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In February The Funding Network and the Devon Community Foundation held the first TFN Devon event kindly Sponsored by Rathbones. At the event around 60 people came together to raise over £20,000 for four projects, all with Devon links. Pete Yeo, a TFN Devon steering group member, reports...

The elegant function room within Exeter Castle was still, ominously so. My heart was in my mouth. After 18 months preparation and one false start, the pledging session of our inaugural TFN Devon event had just begun. Quiet prayer: Please let it take flight. Seconds passed like minutes.

And then we were off, hands flapping here and there. I needn't have worried. With the help of some TFN-savvy ‘Devonians' and a few TFN stalwarts (both present and remote) - not to mention four wonderful projects from around the county - our otherwise virginal audience embraced the love that is crowd-funding, raising (with Gift Aid) over £20,000.

Prior to the event, word had been put out that folk could crowd-fund their minimum pledges (£50). One local ‘sisterhood', five young friends from North Devon, had decided to each pitch in a tenner to support the women being empowered via one of the presenting projects, Sisters At The Edge. This prospect had in turn fired the imagination of Jackie Juno, Bard of Exeter, one of whose poems on the night captured this act beautifully, celebrating the accessibility of crowd-funding.

That was one lovely outcome among many on our launch night. Aside from the money raised, the gasps from people, on hearing how many lives we had collectively impacted through our generosity, was memorable. The event had ended with both the reconvened project reps and audience communing in rapturous mutual applause. And not a few questioning: When will the next one be? We had, after all, generated the spirit of TFN in Devon. There were smiles all round.

And the answer to that question? Well, we'll be holding another event within the year. Such was the good feeling afterwards that we may even try for two per year, though that is rather dependent on the already busy calendar of our host organisation, the Devon Community Foundation (DCF). Clearly, though, the future's bright for TFN Devon. Our steering group has recently been enriched with the addition of TFN member Martin Wright (an Ashden Awards judge) and Liz Wainwright (Deputy Editor at Resurgence). Add Martha Wilkinson and Laura Hewitt from DCF, our very own Sonal and Tillie, and with Spring now sprung, and I can confidently reach for my shades.

Indeed, TFN is surely hot to trot as humanity rekindles its warmth.

If you like the sound of TFN Devon, either as a potential crowd funder or as a project just get in touch with laura@devoncf.com or ring 01884 235887.

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