Help the groups in your area get online.
Parish, town, district and county councils can pay for a particular group's website, include the cost in small grants, or add to a shared pot that funds sites for groups across your area. A community website costs £20 a month, or £240 a year, with everything included.
What councils get
- A clear price: £240 a year for each group
- A written quote for groups applying to you
- Invoices, receipts and a short report
- A process that fits how you make decisions
Four ways a council can help
Choose whichever suits your rules and your budget. You can also combine them, or tell me you are not sure yet and would like to talk it through.
Pay for one group
Pay a particular group's £20 a month, or £240 for a year. Tell me the group and a contact if you have one, and I will get in touch with them.
Include it in small grants
If your council runs a small grants or community fund, the website can sit within a group's grant. I can give groups a quote to include in their applications.
Add to the shared pot
Give to the pot that funds websites for groups in your area. Every £20 a month of unused support funds one more site. You can tell me a preference for an area, but the pot is shared, so I cannot promise it reaches one group.
Quotes for applicants
Groups that apply to the council can attach a written quote showing exactly what £240 a year pays for.
Pay by card, or ask for an invoice
If your council can pay by card, this is the quickest way to fund a community website. Otherwise ask for a quote and invoice using the council enquiry.
£240for a year
Funds one community website for a year. Pay by card and an invoice and receipt are emailed to you. You can name a group or area at checkout.
Pay £240 by cardAny amountonce
A one-off amount that goes into the shared pot. Once the pot reaches £240, a community website is assigned to it and funded for a year.
Give to the potNeed a quote or invoice first? Use the council enquiry or the grant maker or trust enquiry, and tell me the group. I will send a written quote and invoice, and get in touch with the group.
Card payments are taken on Stripe's secure page. This is a sponsorship, not a donation: JW Community Websites is not a charity, so Gift Aid does not apply.
The groups that hold a community together
A community website is a modest, practical thing to fund. It helps residents find the village hall, the club or the class, and it saves volunteers time.
The £20 a month covers the build, hosting, the domain, a weekly update round, and the privacy and cookie policies. There is no setup fee and no contract.
Kinds of group
- Village halls and community centres
- Clubs and societies
- Charities and voluntary groups
- Youth groups and classes
- Groups supporting older or isolated people
- Any local community group
Simple paperwork, plain reporting
I am one person, so I keep it light and honest. Here is what your finance team can expect.
A written quote
On request, with the price, what is included and what is not, so a group can attach it to an application.
Invoices and receipts
For each payment, in whatever form your finance team needs. If your process needs purchase order or supplier details, say so on the enquiry form.
A short report
Which sites your funding supported, and for how long. I will not promise outcomes I cannot show.
From enquiry to funded website
I fit in with how your council works, not the other way round.
Send an enquiry
Tell me which options interest you, what kinds of group you would like to support, and roughly how many websites or how much funding. A rough idea is fine.
I come back with options
I reply, usually the same day, with options, a quote and the paperwork your finance team needs.
Your council decides
Full council votes, or the clerk approving small amounts: tell me how decisions are made and when your next meeting or budget decision is, and I will work to that.
Groups get their sites
Funded groups get a website that is built and looked after, with weekly updates. If the council wishes, it is thanked on the Our supporters page.
Straight answers
A sponsorship, not a charitable gift. JW Community Websites is run by Jake Wells as a sole trader and is not a charity. The money pays for websites to be built, hosted and kept up to date.
Payment and procurement rules. If your council's rules affect how you can pay a sole trader, tell me on the enquiry form. Where a council can only fund constituted groups, the grant can go to the group instead, and the group pays the £20 a month as normal.
Your own rules come first. Every council has its own rules and processes, and I am not an adviser on them. Check your grants policy and speak to your clerk.
Asking your council for help?
There is a ready-made email to your clerk on the free resources page. Ask me for a written quote to go with it, and I will help you get it to the council in time.
Are you a clerk or councillor? The guide on how parish and town councils can help local groups get online sets out the options and how to keep it fair.
Useful links
- Email to your clerk (copy and paste)
- Getting a website paid for by a grant or council
- Grants and funders, for trusts and other funders
Tell me what your council has in mind
A short enquiry is all it takes. I will reply with options, quotes and anything else your finance team needs.
Prefer to talk? Call 07452 752398 or send a message.