THE clock is ticking for community groups across Moray to apply for funding worth thousands of pounds. Eligible organisation could be in line to receive grants of up to £5000 from home energy provider Calor. The Calor Rural Community Fund – now in its third year – aims to reward deserving community projects with prize pots ranging from £1000 to £5000. This year’s scheme is bigger and better than ever before, with Calor giving away 21 grants totalling a staggering £70,000. The amount of £5000 donations up for grabs has also been doubled from last year with a total of 10 up for grabs. Rural communities off the mains gas grid can submit their projects for funding. Previous winners of cash boosts from Calor have included projects for playground and village hall refurbishments, instruments for music banks and equipment for sports clubs. Now, Calor is encouraging anyone who thinks their project may be eligible to come forward and submit an application for consideration to this year’s fund. The projects that receive the most votes by the public will be shortlisted and then reviewed by a panel of judges, who will select the final 21 winners. Partnering with Crowdfunder for 2019, Calor is also pledging £2000 worth of match funding to approved entries that use the fundraising platform to raise donations for their community project. Jason Nuttall, head of funding for Crowdfunder, said: “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.” Paul Blacklock, head of corporate affairs for Calor, added: “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.” This year’s Calor Rural Community Fund will be open for applications from March 5-April 29. To find out how to take part, visit www.calor.co.uk/ communityfund Among the eligibility criteria for projects are: A project must make a positive difference to your rural community; it is connected with a community organisation or charity; it can be completed in 12 months.