We are delighted to have distributed £92,000 in grant funding to 184 groups in the first round of our Magic Little Grants Fund 2019.   This round has seen us support a wide range of local organisations across Great Britain including walking groups, wheelchair basketball teams, swimming clubs and many more!   Our Magic Little Grants, funded by Postcode Community Trust, are open to local charities and community groups in Great Britain that support and inspire people to participate in sports or exercise.   As well as receiving a £500 Magic Little Grant, successful organisations that are new to Localgiving will also be given a free annual membership with Localgiving worth £96. Applicants for Magic Little Grants must either be in their first year of operation or have an annual income under £250,000. Preference will be given to projects that encourage social cohesion and help vulnerable people to overcome barriers to participation in physical activities. The deadline for applications for Magic Little Grants 2019 is midnight on 30th November 2019. Find out more and apply HERE.        

This year’s Local Hero campaign came to a thrilling end at the stroke of midnight on 30th April 2019. Thank you to every fundraiser, group and donor who participated in this year’s Local Hero campaign. A particular congratulations must go to those fundraisers who made it onto our hallowed Local Hero leaderboard. Your incredible effort, creativity and generosity made this our most successful Local Hero campaign to date.During the month of April, 453 fundraisers raised £160k from 6,261 donors for 209 local groups.After a nail-biting finish, we are delighted to announce Ben Kane as our Local Hero champion 2019. Ben secured a phenomenal 218 donations worth £10K for Park In The Past Community Interest Company, plus an extra £1000 in prize money. Ben, a Best-Selling historical-fiction author, used the competition to bring his passion for the Roman Empire to life. Ben Kane walked the length of Hadrian's wall in full centurion attire, accompanied by his 12 year old son. The author secured an incredible 218 unique donations for his walk, raising over £10k including £1000 in prize money for Park in the Past CIC. Local Hero Champion 2019, Ben Kane, said: "I've been interested in the idea of Park in the Past ever since hearing about it.The idea of a living Roman museum, the likes of which does not exist in the UK, is absolutely thrilling, and I intend to do everything in my power to make sure it becomes a reality. I really enjoyed taking part in the Local Hero competition and I hope that the money raised in April will go a long way to achieving this dream". Park in the Past said: “Localgiving and their superb initiative Local Hero has made a really big difference to our heritage project, Park in the Past. Sunday Times Award winning author Ben Kane has walked Hadrian's Wall with his 12 year old son Ferdia to highlight what we are aiming to achieve on our 120 acre site in North Wales creating a huge amount of interest and money in the process. The funds from Local Hero will make a big impact this year as we continue building a full size Roman fort and Celtic village using authentic construction techniques and materials. Ben is a real life hero having raised tens of thousands of pounds to date. His boundless enthusiasm and determination with the help of the Localgiving team will enable us to turn our vision into a extraordinary reality for everyone to enjoy as they step back to a land lost in time!" Another £4,000 in prizes have been awarded to the causes supported by the other top 19 fundraisers. Nathan S who finished in third place, securing a £500 prize for Safe Families for Children Wales, said: “I really enjoyed pushing myself, and knowing that my efforts were not only for my personal gain, but had helped secure important finances for a small volunteer led charity I found it enjoyable getting on the leaderboard early which spurred me on to encourage more people to donate and help secure additional prize money funding for the charity". You can read a full interview with Nathan about his Local Hero 2019 experience here.

Hi there, I’m Simi, Junior Web Developer at Localgiving. We have been working on making improvements to our Search Interface. We’ve thought very carefully about how to improve the way our users will interact with the platform on both desktop and mobile devices.   You can now search from the home page and you will be taken straight to the new search page where you’ll immediately find the results. This will save you the time it would take to navigate to different pages. You can see all the results neatly packed in the sidebar of the page while still having a full view of the map. Your results will be split between 4 tabs located at the top of the sidebar (similar to the old search interface). From here you can navigate to the charity page or make donations directly to your charity of choice.  To get a better view of where charities are on the map you can use the orange arrow button by the side of the sidebar to toggle the search results siderbar open and close. Results can be narrowed down by area and causes using the filters tab. We always want to provide our users with the best experience on Localgiving. We are therefore looking forward to getting feedback from you so that we can continue to improve the site!   

Hi, I’m Alex from Localgiving's Development Team. I’m delighted to announce a series of major updates and improvements to our fundraising product. Sometimes you need more than just a new lick of paint. This is why we’ve looked at our current fundraising pages and thought hard how we could make these pages more feature rich, easier to use and more pleasing to look at from various devices, desktop to mobile. We hope that this will help local charities and their fundraisers to better engage donors - bringing in more funding for local causes across the UK. These changes will provide a better user experience both for fundraisers and their supporters - improving both functionality, design and putting more control in the hands of fundraisers. This marks a significant upgrade to Localgiving’s core product and helps us stand out as a forward looking, value for money fundraising platform. Here are just some of the improvements we’ve made to the fundraising pages, hope you’ll like them: Fresh, friendly and accessible design Quick sign up process where you can save and come back to finish it at any time Tips at each stage to help you maximise the impact of your fundraising page Integrated social media buttons to improve communication with supporters Intuitive user interface and fundraiser page layout Ability to upload videos and up to 8 images Ability to send updates to your supporters through images and videos Optimised for smartphones and tablets Ability to choose from a range of set events or input your own activity   We hope that these improvements not only provide our valued fundraisers with a more enjoyable experience, but ultimately help them bring in even more donations for our groups. We look forward to hearing your feedback soon!

  Localgiving ambassador, Bright Light Bright Light has announced that he will be supporting seven Localgiving groups during his tour of the UK in September. Welsh born electro-pop musician, Rod Thomas (AKA Bright Light Bright Light), known for his work with Elton John, Erasure and his stunning performance on the Graham Norton Show, has always been passionate about supporting small, local charities. As an independent artist, Rod feels a real affinity with grassroots organisations. He sees his tour as an excellent opportunity both to bring in funds and raise the profile of his chosen causes. As Rod explained: “The best thing about touring is engaging with local communities and the people who try to make a difference within them. I worked with Lewis Garland of Localgiving to find charities in each city on the tour so that I could raise awareness of their fantastic work and help them out with donation collections at each of the shows. These charities are working hard to address issues where they live and make a real difference, and I want to do everything I can to help them.” Rod has chosen one Localgiving member to support for each of his upcoming tour dates. 20th Leeds : RETAS 23rd Bristol : Borderlands 24th Cardiff: Pride Cymru 25th Manchester: The Proud Trust 27th Glasgow : Theatre Nemo 28th Birmingham : Aston Performing Arts Academy  29th London: Gendered Intelligence For each date, Rod handpicked Localgiving causes that were both close to the venue and close to his heart – these include LGBTQI+ groups, refugee focussed charities and arts organisations.  There are two ways you can donate to his causes: Donate online by clicking on the charity name listed above (this will also give you the option of adding GiftAid). Remember to let us the group know you're a Bright Light Bright Light fan in the comments box! Make a cash donation at one of Bright Light Bright Light’s tour dates (Book tickets here) In the clip below Bright Light Bright Light explains why he feels supporting local charities is so important.  Found this blog interesting? You may also enjoy: Shining a Bright Light on Local Charities Fight for the right of LGBTQI asylum seekers

In our Local Charity and Community Group Sustainability Report 2017/18 we stated that new Civil Society Strategy and the consultations leading up to it represented a “real opportunity to identify the key needs of the local voluntary sector and to begin to develop the informed, substantive support programmes necessary to help local charities sustain themselves and flourish”. We are encouraged by the government’s recognition of the vital role that local charities and community groups play, and will continue to play, in tackling our society’s most pressing issues. We are pleased to see this strategy addressing many of the concerns and recommendations we have highlighted in our reports. It is positive to see the government directly recognising the importance of ‘place’. Societal issues manifest themselves differently in different communities. It is therefore essential that ‘local players’ are involved in the decisions that will affect them in a meaningful way. We are particularly interested in seeing how the government will go about stimulating cross-sector collaboration at the local level. The need for digital upskilling is rightfully at the heart of the strategy. While there have undoubtedly been strides forward in recent years, local charities and community groups continue to lag behind in this area. This strategy recognises the role that technology can play in reducing the considerable funding disparity between large and small organisations.  We are aware of the important role we can play in this upskilling process and in helping to build a better resourced, more efficient and more effective local voluntary sector. It is also pleasing to see the government seeking to alleviate the fears that many of our members have voiced about campaigning and publicly advocating for the needs of their beneficiaries.This having been said, the strategy could have gone further by revising the Lobbying Act and ending the use of anti-advocacy clauses. Local groups are uniquely positioned to understand the impact of economic changes and political decisions on the ground - it is vital that this knowledge is used to inform policy. This strategy certainly gives us grounds for optimism. However, its true value will only be seen when words become actions. Of course, the success of this strategy will ultimately rely on the government providing the sector with adequate, timely, and appropriately channeled resources. We look forward to working alongside the government to implement this strategy and where necessary holding them to account.  

Over the last year, the UK's impending exit from the European Union has had a significant impact upon the organisations working at a grassroots level to support their communities. However, the impact of Brexit is yet to be understood. Localgiving’s 2017/18 Local Charity and Community Group Sustainability Report highlights the uncertainty and fear of negative consequences of those working in the charity sector in Northern Ireland. Each year our report provides a snapshot of the local voluntary sector in the United Kingdom, highlighting both the unique value of local charities and the key challenges they face. Now in its third year, this report demonstrates the widespread uncertainty about the impact of Brexit on the local voluntary sector across the United Kingdom, with only 2% of organisations in the UK feeling that Brexit will have a positive impact on their organisation. The report, however, shows deeper concerns are particularly prevalent among charitable groups in Northern Ireland where there is widespread uncertainty about Brexit’s implications: ‘Derry is border city. Our whole community will be impacted by Brexit as we will become isolated. This will impact our service users, all of which lived through the closed borders of the troubles. The uncertainty for the future adds to the stress our service users experience. And we will not be able to access EU funding and the other opportunities being in the EU brings’ - Anonymous Charity Respondent 64% of Northern Irish respondents to our survey believed Brexit would have a negative financial impact compared to an average of 24% across the whole UK. What is particularly alarming is the fact that no groups in Northern Ireland believed Brexit would have a positive financial impact. In terms of future service delivery to the Northern Irish public, the results were equally disheartening. 50% of groups said Brexit will have a negative impact on services they can provide, and again no groups saw Brexit as having any positive effect on service delivery. ‘Our organisation operates in Armagh city and surrounding area, regarded as a border town. Some of our members and those who attend our events come from the nearby town of Monaghan. After Brexit, this will mean that they will have to leave the EU to attend events and classes and vice-versa. We believe that there can only be a detrimental effect to the organisation as it may lead to a decrease in cross-border activities. While our organisation was never in receipt of funding directly from Europe, we believe that funding will now be refocused along the line of the European frontier. It will, therefore, become harder to source funding from the south of Ireland’. - Anonymous Charity Respondent As Localgiving’s report highlights the decision for the UK to leave the EU, compounded by the fragile political situation in Northern Ireland, has created an atmosphere of concern and uncertainty across civil society. ‘The potential impact of Brexit on groups in Northern Ireland is a major concern. Local charities and community groups have a unique, in-depth understanding of their communities. It is absolutely essential that the voices of civil society groups in Northern Ireland, particularly those representing border communities, are carefully listened to, and used to inform key decisions’’. - Lewis Garland, Localgiving 2017/2018 Local Charity and Community Group Sustainability Report Author What is clear is that there is increased strain on future service provision and anxiety about future funding streams across the third sector in Northern Ireland. Given the suspension of the Executive at Stormont, it is imperative that the European, British, and Irish governments, and Northern Ireland’s political parties, work to allay the fears disclosed by Northern Irish civil society in this report. Conor Kelly is the Localgiving Training & Development Manager based in our London office. You can download the Localgiving 2017/18 Local Charity and Community Group Sustainability Report here.  

Walking into the office of the Community Foundation of Northern Ireland in July 2015 was nerve wracking enough but made worse with the knowledge that this was no ordinary first day. After the usual flurry of names that come with the first day in any new job, I was being sent off to the airport and a flight to London to meet the staff in our London Localgiving HQ. From there, it feels like it has been a whirlwind ever since! In my first week of working for Localgiving, the very first group that signed up was the Aisling Centre, a counselling charity in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. Supporters of the centre were engaging in a poignant and bittersweet fundraising campaign in memory of a young man from the town. I am not sure if it was because it was my first campaign to work on, or whether it was the passion and love behind the cause, but the name and memory of the young man will always be with me. It was very quickly apparent that this was a job like no other! The group has gone on to raise over £13,000 through Localgiving, which is fantastic! I have relished getting out and meeting our groups, getting to know their work and figuring out how we can support them in their fundraising activities. No day was ever the same and no group had the same needs. I have loved it. From the community transport organisations helping elderly ladies get their weekly shopping done; children’s charities offering teenagers a safe space to find themselves; music and art centres who open their doors and make art accessible to all; women’s centres who literally save lives to sports groups who thrive at the centre of communities. Each one has been different and yet all facing the uncertainties that come with the vulnerable community and voluntary sector, especially here in Northern Ireland. I discovered that although Northern Ireland has one of the most experienced and relied upon charitable sectors in the UK, many groups are heavily reliant on grants and aid from government bodies. This has posed a massive threat on a number of the organisations we worked with and unfortunately, a number were forced to close despite even the most valiant fundraising efforts. One of which was the Carrick Women’s Centre. I had been working alongside their volunteers for over a year and the work they engaged in was so vital and had such an impact that I even sent my mother down to them to volunteer as their reflexologist. I will always be so disappointed that they had to close their doors due to funding pressures. In the middle of my time with Localgiving, some will know I went off and had a baby, a little boy called Alfie. The first Localgiving baby as far as I have been told. It meant that I came back and was able to see the work of some of our parenting organisation members like Parenting NI and Parent Action in a whole new light. During my maternity leave, I was replaced by another wonderful Coordinator, Nicola Hanna. Nicola was just as passionate about the groups we work with as I was and she brought a whole new dimension to the role. In total the Localgiving project in Northern Ireland has helped so many organisations in the three years it has been piloted here. It has delivered dozens of training projects and hundreds of one-to-one help sessions. We have encouraged and supported the marathon runners, the people who jump out of planes, skate round rinks for hours, climb stairs over and over, walk for miles, stay quiet all day and even the amazing lady who swam the channel between Africa and Europe! I am forever grateful to our members who taught me so much about passion and commitment to a cause. I hope that those I have engaged with in my role have and will continue to see the benefit of the Localgiving platform. In my eyes, it is the only donations platform that has a heart for the work it’s raising money for. Thankfully, this doesn’t mean that groups in Northern Ireland who are currently members of Localgiving or future members will not receive support, fundraising help and access to match funding campaigns. Support will be provided by our brilliant helpdesk staff who can be reached on 0300 111 2340 or by email help@localgiving.org. Found this blog post useful? You may also like:     A volunteers view: Supporting groups in the West of England How the Cardiff Half Marathon is helping our groups in Wales   

On Thursday 20th July, Marcelle Speller, the founder and chair of the Localgiving Foundation, stepped down after 9 years’ service. We are grateful to Marcelle for her incredible vision in setting up Localgiving, the only fundraising platform dedicated to supporting local charities and community groups in the UK, and for her unceasing passion for the local charity sector. The Foundation has appointed Tom Latchford as the new chair. Tom has helped raise tens of millions of pounds for charities online as founder of Raising IT, which is the UK market leader for websites and fundraising tools for the third sector. He will be bringing his experience, passion and philanthropic pedigree to help more local charities grow. We are excited about this new chapter. We will continue to provide our services and programmes including match fund campaigns, regional development programmes and advocacy work. Looking forward, Localgiving and Raising IT will work closely together to create new, high quality products and services for our members. Should you have any questions please get in touch with the Localgiving help desk who will be glad to help.    

At the end of June Localgiving’s North West Regional Development Programme, funded and supported by the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, will be coming to an end. This programme supported local charities who are engaged in projects which benefit the environment, or help people to engage with the natural world. Eligible charities have received a free membership to Localgiving, ongoing one-to-one support in their online fundraising activities, and up to £500 of the money they raised online was matched through funding provided by the People’s Postcode Lottery and their players. By 22nd June, 69 charities in the region were online and receiving support from Localgiving, and have raised a fantastic £103,216.15! This is money that will make a real difference to the charities supported, and the 1,000s of people they support and work with on a daily basis. To celebrate these charities and their achievements, here are some of their stories, and what they have done with their donations. Transition New Mills Transition New Mills are a community group who look to run a range of projects in New Mills and the surrounding area, which will preserve and conserve the local environment, and reduce reliance on carbon emitting power sources. They told us that, thanks to the funds raised and matched, ”New Mills Primary School now has an outdoor classroom and children are sowing and germinating seeds, growing produce and then either eating what they have grown, or ‘up-selling’ it to allow them to buy more seeds and plants the following year. For many children, it is the first time they have done anything like this and the children are so excited by it. The school in question are now looking to expand upon this and are fundraising themselves to try and build a purpose built poly tunnel so that they can grow all year round. Other schools in the area are so impressed that they are looking to build their own outside classrooms too. The whole project has been brilliant.”    The outdoor classroom at New Mills Primary School, paid for by donations from the public and match funds from the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.   Salford Foodbank Salford Foodbank provides emergency food and support to people in moments of crisis, using food donated by members of the public and by local businesses. Thanks to support from Localgiving, they have been able to raise over £9,000 in online donations from more than 300 donors. Donations have been used to help pay for core running costs (which charities often find hard to fund), as well as in expanding the space available for donations of food, so the Salford Foodbank can stock more food and support more people in crisis. Mark from Salford Foodbank said “We have been delighted with the training and support given by Local Giving. Attending training sessions, together with 1-2-1 support has been invaluable for our charity as it is helping more people than ever.   Salford Foodbank advertising fundraising opportunities in the Great Manchester Run.  Fundraiser Gary training for the Great Manchester Run           Rotunda Ltd Rotunda are a community organisation based in Liverpool, who run a number training, educational and vocational courses for over 2,000 local people in the city. Rotunda had never tried online fundraising before, but have been able to raise £3,404 in donations through Localgiving. They have used these funds to “purchase a piece of land to be used as a community green space, the ‘Kirkdale Folly’, which also includes a green gym and piece of public artwork (the ‘Folly’) that was commissioned when Liverpool was the UK Capital of Culture. We’re planning to develop this green space to include an arts and wellbeing pavilion, helping a wide range of people in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the UK.   Rotunda’s Garden Café, where users grow the food they then cook and eat! The Kirkdale Folly green space bought by Rotunda.     The programme in the North West is now coming to a close, but we run similar programmes in Wales, Northern Ireland, London, and the West of England. A huge thank you to the charities and donors who took part in the programme, and to the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery who funded it. All that remains is for me to say goodbye. Goodbye! Found this blog post useful? You may also like:    7 digital tactics for small charities in volatile times       How Charities can tap into the hyperlocal by Zoe Amar The Power of the Twitter Hour by Richard Barker 4 Steps to the perfect charity Video