Two Gwynedd projects have reached the final of a UK-wide scheme that offers funding to community projects.

The Calor Rural Community Fund initiative offers financial support to projects which improve the lives of communities, through regenerating, maintaining or investing in local spaces or activities.

This year the project has a total of £70,000 to be allocated to off-grid community projects of different sizes.

The 42 finalists – chosen out of 322 submissions – were announced on Monday, 1 July, after a period of public voting, during which communities had the opportunity to show support for their chosen project. Twenty-one ventures will become the winners and recipients of Calor funding.

Two projects in the Gwynedd area have made it to the final stage in a bid to receive funding for their communities, having received over 3,000 votes each.

In Abergynolwyn, the community is hoping to regenerate and drive up the use of a children’s play area in the village, through the development of new infrastructure and provision of safe flooring for the main area.

In the project brief, it states that this is not simply a move to create better physical infrastructure, but also to enrich the community, encouraging locals to ‘meet, support each other and grow’ and ultimately attract more young families to the village.

A project championing the refurbishment of the run-down Tafarn yr Heliwr pub in Nefyn is also looking to win Calor funding.

See this week’s north editions for the full story, in shops and online on Thursday