find out more about the projects that Crowdfund Walsall have supported during this year – please refer to Appendix 1.
ROUND 5
Willenhall Lock Stock Music Festival 2023
Organisation: Willenhall Lock Stock
Description:
Enriching musical culture in Willenhall Town. Creating a large musical festival event for local residents, to have a fun and an affordable day out, as well as getting local bands (and up and coming bands/artists) to show case their talents.
Final total raised: £7,935
Pledged by UKSPF: £3,812
Number of people who backed this project: 28
Location: Willenhall South
‘Just a great atmosphere in a field with thousands of people joined together by music.’
Project Delivered: Music Festival one day event with 25 bands/artists plus 6 up-andcoming artists/bands had the opportunity to perform.
‘An amazing day and what a day we had with the weather.’
• There were 4020 attendees (impressive improvement on engagement numbers - as the year before had 3030 attendees) and 14 volunteers supporting with the running of the event.
• Prior to the event: 32.9k social media reach and 42k for the 90 days before.
• The project funded 70 gazebos for the public to shade from the sun and three toilet blocks along with a disabled toilet.
• 9 food concessions were available on the day and 6 business / community events had a stall.
• 2 large and one small stage areas were used.
• 37% people surveyed felt active during the day - an on-line competition saw people averaging between 6,000-20,000 steps during the day.
• Comments on Lock Stock’s social media pages were glowing and supportive.
212 surveys were completed
99% said they enjoyed the event.
21% of people surveyed stated it was their first time attending
69% would visit Willenhall Memorial Park more often, after attending the event.
Empower Mossley
Organisation: Mossley Community Connections CIC (MCC CIC)
Description: Addressing social isolation by delivering activities such as arts and crafts, British Sign Language (BSL) and gentle exercise sessionsinclusive for all abilities.
Final total raised: £12,470
Pledged by UKSPF: £5,000
Pledged by TIF: £5,000
Number of people who backed this project: 36
Location: Bloxwich West
Project Delivered:
From completed surveys:
83% of people said they had learnt something new.
92% stated the sessions had made them feel more positive.
869 volunteer hours from 8 volunteers
67% of people have joined another club.
72% said they have become a lot /or a bit more active.
‘I am really enjoying doing the course every week and my confidence is growing week in and week out. I look forward to coming every single week.’ BSL participant.
MCC approached CFW when they were a newly established group. They delivered 50 sessions – a mix of Arts, British Sign Language, Zumba and Qi-Gong gentle exercise sessions and hosted a celebration community event where participants artwork was exhibited. The groups created a large work of art of Sister Dora.
• There were a total of 62 engagements (plus 40 people who attended the sessions also attended the celebratory event), 100% of which were new engagements. The group was attended by a mix of abilities including people in wheelchairs and residents with additional needs.
• £26,186 savings have been made from project volunteers. This figure will continue to improve as 6 participants now want to volunteer for MCC.
• Before the interventions, of the survey responses 52% of people were active/fairly active and after the intervention, 65% of people said they were active/fairly active – so an increase of activity by 13%.
• 67% of survey responses stated participants have since joined an activity club and 17% said they are looking to join a club shortly – to help keep active and reduce social isolation.
• This project have since received additional external funding following a positive pilot with CFW.
'Calming exercise and a patient instructor. I enjoy learning and look forward to improving by the end of the sessions.’ Zumba participant
Wellbeing and You Self-Care
Organisation: Mettaminds CIC
Description: Self-care programme and retreat for Walsall residents to explore all aspect of self-care, including wellbeing, self-kindness, methods of self-care, nutrition, holistic therapies and gentle exercise and movement.
Final total raised: £7,411
Pledged by UKSPF: £3,037
Pledged by TIF: £3,037
Number of people who backed this project: 26
Location: Paddock
Project Delivered:
'The yoga was lovely, and the reflexology taster was really good. Thank you for reminding me of how useful journaling is. ...I have already been putting (some things) into practice.'
'The whole programme was put together so well with many experiences offered. I definitely walked away from the day feeling in a better place both emotionally and physically.'
• 3 self-care programme workshops (3 cohorts - 24 sessions in total).
• 2 self-care day retreats for 20 new people.
• 47 people attended the programmes and retreats.
• 44 completed a survey to say they were new engagements.
• 2 volunteers – 68 hours in total.
• Social, environmental, and economic adjusted total social value: £3,741 savings from project volunteers.
• 47 self-care pledges made by the attendees.
• One large outdoor Bell Tent purchased with funding to deliver sessions from - and this is now an asset of the organisation and can be used to hire out and create an income.
• One cohort of the self-care programme workshops took place within a GP surgery – and through delivery with Crowdfund Walsall the Surgery has now secured further sessions with Mettaminds CIC, adding to the organisations sustainability.
• Before starting the interventions when participants were asked about their activity levels the group averaged at 2.8 (1 being not active and 4 being active). When asked the same question at the end of the programme – the average activity levels were recorded at 3.1 so an increase in activity levels were demonstrated.
Survey responses included
98% of people said they felt more active.
95% enjoyed their surroundings.
100% enjoyed spending time with other people.
100% learnt something new and felt more positive.
Motivate Mom’s: Mind and Money
Organisation: Rosetinted Financial Services
C.I.C.
Description: Launch a mind and money program to improve financial literacy and overall wellbeing of Mom’s in Walsall, particularly those already experiencing mental and financial barriers.
Final total raised: £5,437
Pledged by UKSPF: £3,037
Number of people who backed this project:
14
Location: Birchills, Leamore
‘Crowdfund has opened doors for us to work on a new program with Walsall council that allows us to provide further support to the Mom’s.’
Project Delivered: 10 sessions delivered, educating participants on finance and wellbeing (with guest speakers) – a mix of face to face and on-line sessions. Topics covered included: financial literacy, confidence building and personal training sessions
22 people took part in the sessions.
100% of responses said they enjoyed the sessions
• 1 celebration event
• 22 people took part in the Motivate Mom sessions.
• 10 new engagements
• Volunteers – 2 people, 40 hours
• 10 surveys completed
• 100% of responses said they enjoyed the sessions
• 80% of survey responses said participants had a more positive outlook on their finances after completing the sessions.
‘Motivate Moms has helped me to build my confidence and has made me more determined to start my own business. The program has helped me to meet new people and share stories and ideas together. I am extremely grateful for all the hard work Ebony and Lauren have put into helping me.’
Quote from ‘P’
Greenway Library and Nature Centre
Organisation: Paddock Active Climate Change Group
Description:
Create a library of resources to help children, young people and adults learn about the effects of climate change with a variety of outdoor sessions such as walking, cycling and canal work.
Final total raised: £7,373
Pledged by UKSPF: £2,950
Pledged by TIF: £2,950
Number of people who backed this project: 40
Location: Blakenall
Project Delivered:
One of the volunteers has recently advised that a couple of the children have brought in their own books from home and wanted to sit and read their books to the Library group.
Transformed a disused room at Ryecroft Community Hub and created a light bright accessible centre with books, microscopes, computers, and many other resources for the community to use. Delivered activities to help residents be more aware of their impact on climate change and increase activity
• During this time Paddock have developed good relationships with Froglife (building a frog pond and hibernaculum), Ryecroft Community Hub, and Good New Christian Centre - the centre delivered engaging HAF (Holiday Activity and Food) sessions involving 19 new children and 6 new adults who learnt about climate change and planted their own Christmas and fruit trees.
• Local children have attended the library where volunteers host reading sessions, story time, and various interactive activities to engage the children to learn about their environment using microscopes and other resources.
• From an activity point of view, residents have been involved in organised walks and cycles throughout the months. With at least 102 attendees of the 316 engagements involved in some form of physical activity through walking, cycling, litter picks or canal work.
• The Greenway centre hosted a well-attended launch event, opened by the Deputy Mayor, as well as a seed sowing community day where residents got the opportunity to plant their own seeds.
• 559 volunteer hours have been accrued. Using the TOMS social return on investment model, the volunteer aspect alone had a financial value of £9,503 of savings.
‘I always feel better after a walk. This has helped my mental health.’
The project delivered the following groups:
Walking groups: 34 users
Cycling groups: 20 users
Library of inspiration: 120 users
Biodiversity & Pond group: 23 users
Canal group: 48 users
U3A Climate change group: 9 users
Energy group: 53 users
HAF group: 26 users
Decorative Lights 2023
Organisation: Short Heath Lest We Forget CIC (SHLWF)
Description: Bringing festive spirit to Short Heath roads with Festive Decorative lights on the lampposts and developing community interaction through two organised walks of the length of the lights. Promoting activity as over 30 lampposts had QR codes signposting residents to local groups to increase activity, as well as groups having a presence at the organised events.
Final total raised: £13,765
Pledged by UKSPF: £5,000
Pledged by TIF: £5,000
Number of people who backed this project: 147
Location: Short Heath
‘Well done everyone involved – great festive atmosphere.’
Project Delivered: This is the second year that Crowdfund Walsall have supported this project, purchasing additional festive lights for the lampposts of Short Heath and organising two walks of the lights.
• Last year 24 people attended the walk. This year circa 800 people attended the walk, so over 750 more people attended, this involved, children, adults, families, grandparents and babies in pushchairs - a real community event - a mix of generations. This year, the first walk had school children singing Christmas Carols at the start and the end of the walk and free hot drinks and mince pies– adding festive cheer.
• 31 festive lights were purchased and are now community assets.
• 2 organised community walks were hosted.
• Over 800 people attended the first walk, with two schools involved, creating real community spirit.
• Over the two walks, 835 people walked 1.7 miles each, on cold winters night that they would not have walked, had it not been for the lights. A cumulative total of 1,419 miles walked over the two walks.
• 4 clubs attended on the night of the first walk to promote their activities and hand out leaflets about their clubs.
• 30+ QR codes were placed on the lampposts to promote local groups/activities to signpost residents into getting active.
• 14 relationships with local businesses have been formed/supported through the Crowdfunding campaign.
98% of people who responded said they enjoyed the festive walk.
90% were new engagements/ first time of attending the festive walk
‘A lovely atmosphere –thank you to all involved – I got some exercise in too.’
• 10 volunteers supported on the evenings of the walks.
• A negative that turned into a positive - the original infrastructure contractor had to retract their services at the last minute. SHLWF put a post on their social media channels and an organisation responded saying they wanted to support the community project – and they did this free of charge (they only charged SHLWF for materials).
• 112 surveys were completed: 98% of people who responded said they enjoyed the festive walk.
• 101/112 were new engagements/first time of attending the festive walk - 90% new engagements.
‘A lovely evening. Even the weather played its part being cold and crisp. We couldn’t believe the turn out and the atmosphere in the square with the children singing carols, mince pies, hot drinks and chatting to people – it was smashing. A big THANK YOU to all concerned in organising and running it.’
Walsall Tool Shack
Organisation: Urban Hax CIC
Description: The Walsall Tool Shack tool hire service is a convenient and cost-effective solution for local residents to access a wide range of tools for DIY projects, home improvement and for hobbies/leisure. The project will also deliver workshops for the community to learn new skills and find out more about the tools that are available for hire.
Final total raised: £11,237
Pledged by UKSPF: £4,596
Pledged by TIF: £4,956
Number of people who backed this project: 29
Location: Birchills, Leamore
“Happy - have fallen in love with my kitchen again and am proud of myself for completing the job.”
Project Delivered: One tool hire software service created and delivered with 48 tools and 29 pieces of safety equipment purchased for community use. The tool hire service had a number of months of offering free tool hire to increase the use within the community.
• One website designed and created.
“The tool hire saved time and energy.”
“Excited to edit the recorded footage and teach myself a new skill.”
• 17 hires of equipment
• Examples of equipment hired: drone, sander, overlocker, tree lopper, go-pro, pressure washer.
• Examples of jobs completed with loaned equipment: sanded wood trim, sewing of clothes, cleaned driveway, installed blinds, trimmed bushes.
• 3 workshops delivered (1 further workshop offered)
• 20 people attended the workshops.
• 2 volunteers – 25 hours
• 22 surveys completed.
• 50% of the survey responses stated that they felt more physically active after Walsall Tool Shack's interventions. A separate question was asked for just the residents who hired the equipment and 83% said that hiring the equipment and completing the task/job made them feel more active.
• 58% of responses stated the activity using the hired equipment increased their heart rate (made them more active).
• 63% said they found the activities helped improve their mood.
“I felt a sense of achievement and keen to purchase the tools myself.”
100% said they enjoyed the service. 95% were new engagements.
“I feel relieved and feel like I accomplished a task that would otherwise have taken a much longer time to complete manually without access to these tools.”
• 83% of responses stated hiring the tools has given them the confidence to consider doing other jobs/similar activities in the future.
• 92% of people said they would come back to the Tool Shack and hire further tools.
• 1 person hired 4 sewing machines to pilot trialling sewing lessons, before considering purchasing their own for community sewing lessons.
Light Up Pelsall
Social media comments on the spotlights so far have stated 'Brilliant' and 'Awesome'
Organisation: Preservation of Pelsall Remembrance Service (POPRS)
Description: This project will light up Pelsall throughout the year with an array of uplighters throughout the village – to increase community cohesion and pride of place.
Final total raised: £11,502
Pledged by UKSPF: £5,000
Number of people who backed this project: 55
Location: Pelsall
Project Delivered: This project is still in the delivery stage. However as soon as the uplighters infrastructure is in place, POPRS will be hosting a launch event of the lights and arranging a schedule of community events to host events /activities /sessions by the uplighters. To date, two spotlights have been replaced with new lights facing the Cenotaph and the Clock in Pelsall.
Brain Tech
Organisation: The Big Happiness Experiment CIC
Description: The project will build and pilot “BrainTech” – a men’s mental health and wellbeing app. This app will provide early intervention and support for Men of all ages in Walsall. The BrainTech App will focus on subjects including past trauma, reacting to challenges, keeping calm in moments of stress, daily mental and physical routines, selfcalming techniques, dealing with anxiety etc. The organisation will do extensive research with stakeholders and communities to ensure the app is fit for purpose and the right support is being provided.
Final total raised: £9,151
Pledged by MMHWF: £5,000
Number of people who backed this project: 58
Location: Aldridge Central and South
Wellbeing measures expected to record: WEMWEBS
Planned Delivery: Expected Number of Participants: 20 male Walsall residents to test and research the app and The Big Happiness Experiment to support these users with their mental health during this process.
One Brain Tech new Application to support men’s mental health 24/7
Fish On!
Organisation: Bostin Creative Arts and Theatre C.I.C (in partnership with YouTubers –Snagged Bro).
Description: The overall aim of the ‘Fish on!’ Project is to work with men facing unique challenges/ barriers. The group will embark upon an angling journey; given the space to connect to nature and to reach out to one another. Focus, frustration, determination, disappointment, elation... It's all in a day’s fishing. Snagged Bro want to capture this journey on film, celebrate the story of each member, get men talking and mobilise a new angling initiative in the heart of Walsall. This project will also utilise local green spaces and fishing spots in the borough.
Final total raised: £9,842
Pledged by MMHWF: £3,123
Pledged by TIF: £3,123
Number of people who backed this project: 63
Location: Various
Wellbeing measures expected to record: WHO-5
Planned Delivery: Expected Number of Participants: 10 male Walsall residents to be involved in the fishing and videoing sessions. Plus an additional 200 people to attend a premiere of the created film, to raise awareness of men’s mental health.
Expected number of Sessions: 5 Planned sessions: (i) introduction meeting, (ii) first fishing & filming trip, (iii) second fishing & filming trip, (iv) participant celebration meal and You tube preview release and (v) full video premiere. Plus all 10 members to have a 12-month fishing license permit and equipment.
Veterans Being Well In Walsall
Organisation: Short Heath Lest We Forget CIC
Description: Through this project Short Heath Lest We Forget aims to train volunteers and stakeholders in supporting male veterans and their carers with their physical and emotional health to enhance their quality of life for more of the time. The project will work with veterans on developing a supportive community through a variety of mediums online, face to face and social events within the wider Walsall community. By delivering and facilitating meaningful activities the project aim to encourage social interaction, share experiences, learn new skills and build lasting connections for the veterans and their close contacts.
Final total raised: £5,466
Pledged by MMHWF: £3,774
Number of people who backed this project: 37
Location: Short Heath
Wellbeing measures expected to record: WHO 5 and ONS 4
Planned Delivery: Expected Number of Participants: 10 Walsall male residents on the supervised activity sessions and 10 people on the volunteer/ stakeholder sessions. A total of 20 people.
Expected number of Sessions: 12 supervised activity sessions for veterans and their families and 8 sessions for volunteers/ stakeholders – a total of 20 sessions.
Men’s Retreat – Mettamindkind
Organisation: Mettaminds CIC and MindKind
Description: This project is a men's residential weekend retreat that explores wellbeing, mental health and promoting self-care aimed at those unable to access such a resource due to barriers such as funding and opportunity. Utilising skilled practitioners including a Mental Health Social Worker, participants will be introduced to wellbeing resilience building activities such as yoga, tai-chi, breathwork, healthy eating and accessing nature for wellbeing. These are alongside facilitated group sessions/peer support and one to one discussion around limiting beliefs, emotional regulation, goal setting and purpose.
A documentary will be filmed that will be used as a mental wellbeing resource to reduce stigma felt by men when it comes to mental health and wellbeing.
Final total raised: £6,525
Pledged by MMHWF: £5,000
Number of people who backed this project: 25
Location: Paddock
Wellbeing measures expected to record: WHO-5
Planned Delivery: 10 – 12 Walsall male residents are expected to attend the weekend retreat, plus a further 6 support sessions post retreat.
Mind Body and Goal
Organisation: Walsall Football Club Foundation
Description:
The project aims to bring men together to play and attend football events. It will offer men a positive focus benefitting both their mental and physical health as well as social interaction. The basis for the project is to provide men with the chance to play football every week and meet new people. They will also provide match day visits for men to Walsall FC games, to give them a positive event to look forward to.
Final total raised: £8,317
Pledged by MMHWF: £4,766
Number of people who backed this project: 23
Location: Palfrey, Bescot
Wellbeing measures expected to record: WHO-5
Planned Delivery: 16 Walsall male participants to attend the weekly football sessions. And up to 40 people to attend the match day events.
27 weekly sessions of football matches, plus three match day events.
Three community capital investment projects
Grow to Donate
Organisation: London Midland Railway Club Association (LMRCA) - Walsall
Description: This project have received their funding and have transformed some disused space into a community allotment within the grounds of LMRCA. This community allotment will serve the local community and school children. Volunteers have started to educate local school children on how to grow healthy and sustainable food sources. The food grown will then be distributed to the most vulnerable and underprivileged residents of the borough. Volunteers will be encouraged to get active whilst maintaining the community allotment and receive other support such as referrals to the walking football team within the club.
Final total raised: £11,545
Pledged by Town CCIF: £4,590
Pledged by TIF: £4,580
Number of people who backed this project: 22
Location: Palfrey
Planned Delivery: Expected Capital/equipment work: This work has already taken place – disused land has been converted into a community allotment with secure fencing, vegetable beds, shed and gardening tools.
Learner assisted outcomes: 5 volunteers will be receiving defibrillator, first aid, health and safety, and safeguarding & welfare training.
Tackling Inactivity Sessions: The school children have already started attending organised allotment sessions learning about the food and started to plant seeds. It is expected circa 200 children will attend before the end of the year.
Lets Get Walsall Games Fit
Organisation: West Midlands Sports Development CIC
Description: This organisation has started converting an unused warehouse in the centre of Walsall into an interactive sports, fitness and entertainment play centre. Using high powered projectors and sensors, they aim to create a learning and fitness zone that will deliver programmes to all ages; early learning, children and young people, adults and elders. The project wants to create a warm and welcoming space for local people to meet, have fun and get fit and healthy in.
Final total raised: £33,114
Pledged by Town CCIF: £20,000
Pledged by TIF: £5,000
Number of people who backed this project: 162
Location: Pleck
Planned Delivery: Expected Capital/ equipment work: Renovate a disused warehouse, works include: cabling, installing sensory lighting, fire safety, decorating, installing accessibility ramp/lift, creating and renovating separate games areas, renovating and making bathroom accessible, widening of doors for wheelchair use - accessible for all.
Once the renovations have been completed - the organisation will deliver a number of interactive sessions, to improve residents activity levels.
Learner assisted outcomes: 3 funded places for apprenticeships (12-18 months).
Bounce into Employment
Organisation: Bounce Back Skills CIC
Description: Bounce back skills CIC will obtain equipment that will allow them to further develop workshops and training. The sessions they are providing will be centred on employability skills development for the Health and Social care sector. The aim is to then help more people into employment, increasing their opportunities and improving their financial situations.
Final total raised: £11,360
Pledged by Town CCIF: £9,473
Number of people who backed this project:
25
Location: Goscote North and Harden South East
Planned Delivery: Expected Capital/equipment work: Equipment to enhance training delivery, including tablets, laptops, Hoists, Hospital beds and Resusci-Annie props.
Learner assisted outcomes: training 25 learners in health and social care.
Appendix 3 – Case study
Mossley Community Connections CIC
Case study for Mossley Community Connections CIC by NH
This project has helped me build my confidence and helped me achieve something I’ve always wanted to do, join a group and make new friends. It has really boosted my mental health by doing something way out of my comfort zone, it has given me some confidence in moving forward.
There are many examples on how this has helped. It gets me out of the house even if its once a week, I’ve met up with old friends and made some new friends too. I started with doing the BSL group and loved learning it. It gives me a focus and a purpose on getting out just for that one day.
Since joining the MCC groups my confidence is getting better and I am more open to ideas about joining other groups and I have even asked Sarah and Alex if I can volunteer with in MCC. As a result of these groups I have felt less lonely while talking to my new friends it has made me realise that I’m not the only one suffering from mental health.
To help me carry on with these new life changes I’d like to see these groups carry
on and spread across the Walsall area to help others like me. I’d like to see different groups and other opportunities like training that can help me seek employment when I’m ready to do so. I’m looking forward to volunteering and learning more about setting up and running different groups.
Through stress I have suffered with other health problems and these sessions have made me feel more healthy and confident. I now have something to get up for and look forward to each week. Because these groups are free it has also helped many like me as the we are all going through the cost of living crisis and I know at times I haven’t got the extra money for groups. Over the last few months my confidence has grown and I’m feeling more confident in my everyday life.
MCC has signposted me to other groups and not just groups they run but other groups on the Mossley Estate. They have encouraged me to try these groups and with some of the volunteers that I know are volunteering at these groups it made me feel more comfortable joining and attending. Sarah and Alex and a few other volunteers are always there on hand with encouragement, and I know if I needed to be signposted to anything else they would help me. I am now wanting to do more things and get out more all thanks to MCC.
This project is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukshared-prosperity-fund-prospectus
Appendix 4 – Case study Walsall Tool Shack Case Study
This case study explores the experiences of an individual named P, who is over the age of 65, and his interaction with Walsall Tool Shack. P’s decision to hire a pressure washer for the first time to clean his patio and patio furniture provides insightful observations on how community resources can facilitate physical activity and skill acquisition in older adults.
Background:
P, a retiree with no prior experience in using high-powered cleaning tools, found himself intrigued by the prospect of revitalizing the look of his outdoor living space. Living in a community where DIY culture is encouraged, P discovered Walsall Tool Shack, a service that lends tools to community members. Motivated by the desire to maintain his home and engage in physical activity, he decided to hire a pressure washer via the online booking platform.
Engagement with Walsall Tool Shack
Walsall Tool Shack operates with the aim of making tools accessible to the community, thereby fostering a culture of learning and self-reliance. By offering a range of tools for hire, it encourages individuals of all ages to undertake projects that they might not have otherwise considered due to the cost or lack of access to necessary equipment.
P’s interaction with Walsall Tool Shack was straightforward and supportive. The staff provided him with a detailed orientation on how to use the pressure washer safely and effectively, which was crucial for P as a firsttime user. This initial engagement was not only about the physical act of borrowing a tool but also involved learning about the equipment, understanding its functionality, and safety precautions.
Physical Activity and Skill Acquisition
The task of cleaning his patio and furniture with the pressure washer turned out to be both a physical and cognitive challenge for P. Physically, the task required him to be on his feet, move around, and handle the equipment,
which contributed to his daily physical activity. This activity is particularly significant for individuals over the age of 65, as maintaining physical activity is essential for overall health and well-being.
Cognitively, P had to learn how to operate the pressure washer, adjust its settings based on the cleaning task, and apply problemsolving skills to remove stubborn stains and dirt. The process of learning to use a new tool effectively demonstrated that age is not a barrier to acquiring new skills. Furthermore, the satisfaction of seeing the immediate results of his work provided P with a sense of accomplishment and boosted his confidence in taking on similar projects in the future.
Conclusion
P’s experience with Walsall Tool Shack highlights the value of community resources in promoting active living and lifelong learning among older adults. By engaging with the service, P not only beautified his home environment but also embraced the opportunity to remain physically active and mentally sharp through the learning of new skills.
This project is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus
Contact details
To find out more about Crowdfund Walsall please use the various channels available:
Microsite: https://www.spacehive.com/movement/crowdfund-walsall
Email: crowdfundwalsall@walsall.gov.uk
Follow us on social media:
Facebook: @CrowdfundWalsall
X (Twitter): @funding2Walsall
Key Crowdfund Walsall contacts within The External Funding Team:
Amanda Spratt, Programme Manager Katrina Williams, Funding Projects Officer, Sarah Timperley, Programme Compliance Officer
This project is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperityfund-prospectus
The Town Deals programme aims to regenerate towns and deliver long-term economic and productivity growth. This is through investments in urban regeneration, digital and physical connectivity, skills, heritage and enterprise infrastructure. As of July 2021, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have offered Town Deals to all 101 places that submitted proposals, committing over £2.35bn of investment across c.700 projects nationwide. See the press releases associated with Town Deals on gov.uk https://www.gov.uk/government/ collections/towns-fund