Wealden District Council
Wealden Community Fund
Terms & Conditions
Version dated: October 2026
Fund Terms and Conditions
General
These terms govern Your participation in the Fund via Crowdfunder (Fund) under which Your project receives Funding from the Fund. References to "We" refer to Wealden District Council and Crowdfunder Limited. If You are participating in the Fund on behalf of an organisation ("Your Organisation"), You agree that Your Organisation will also be bound by these Fund Terms and Conditions and Crowdfunder's Terms of Use - "You" refers to you and your organisation. If You do not want to be bound (or Your Organisation does not want to be bound, if applicable) by these Fund Terms and Conditions and Crowdfunder's Terms of Use, please do not participate in the Fund.
In the event of inconsistency between these Fund Terms and Conditions and Crowdfunder's Terms of Use, these Fund Terms and Conditions shall prevail.
We reserve the right to hold, void, suspend, cancel or change the Fund, and may amend these Terms and Conditions from time to time.
Eligibility Criteria
You confirm that Your Organisation meets the eligibility criteria for the Fund. The eligibility criteria form part of these terms and conditions and You confirm that all information provided in Your application for Funding is true and accurate.
Fees
Crowdfunder will charge the fees on crowd pledges to Your project which will be deducted from the pledges before they are transferred to You. The fees that are applicable to your project are listed on the Fees page: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/fees. There will be no fees for pledges from the Funding Partner.
Claiming Your Funding
You must set up a wallet with Crowdfunder's third party payment services provider, Stripe via the Crowdfunder platform.
You must draw down Your funding through Crowdfunder within 3 months of the successful completion of Your crowdfunding campaign. Any funding not drawn down after 3 months will be deemed unspent and the offer of funding will be rescinded.
Using Your Funding
You shall only be entitled to use the Funding for the Funding Purpose as set out on Your Crowdfunder campaign page. If You are unable to use the funding for these purposes, please notify us as to how You intend to spend the funding at [email protected]. Crowdfunder will determine at its discretion whether the revised use of the funds or extended timeline is approved, or whether the funding distributed to You must be repaid or Your application has been rejected, as appropriate.
You are responsible for paying all fees and collecting and remitting all applicable taxes (including income tax and VAT or similar taxes) connected with your use of Crowdfunder.co.uk, the Pledges you receive (including Funding Partners) and the Rewards you offer.
The Council may at its sole discretion withhold or suspend payment of the funding and/or require repayment of all or part of the funding in the following circumstances:
The organisation uses the funding for purposes other than those for which they have been awarded.
The organisation fails to comply with any of the terms and conditions set out in the Funding Offer Letter.
The organisation provides the Council with incorrect or misleading information or completes the application form or supporting documentation dishonestly.
Any member of the governing body, employee or volunteer of the Organisation has acted dishonestly or negligently at any time and directly or indirectly to the detriment of the Project.
Any member of the governing body, employee or volunteer of the Organisation has taken any actions which, in the reasonable opinion of the Council, bring or are likely to bring the Council's name or reputation into disrepute.
Monitoring and Evaluation
You will be required to complete short questionnaires about Your project delivery and crowdfunding experience at 3 months and 12 months after Your crowdfunding campaign closes. Crowdfunder may also request additional information throughout and after Your campaign. You may also be required to take part in any evaluation being undertaken by Crowdfunder or the Funding Partner, or anyone working on their behalf. You agree for Us to contact you for this purpose and to supply any information requested in a timely manner.
Branding and Recognition
We may wish to use Your campaign details and the Funding to form part of a case study that We will publish on our websites or social media platforms to show good-practice and provide support to other organisations wishing to crowdfund as an alternative source of funding. The content will be discussed and agreed with You prior to publication.
You will acknowledge the funding and support from the Funding Partner using logos and copy where appropriate.
For capital projects, the applicant will install a plaque at the project site, measuring at least 250x200mm, in a form specified by the Council, to advertise the funding contribution. The applicant is responsible for securing any necessary consents to do so.
Successful organisations must acknowledge the funding awarded by the Council in their annual report and in any publicity materials they produce about the work supported by the funding. Copies of these documents must be supplied to the Council upon request.
Organisational Issues
Please inform us in writing of any major changes to Your Organisation; this may include impending mergers, financial difficulties, significant loss of funding, significant changes in staffing, and/or Charity Commission / Companies House matters. If You change Your address or contact details, please inform us via email [email protected] providing details of Your new address and contact details.
Sharing Information
You acknowledge that Crowdfunder may share with the Funding Partner any data in relation to You, Your Organisation and your project and Funding including monitoring and evaluation data it holds. Please see our privacy policy for more details:
Crowdfunder privacy policy: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/privacy-policy
Withdrawal and Clawback of Funding
We are unable to accept Crowdfunder campaigns that are incomplete.
Wealden District Council reserves the right to reject any campaign for any reason without offering an appeals process.
If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these Fund Terms and Conditions and/or Crowdfunder's Terms of Use, We may, at our sole discretion withdraw, reduce, vary or withhold the Funding, in whole or in part in the event of any failure to comply with these terms and conditions, Crowdfunder's terms and conditions or where the law is not being complied with. We may continue to review Your Project even after it is accepted to participate in the Fund and reserves the right to remove a Project from the Fund at any time if it is identified that the Eligibility Criteria or Fund Terms and Conditions are not met. Wealden District Council will reserve its rights to not accept any organisation with a minimum of 7 days' notice for any reason. If fraudulent or illegal activity is suspected cessation will be immediate.
You will also be ineligible to receive Funding if, at our sole discretion we are not satisfied that all the Supporter pledges on Your project are genuine pledges. Where projects or pledges are identified as fraudulent, potentially fraudulent, or demonstrative of manipulating the pledging on a project in order to obtain match funding, this is taken very seriously. Where appropriate, the police or other relevant authorities will be informed. In addition:
Your application for the Fund will be refused and any existing commitment for Funding will be withdrawn.
Your Crowdfunding project may be cancelled and You will be ineligible for future applications or projects.
Action will be taken to recover Funds which have been paid out.
We may require You to repay without delay all or the relevant portion of the Funds You receive:
Which is used by You for any purpose other than the Funding Purpose.
Where Your project or pledges to Your project are identified as fraudulent, potentially fraudulent, or demonstrative of manipulating the pledging on a project in order to obtain funding.
Which is used by You in material breach of these terms and conditions (including the eligibility criteria).
Which is unused by You 12 months after the close of Your crowdfunding campaign.
Which is paid to You in error.
Additional Terms
You shall comply with all child and vulnerable persons welfare and protection legislation applicable in the UK and with English law where applicable in order to promote a strong safeguarding culture and by committing to a practice that protects vulnerable people from abuse of any kind.
Where applicable, You must have insurance and all relevant consents and approvals for any activity which the funding will be wholly or partly funding.
You must have Public Liability Insurance cover with a minimum indemnity limit of £5 million per claim.
You must maintain Professional Indemnity insurance cover (if applicable) with a minimum cover of £1 million and produce on demand the policies and evidence of premium payment.
You must maintain Employers Liability insurance cover for staff and volunteers, with a minimum indemnity limit of £5 million per claim.
The Council accepts no liability for any consequences, whether direct or indirect, that may come about from you delivering the Project, the use of the Funding or from withdrawal of the Funding. You shall indemnify and hold harmless the Council, its employees, agents, officers or sub-contractors with respect to all claims, demands, actions, costs, expenses, losses, damages and all other liabilities arising from or incurred by reason of your actions and/or omissions in relation to the Project, the non-fulfilment of your obligations under this Agreement or your obligations to third parties.
Subject to the above, the Council's liability under this Agreement is limited to the payment of the Funding.
You will comply with all relevant legislation such as employment, health and safety, confidentiality and data protection, protection of children and vulnerable adults, Modern Slavery Act 2015, Bribery Act 2010 and equal opportunities legislation including the Equality Act 2010 in the delivery of the Project. All legislation may be amended from time to time.
These Fund Terms and Conditions are subject to the laws of England and Wales.
Fund Release
The match fund will be released once the fundraising target has been reached and the Terms and Conditions are signed by the organisation.
Wealden District Council (WDC) reserves the right not to fund, or to withdraw funding during a campaign if it becomes apparent that any of the criteria are not being met. WDC also reserves the right to amend this information at any time.
Subsidy Control
The UK is subject to a new statutory Subsidy Control regime which came into force on 4 January 2023 and is largely based around the requirements set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the "Act").
As part of the assessment of your application we will need to determine whether the funding constitutes a 'Subsidy' under the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
If a Subsidy is present, it will be necessary to follow one of the routes prescribed in the Act for the award of compliant Subsidies.
We may request your assistance in the assessment of Subsidy and in determining the appropriate route to make an award and may ask you for additional information. If you need to provide this information, we will contact you and we will require this additional information as soon as possible.