Five community projects around the South Hams are eligible to win prize grants of up to £5,000 thanks to a community fund put on by a home energy provider.

Calor Gas is urging people across the area to get involved in voting for its Calor Rural Community Fund, which helps communities throughout the country gain funding for projects at the heart of their community.

The rural community fund offers prizes in excess of £1,000, £2,500 and £5,000 for projects that will improve local life.

The projects in the South Hams include a riverside wild swimming and canoeing access to the River Dart at Staverton; a night landing site for the Devon Air Ambulance in Cornworthy; a youth engagement project for the Rattery and Totnes area Youth Club; blackout blinds for Holbeton Village Hall; and improvement works for Strete Parish Hall.

The projects with the most votes from each funding category will become finalists and be reviewed by a panel of independent judges to decide which entries are to be awarded the funding.

Joining Calor in the judging panel are organisations including Business in the Community, mental health charity, Mind, Crowdfunder, Plunkett and Rural England, who will help decide on the winners, announced on July 18.

Anyone who lives in the UK and registers on the Calor Rural Community Fund website can vote.

Each person is allocated 10 votes, which you can use at any time during the voting phase of the competition.

You may spread them around to various projects or use them all to support one project.

To vote and to read more about each of the projects up for prizes in the South Hams, visit www.calor.co.uk/commmunityfund.

Voting ends on Monday, June 17.