RURAL community projects in Berkshire are eligible to receive grants of up to £5,000 from a home energy provider.

The energy supplier Calor is in the third year of its community fund, which aims to reward community projects with prizes ranging from £1,000 to £5,000.

The company will be giving away 21 grants this year and the amount of top prizes has doubled since last year.

Paul Blacklock, head of corporate affairs at Calor, said: “As a company with off-grid communities at the heart of everything we do, it’s extremely important that we champion rural projects and the people and places behind them.

“Over the past two years, we’ve seen the Calor Rural Community Fund have an amazing impact on local communities throughout the UK, and we want this to grow year on year.”

Previous winners have used the money to improve playgrounds, refurbish village halls , buy instruments for music groups and equipment for sports clubs.

The organization, who also partners with Crowfunder is pledging £2,000 worth of match funding to entries that use the fundraising platform to raise donations for their community projects.

Jason Nuttall, head of funding for Crowdfunder, added: “We’re really excited to be partnering with the Calor Rural Community Fund.

The match funding will give so many projects that extra boost toward meeting their goals and it’s great to be a part of a scheme that is making such a difference to so many rural communities across the UK.”

Projects that receive the most votes from the public will be shortlisted and reviewed by a panel of judges.

The community funding will be open for application from March 5.

For more information, visit: www.calor.co.uk/communityfund.