The North Petherwin Parish Hall Playground Project has been announced as one of the finalists in this year’s Calor Rural Community Fund and is now in with the chance of scooping a share of £85,000.
If successful, they could go on to secure a grant of up to £5,000 for their initiative.
The Calor Rural Community Fund was established to provide invaluable support and funding for rural communities that aren't connected to the mains gas grid, by giving them the chance to raise money through Crowdfunding and also be in with a chance to receive a grant for their projects that will improve life in their local community. North Petherwin Parish Hall Playground Project is one of 42 finalists who could benefit from the fund, which they would use to help continue their work to refurbish the children’s play area at North Petherwin Parish Hall.
Since its creation back in 2017, Calor has helped to raise £460,000 for local causes across the UK through crowdfunded donations and Calor contributions. This year is no different and, thanks to Calor’s partnership with the fundraising platform Crowdfunder, projects have been able to raise money once again through public donations. This means that even if a finalist project isn’t selected to receive one of the 22 winning grants, they were still able to raise funds during the public supporting phase.
Over the years, funding from the Calor Rural Community Fund has gone towards funding new play facilities in local parks, has brought local pubs back to life and has helped to purchase vital, potentially life-saving equipment for those living in rural, off-grid communities. As it stands, the North Petherwin Parish Hall Playground Project has generated £1,362 through Crowdfunder and will use the money to help fund the next phase of playground regeneration.
The project is now undergoing judging, during which each finalist will be assessed by four impartial judges who have the difficult task of choosing this year’s winners. Decisions will be based on the potential impact the project could have on their local community, its sustainability once launched, the originality of the project and the project submission itself. Eleven grants of £5,000 are available within the project’s funding category, and the finalists who don’t receive one of the main grants will still receive £500 to put towards their project initiative.
Andy Parker, Head of Strategy and Corporate Affairs at Calor, said: “We’ve been really impressed by the response we’ve had this year. Over 237 community initiatives entered and the standards were incredibly high with some fantastic causes coming through. It’s great to see how passionate our rural communities are and how each project will make such a difference for people living in the local area. “Our judges have a very tough decision ahead of them, but we are very much looking forward to seeing which of these inspirational projects make it through to the final round!”
The North Petherwin Parish Hall Playground Project team, led by local parents, said: “We’re thrilled to have reached the final for this year’s Calor Rural Community Fund awards. We’ve worked really hard throughout the application and crowdfunding phases of the competition and the response from the local community and wider supporters has been fantastic. We’re really looking forward to putting the money we’ve raised directly plus the funding we hope to receive from Calor to good use as soon as we can! We’d also like to thank Calor and Crowdfunder for their support of rural communities like ours through the Calor Rural Development Fund.”
With winners being announced on Wednesday 11th August, there’s not much longer to wait to find out who this year’s winners are. For further information on the Calor Rural Community Fund or to view this year’s finalists, please visit: communityfund.calor.co.uk