Santander renews partnership with Crowdfunder to support ‘innovative’ businesses

Santander has announced that it is renewing its partnership with Crowdfunder to provide additional funding for social enterprises and community projects across the UK.

The bank has allocated an additional £200k to a second phase of the Santander Changemaker Fund following a pilot.

Projects looking to support social change and who meet the criteria can present their ideas on the Crowdfunder website and unlock matched funding if the crowd support their ideas.

The Changemaker Fund is open to eligible projects seeking funds of up to £20k and focus on skills, knowledge and innovation. The projects that get the crowd’s backing will receive 50% of their funding requirement from Santander.

The Fund has provided nearly £200k to 33 projects to date, supporting projects all over the UK. Among the projects are Change Please in London, which provides training for homeless people to become baristas, Chocolate Worx, a chocolate-maker in Devon that employs disabled people, and Curiosity Café, which builds confidence for dementia-sufferers in Northumberland.

Phil Geraghty, managing director of Crowdfunder, said: “We have seen an incredible interest in the Changemaker Fund on our platform and are thrilled to be able to continue the partnership with Santander.

“We hope to help innovative businesses make great things happen, and this additional funding contributes a great deal towards that aim and opens up powerful opportunities between the banking sector and the next generation of ‘changemakers’.”

Sue Douthwaite, managing director of Santander Business Banking, added: “At Santander supporting the communities in which we operate is integral to our purpose to help people and businesses prosper.

“The Changemaker Fund has helped bring some great ideas to life and enabled social enterprises and community ventures to grow. We are delighted to announce we are continuing our partnership with Crowdfunder and hope the extra funding will make a difference to even more lives across the UK.”

The Changemaker Fund is part of Santander’s flagship community programme, The Discovery Project, which works on projects that build skills, grow knowledge and support innovation.

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