Cheshire Community Foundation launches regular giving campaign
Howard Lake | 17 January 2026 | News
Cheshire Community Foundation has launched a regular giving campaign, inviting local people to donate from £5 a month, “opening up local philanthropy to everyone for the first time”.
The launch comes as the foundation passes a total of £17 million given in grants since opening in 2012, funding everything from newborn essentials to tackling loneliness and mental health.
‘Love Cheshire‘ is “the first scheme of its kind in the county, offering a one-stop way to give locally… focused entirely on Cheshire and Warrington”.
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Cheshire Community Foundation has been using local donations for local good for more than a decade, researching local needs, designing targeted grant programmes and carrying out due diligence on every organisation it funds. Until now much of this work has relied on large donations.
Mel Sproston, CEO of Cheshire Community Foundation said:
“There’s one flaw in our process: sometimes a project can’t be matched with a donor. It could be a superb idea that just doesn’t have the emotional appeal of others. Love Cheshire donations will fill our ‘discretionary’ pot: the one we use for these overlooked applications. We know the people of Cheshire love supporting an underdog!
“Despite Cheshire’s glamorous reputation, we’re sure this is a place where kindness is more important than sparkle. We’re excited to open our work to everyone in the community, no longer just those with thousands or millions to give. We can’t wait to direct even more funding to even more life-changing projects for local people, and we hope this scheme can be game changing for us.”
While £5 per month is the minimum level requested, the suggested amount on the website is £30 per month, the equivalent of £1 a day.
Tom Kirk, Head of Grants at CCF, said:
“Most small charities are staffed by volunteers, and don’t have an army of fundraisers to help them; they rely on grant funding like ours to keep doing their vital work. You might never hear of them unless you’ve been helped by them. We see ourselves as their flag bearer and fundraiser, doing that hard work so they don’t have to.
“One application to us might help keep the doors open for the year ahead or get a project off the ground that’s been needed for months. These are the heroes of our community, and we know local people will be moved and inspired when they hear their stories”.
WATCH: LOVE CHESHIRE
- Cheshire Building Society raises nearly £20,000 for ChildLine (16 August 2006)
- Rausings donate £2.5 million to Cheshire charities (26 October 2023)
- Community Foundation receives £1 million anonymous donation (4 March 2019)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.