For Circus Eruption, a youth charity in Swansea (pictured right), Crowdfund Wales has made a huge difference: “It has transformed our online fundraising, we have raised far more money than we have ever before online. The platform is also excellent and intuitive and as a small charity we feel that Localgiving really works FOR us, and exists to support and amplify what we do, rather than to take at cut, as it can sometimes feel with other sites.
Whilst in West Wales, the Friends of the Pembroke Dock Memorial Park have received major rewards: “The support has been flawless and great. Without Localgiving, we would not have had the confidence to succeed in our plans. It has been great for us as a charity because we have been able to raise income through a website that is specifically for charities. This has given us credibility and confidence to be far reaching.”
Speaking on the hitting of this £2m funding landmark, Lauren Swain, Localgiving’s Wales National Manager, commented: “I have had the privilege of running the Wales programme since its launch, in 2016, and it has been inspiring to see the organisations flourish as they engage in the free support. I have really enjoyed helping them raise the funding they desperately need to help their communities. I think the success of the programme over so many years is largely down to there really being a need for this type of support in Wales, especially the 1:1 training that even the most rural members could access. A number of the organisations I work with have never had the means to ask for donations online before and some had never had donations from individuals either. These are vital forms of unrestricted income and, particularly during lockdowns, helped many charitable organisations to survive!”
