Category Archives: Crowdfunding

Cash-strapped London council starts crowdfunding drive to pay for green upgrades

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Southwark asks residents to invest as little as £5 to help fund eco-projects such as cycle hangars and school upgrades

Deep cuts to government funding have led a council in south London to ask its residents to invest their own money, for a financial return, to build cycle hangars, new LED street lighting and green upgrades at schools and leisure centres.

In the midst of a financial crisis hitting town halls across England, councillors in Southwark have resorted to a crowdfunding scheme to raise £6m over the next six years to help fund climate-friendly projects.

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Europe’s oldest student newspaper saved from closure

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More than £3,000 raised to keep the Student – founded in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson at Edinburgh University – going

The oldest student newspaper in Europe has been saved from closure after its volunteer staff raised more than £3,000 in emergency crowdfunding.

A free newspaper, the Student was founded at the University of Edinburgh in 1887 by the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped, who served as its first arts editor.

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Medical crowdfunders for Britons surge amid record NHS waiting lists

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Appeals to pay for private care linked to waiting lists or cost of living crisis have soared since Covid pandemic

The number of Britons crowdfunding for private medical care has soared since the Covid-19 pandemic, as NHS waiting lists continue to reach record lengths.

Figures provided to the Guardian by GoFundMe, a website that helps people raise money, show 84% more medical crowdfunders mentioning “waits” or “waiting lists” were launched this March than in January 2019, before the pandemic.

The number of medical campaigns containing the words “go private” or “privately” had also doubled.

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Ukraine crowdfunding raises almost $10m in 24 hours to buy kamikaze drones

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Money raised after wave of Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities on Monday will be used to support army

A crowdfunding appeal that was launched after Russian attacks on cities across the country on Monday has raised $9.6m (£8.7m) in 24 hours for the purchase of kamikaze drones for the Ukrainian armed forces.

An initial 50 Ram II drones, unmanned aerial vehicles with a 3kg explosive payload, designed and built by Ukrainian companies, will be bought with the money, along with three control stations.

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Ottawa protesters turn to Christian crowdfunding site after GoFundMe snub

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GoFundMe blocked fundraising after Canadian city declared emergency over protests against vaccine mandates

A trucker-led protest against vaccine mandates in Canada has raised several million dollars on a Christian crowdfunding site after being removed from GoFundMe, sparking debate over how online platforms moderate campaigns.

GoFundMe blocked fundraising for the “Freedom Convoy” over the weekend, after the mayor of Ottawa declared a state of emergency over a week-long protest led by truck drivers over Covid-19 restrictions.

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‘£3k just to hold the bed’: Exorbitant Covid care costs push Indians into poverty

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A struggling healthcare system and inflated prices mean hospital treatment can result in a lifetime of debt for many

Anil Goel remembers the night in May when he received a call from his desperate nephew asking for money for his Covid treatment. The nephew had been admitted to a private hospital with his wife and four other family members with Covid complications but had used up all of his savings.

“I was shocked by the request as this was a young man who was doing well in life otherwise. But the high hospital bills and the black marketing just exhausted all of his savings within days. After all, six family members were on life support,” said Goel.

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Parents ‘tortured’ by death of baby after magpie swooped in Brisbane park

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Five-month-old Mia suffered critical injuries after her mother fell while trying to avoid the bird

The devastated aunts of a baby who died after her mother tried to protect her from a swooping magpie have described the feelings of torture the parents have been left with.

Mia was in her mother’s arms when a magpie swooped at them at a Brisbane park on Sunday.

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‘Money makes money’: Uganda’s Tarantino raises funds with rap

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Wakaliwood’s Isaac Nabwana swapped directing shootouts to parody music videos to support rural projects hit by Covid-19

The helicopter and the bling are made of cardboard and the dollar bills carefully drawn on paper by local children. But the people are very real and the music is totally authentic.

A new video from Ugandan film director Isaac Nabwana is a move away from his previous output – movies heavy on blood and gore and ultra-low on budgets – which is gaining him an international cult following. And he says the pandemic’s impact in pushing film online, with the trend towards all-digital film festivals, has helped.

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MIA launches crowdfunding drive to avoid platforms that ‘sell data to Cambridge Analytica’

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The musician has promised music and videos to her Patreon supporters, and the possibility of recipes and dating advice

MIA has launched a crowdfunding page to support her future work – which may encompass therapy sessions, dating advice and recipes in addition to the music for which she is best known.

MIA, AKA Maya Arulpragasam, said that she had joined the site Patreon because her work was too broad to fit on other sites. “I’ve tried all the other platforms and it’s like: this one is too mean and hateful, this one is too fake and self-obsessed and this one just sells all your data to Cambridge Analytica. Hopefully, this one is going to be just right.”

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Legal questions complicate how Rural Fire Service can spend donated millions

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Experts warn donors should be aware that money given to the RFS can’t be used to help bushfire victims or recovery efforts

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service trustee may be unable to distribute donated funds, including more than $50m raised by the comedian Celeste Barber, to other states or to bushfire victims, legal experts have warned.

At least $70m has been raised for the RFS, other state fire services, the Red Cross and wildlife charities, as part of a global fundraising effort during Australia’s horror bushfire season.

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New boiler, £0? The plumber, hairdresser and beautician who work for free

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Haircuts for rough sleepers. Beauty treatments for cancer patients. Boilers for disabled people. A wave of specialists are providing skills – and hope – for those in need

Goodwill, it appears, is in high demand. One thing all the altruists I met while researching this article have in common is that they’re on the phone the whole time. Perhaps if mobiles had been around in Robin Hood’s day he would have had one pressed constantly to his lughole. “Marion … yes, love. I’m just having a fight on a bridge with Little John … sorry, you’re breaking up, terrible reception in here, all the oaks... What, the Sheriff’s abducted you? OK, I’m coming!”

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Israel Folau: Australian Christian lobby hosts new fundraising effort

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ACL steps in after GoFundMe pulls plug on former Wallabies star’s online appeal

The Australian Christian Lobby is hosting a fundraising effort on its website for the former Wallabies star Israel Folau after his GoFundMe page was shut down.

As at 7am Tuesday, almost $50,000 had been donated via the link on the ACL site, with the group also committing to tip in $100,000 to Folau’s legal challenge. By 8.30am, $250,000 had been raised.

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