Nearly £50k in funding for community projects is now available to residents in Maldon.

The Moat Foundation has joined forces with community fundraising platform Spacehive to create the 'Moat Foundation Community Fund', opening up a pot of almost £50,000 for residents in Maldon, Pollards Hill (Merton), and Stanhope (Ashford).

The partnership will allow residents to exclusively tap into the fund for community initiatives.

Proposals could involve greening local areas, driving sustainability, enhancing community health and wellbeing, or fostering inclusive and diverse social environments.

Residents are being urged to create and crowdfund transformative projects which positively impact their communities, such as community gardens which bolster both mental wellbeing and natural ecosystems.

Depending on where the project is situated, the Moat Foundation could contribute between £1,500 and £5,000 to the target, provided it does not surpass 50 per cent of the total cost.

Both the Moat Foundation and Spacehive encourage residents of Maldon to share their ideas on community betterment.

The organisations stress that no fundraising experience is necessary - many first-time project creators use Spacehive's resources, including online workshops, one-to-one support and online tools advising on everything from budgeting to campaign promotion.

Community workshops, to explore the opportunity in more detail, are scheduled for July 25 at 10.30am and August 8 at 12pm.

The Moat Foundation works to deliver community investment by promoting employability, engaging youth, battling isolation, and "create thriving places that people love to live in".

Head of Moat Foundation, Mumtaz Samad, said: "We are delighted to launch our new crowdfunding initiative with Spacehive.

"With the support of Moat Foundation funding and our new crowdfunding community, we look forward to launching some great projects which have a positive impact on our customers."

Spacehive, a platform for community fundraising, has supported the crowdfunding of more than 2,000 ideas, raising more than £30 million.

Chief executive of Spacehive, Misha Dhanak, said: "The Moat Foundation commitment to building more cohesive communities perfectly aligns with Spacehive’s mission.

"We’re proud to partner with Moat to help their residents and the wider communities drive transformative and positive change in their local area".

For more information, visit spacehive.com/movement/moat.