Crowdfund North East LEP: Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership has partnered with Crowdfunder to make up to £5,000 in match funding available to help small businesses continue to trade through the coronavirus pandemic.

Crowdfund North East LEP allows small businesses employing no more than 10 full-time equivalent employees to secure match funding to boost their own crowdfunding efforts.

There are 45,800 eligible small businesses across the North East and many are in urgent need of financial support. The funds released by North East LEP will provide urgent relief for those businesses most in need who do not qualify for other government funding schemes. The match funding is being sourced from the North East Investment Fund and will total up to £1 million.

Below is a case study of Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team – a voluntary emergency service that provides a search and rescue service to the area covered by Northumbria Police – that has benefited from Crowdfund North East LEP.

To find out more about Crowdfund North East LEP, raise funds for your business, or donate to a small business in need, please click here.

Please introduce yourself, your company, and tell us why you fundraised through Crowdfunder.

My name is Ninette Edwards, Fundraising Officer of the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and we were forced into lockdown, our team’s fundraising events were all cancelled, which would have brought in £15,000 to the team to cover our core operating costs. The crowdfunding campaign was the perfect opportunity to tell everyone how the pandemic had hit the team and to raise vital funds.

How easy was it to set up your crowdfunding campaign and apply for the North East LEP’s match funding?

It was very straightforward to set up the crowdfunding campaign. Getting the right message out to potential supporters took some thought though, and I had never attempted a video message, which was a learning experience!

Crowdfunder told us that we were eligible for match funding through the North East LEP, and it was very easy to complete the extra form to apply for this. Having the targets of 25% and 75% to reach and receive the match funding kept the momentum of the campaign going, and gave us a huge boost.

What difference will the match funding from the North East LEP make?

With such a shortfall in our funding this year, the match funding will allow the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team to stay on top of the core operating costs that allow the team to remain on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without cutting costs.

Would you encourage other businesses to start their own crowdfunding campaign using Crowdfund North East LEP?

Absolutely. The publicity for the team through the campaign really got the message across about the service we provide and how much financial support we need. We are a volunteer organisation and have to raise every penny ourselves to provide our life-saving service.