Awakening Potential, Inspiring Dreams | A crowdfunding success story

The vision for a different style of education, aimed at those on the margins of the mainstream, encouraged Eagle’s Nest Project to rally their crowd together in the hope to up their impact and meet the increasing levels of demand for their services.

At the heart of Eagle’s Nest Project is the belief that everyone is uniquely created to bring immense worth to this world, and they work with young people who aren’t able to effectively engage in mainstream school to realise their potential. Whilst they long for the day when their project simply won’t be needed anymore, they stand alongside those young people who have faced significant trauma and, as a result, have lost the ability to see their own self worth.

Providing alternative education solutions from an hour a week of mentoring to a full 3-day package of education, Eagle’s Nest Project offers each student a bespoke programme tailored to their needs; helping each individual to rebuild their life and overcome the impacting factors that have left them struggling to cope.

However, with capacity at an all time high over the last year, Eagle’s Nest Project faced the difficult situation of needing to turn away referrals as they simply couldn’t deliver the quality service that they know to make a difference. Realising that something needed to change to help these young people reach for a better future, the charity called upon their community, supporters and those that hold their same vision to help them raise the money that would then secure an additional worker and the resources needed to reach more young people in need of support.

Jan, project owner of Eagle’s Nest Project, said, “Crowdfunding allowed us to take on a part time member of staff to extend the team. The staff member began in September and is already a valued part of the team. This would not have been possible without the incredible support from friends and supporters from across both the local and internet community. As a result of crowdfunding, we have been able to increase the amount of young people we can support. The support we give is specialist and intensive, but every additional young person we support is fantastic.”

In just 56 days, Eagle’s Nest Project raised an incredible £5,312 from 46 supporters, including an extra funding pledge of £1,125 from Staffordshire County Council’s Children & Families Fund. Intending to make a big difference to the lives of children and families in their local communities, this particular fund supports vulnerables families and children in order to avoid crisis point, and Eagle’s Nest Project certainly fit the bill with their goal to awaken potential and inspire dreams in every individual that they work with.

Jan added, “To have the funding from Staffordshire County Council meant that we could set an ambitious target, knowing that if we got half way, we would have the injection of this funding to boost us towards the final target. This seemed to really encourage other supporters and we saw a big surge in giving to help us go above and beyond our target. It is also great to know that the Council believe in what we are doing and want to support us.”

And the long term aim of the project? To go national and see learning centres established, set in small units with a family feel where 6-12 young people live and learn together. With the clear support of the crowd, there’s no doubt that Eagle’s Nest Project have got what it takes to make their dream happen.

We asked Jan for her top tips to anyone thinking of crowdfunding. “I was a bit nervous about the process, it all felt a bit overwhelming to be asking such a wide audience to get behind what we wanted to achieve, but it was so encouraging to see the support coming in, especially from family of those we have worked with.”

If you have a community based project or social enterprise and are looking to crowdfund, then you could also be eligible for extra funding. Find out more about the funds we have on offer and get in touch today.