Spacehive is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

-based

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

platform for projects aimed at improving local civic and community spaces.

Overview

According to the company's website, Spacehive's mission is to "empower people to make their local area better". As of October 2018, Spacehive has been used to crowdfund 500 projects worth over £10 million including the Camden Highline, a giant water slide down a high street in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, the revival of Peckham Lido in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and a community centre in the deprived ex-mining town of Glyncoch,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Spacehive was launched in 2012 by Chris Gourlay, a former Sunday Times journalist who specialised in architecture and planning stories. Supported by the Big Lottery Fund and a mix of private and social investors, the

social business Social business was defined by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and is described in his books. In these books, Yunus defined a social business as a business: * Created and designed to address a social problem * A non-loss, n ...

maximises sources of funding for projects by allowing cash raised locally to be combined with grant funding streams available for civic projects from government, foundations and businesses. Backers of projects are only charged if the funding target is reached. Project creators can apply for grants via the platform at the same time as crowdfunding. They can also request in-kind contributions towards the cost of the project. Each project is verified by partner organisation Locality to ensure its viability before it starts funding. According to the company, the average success rate for fundraising campaigns on Spacehive is 52%, whilst projects that secure just 10% of their funding target have a 79% success rate. In addition to its service for project creators, Spacehive provides specialised software and support services to help councils, companies, and foundations that it partners with to fund projects alongside the crowd and to measure their social impact. Spacehive's partners include the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

, Manchester City Council, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, GLL, and Veolia. Spacehive projects have attracted significant press coverage in the UK and internationally. Notable supporters of Spacehive projects include the actress Joanna Lumley, broadcaster Kevin McCloud, the comedian

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

, the actor James Norton, and the

Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...

Awards

*Global Urban Innovator, 2016 - New Cities Foundation * Big Society Award -

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

*Winner, Big Venture Challenge - UnLtd *Top 50, New Radicals 2014 - Nesta

References

External links

* {{Crowdfunding platforms Crowdfunding platforms of the United Kingdom Social enterprises Internet properties established in 2012 Companies based in London