SOMETIMES it seems crowdfunding is getting out of hand.
Manchester Confidential - not based in Castlefield - is today pledging £500 to the Roman Gardens crowd-funding
Want to open a new restaurant then jump on the crowdfunding bandwagon, want to launch a magazine do the same. It can seem the number of private projects wanting money from small investors is getting out of hand.
Crowdfunding sits better with doing something for the public good rather than for private profit.
Creating a public gardens that is well maintained, beautiful and benefits both residents and visitors is a perfect fit.
Presently Castlefield Forum is raising money to beautify the area - the Roman Gardens - between the Oxnoble and White Lion pubs leading back to the reconstructured Roman gate with its wall and ditches. The eventual cost of this might be £2m and will require funding from agencies such as Heritage Lottery.
Money needs to be raised to get the scheme through the planning process and to a position where a major funding bid can be launched. The total needed for this is £38,390. The Forum raised over £17k of this through goodwill, leaving a gap of £21k. This is where crowd-funding comes in.
First a bit of backstory.
Manchester Confidential started the process through which the Forum was created following a series of articles in 2007 which led to walkabouts and meetings including a Town Hall summit chaired by Sir Howard Bernstein. The gauntlet was then picked up by a dedicated and active residents group. Over the last few years this group of passionate Castlefield fans have worked tirelessly to ensure the area is well-maintained and also adequately explained - the display-boards scattered around this hugely important historical area are a result of the Forum's efforts.
The crowd-funding project has another couple of months to run and has so far gathered around half of the £21k required. Manchester Confidential - not based in Castlefield - is today pledging £500 to the Roman Gardens crowd-funding.
Meanwhile the Lord Mayor's charity We Love Manchester has pledged £2,500 and Castlefield Estates, the owners of Dukes 92, the Bass Warehouse and so forth have pledged £5,000. The rest has come from small donors and residents.
The shortfall can surely be breached in the weeks that remain.
For people who believe that Manchester should have better maintained and planned public gardens in the city centre - and many people have expressed that sentiment on Confidential - this is your chance to put your money where your mouth is.
The Roman Gardens will be a permanent asset to the city centre and life in Manchester. If you want to help in the creation of such an asset then let's make a start in Castlefield.
You can pledge support here. It doesn't matter how small the donation. It's all welcome.
