Cotswold DC

This award is open to a single council or where appropriate a partnership of councils, or a council-owned company. Private sector partners can enter on a council’s behalf, with the permission of the council itself. Many councils are seeking to establish a new relationship with local people and local communities. Community involvement and engagement is increasingly important as a way of shaping council thinking, contributing to service design and improvement and to responding to continuing resource pressures. It may also involve direct community involvement in service delivery. This award is intended to showcase the whole range of community involvement.

“It’s been heart-warming to have had such great support from the community” and “we're overwhelmed with the support from the community and Cotswold DC” was just two of the great pieces of feedback we received in response to introducing a more accessible and transparent approach to community-giving. Crowdfund Cotswold, our online crowdfunding platform, has raised an amazing £296,891 of funding from 1,288 backers, supporting 19 community-led projects – and that is just in year one. Projects from £40k for youth wellbeing, to under £2k to create a wildflower area have all gained local support and premium funding for taking council priorities.