Projects we support. On this page you will find brief descriptions of the projects which have received support from funds from the Love the Broads donations since 2013.
Love the Broads has given nearly £100,000 of grants to 54 amazing projects over the past 9 years thanks to donations from visitors to the Broads, local residents, tourism businesses and Love the Broads’ Members – thank you all so much.
You will find details of these and all other projects below.
For further details on the types of Love the Broads grants available and guidelines for making an application (see above announcement regarding Covid-19), please download our Guidance notes for applicants.
For an application form, which will enable you to make an application for either our Business Sponsorship or our Small Grants scheme, please download this Application Form. It can be filled in on your computer and sent in to us electronically.
For more detailed guidance on how to complete the Application Form and the sorts of information the Trust will need in order to reach a decision on your application, please download our How to complete an Application Form notes.
For information about the terms and conditions which are likely to be attached to any of the Love the Broads grants we make, please download this document.
All Project Applications should be sent by email as well as by post, along with supporting documentation to:
Mrs. Alex Howe, Hon. Secretary
The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Charitable Trust
2 Littlewood Lane, Hoveton, Norfolk NR12 8DZ
Email: info@broadstrust.org.uk
Telephone: 01603 783096
For further queries contact us through the link on the “contact us” page.
Illegal eel trafficking – new educational board game and poem
A new educational board game has been developed in partnership between the Broads Authority, Extraordinary Lives and the University of Plymouth. This board game will be accompanied by a poem which is being taken into schools – The Last Eel on Earth – which raises awareness of illegal eel trafficking.
Grant Applicant: Extraordinary Lives
Funding received from Love the Broads: £670
Project completion date: June 2023
Museum of the Broads – New Pop-up Museum Gazebo
The Museum of the Broads is one of the Broads’ premier visitor attractions. The Museum was in need of a more vibrant and durable gazebo in order to expand the reach of the museum into local and regional events. A new branded gazebo would help to increase the Museum’s brand with the local community as well as visitors to the Broads National Park, which in turn will increase visits and memberships and ensure the museum’s financial viability.
Grant Applicant: Museum of the Broads
Funding received from Love the Broads: £700
Project completion date: October 2022
Burnt Fen Alpacas – improved facilities for disabled visitors
Burnt Fen Alpacas is located in a special area within the Broads National Park and visitors with disabilities and mental health challenges are welcomed to this calming, broadside environment in the company of animals. Research shows that providing an environment such as that found at Burnt Fen gives an inclusive and beneficial experience for everyone, particularly those with disabilities. Love the Broads is delighted to provide funding towards specially adapted toilet facilities for those less able.
Grant Applicant: Burnt Fen Alpacas
Funding received from Love the Broads: £1,600
Project completion date: May 2022
New interpretation panels at Geldeston
A grant has been awarded for two new A1 interpretation boards at the community owned Locks Inn, Geldeston. One of the boards will be located at the entrance to the River Waveney Trust owned 1 acre woodland adjacent to the Locks Inn beer garden. A second board will be a replacement for an out-of-date board with information about the restored historical river lock.
Grant Applicant: River Waveney Trust
Funding received from Love the Broads: £1,696
Project completion date: May 2022
Water, Mills and Marshes scheme – Halvergate Marshes People Counters
A grant has been provided towards the purchase and installation of five data counters to be used during both the preliminary and evaluation stages of the Halvergate Mills Trail project to obtain data about current use of the existing Halvergate Public Right of Way (PROW) network and to measure changes in user’s behaviour during the off peak tourism season after the delivery of the Halvergate Mills Trail.
Grant Applicant: Water Mills and Marshes, Broads Landscape Partnership Scheme
Funding received from Love the Broads: £900
Project completion date: October 2021
Museum of the Broads – Automatic life jackets for tour boats
A grant has been provided to the Museum of the Broads for the purchase of 16 automated life jackets for use on their tour boats.
Grant Applicant: Museum of the Broads
Funding received from Love the Broads: £1, 360
Project completion date: October 2021
Wherry Maud receives grant towards a new tender
A grant has been awarded to the iconic Wherry Maud towards the purchase of a more powerful support vessel. The previous tender was found to lack power and the 6hp well-worn outboard was not sufficient resulting, on occasions when crossing Breydon Water, having to use two dinghies.
It was considered that a tender with an inboard engine should be purchased to enable more sailings and to cope with the inconsistency of weather conditions. A suitable boat was being built and completed in the summer of 2021. It is of the same era as “Maud” and looks much more traditional. The engine is a Nanni 20hp diesel, capable of pushing “Maud” against wind and tide. We wish Wherry Maud well with her new tender.
Pictures: Wherry Maud and Linda Pargeter with Love the Broads’ grant cheque
Grant Applicant: Trustees of Wherry Maud, Registered Charity No. 1161285
Funding received from Love the Broads: £1,000
Project completion date: July 2021
Canoe Pontoon at Geldeston Lock
A new canoe platform is to be installed at a location within the Broads National Park at Geldeston Lock on the River Waveney. Love the Broads are delighted to have helped towards the funding of this structure which will benefit the increasing number of canoeists within the Broads National Park to access the local community pub, local villages and countryside as well as the wider river network.
Grant Applicant: Broads Authority
Funding received from Love the Broads: £1,000
Project completion date: Summer 2021
Geldeston – Locks Inn – Educational Needs
This project is part of The Locks Inn Community Pub to offer educational and community facilities at the pub to enable workshops, meetings, conferences and community events in two meeting rooms.
Equipment was required which would include a laptop, tables and chairs, overhead projector and screen, flip chart and wipe board.
Those attending events would be able to benefit from refreshments and meals from locally sourced food and drink suppliers.
As well as hosting their own events, the pub are to encourage local people to put on their own events which could include local markets of home produce and craft, art, nature and local history exhibitions.
Our main aim in all of this that everyone has the opportunity to access learning, a wide range of education and leisure courses to improve health and wellbeing.
The pub has been closed for some time and its re-opening is being financed through the sale of shares. The re-opening is scheduled for May 13th 2021.
Grant Applicant: The Locks Inn Community Pub Limited
Funding received from Love the Broads: £700
Project completion date: June 2021
Interpreting the Broads’ wherries for young people – Heritage Lottery Funded
The Norfolk Wherry is an iconic vessel, initially used for moving cargo and people around the Broads’ network of rivers. The change in use of the wherry from cargo carrying to holiday boat, created opportunities for local boat builders to establish the Broads as a flourishing holiday destination.
The aim of this project was to create a cohesive and comprehensive suite of materials pertinent to the curriculum interpreting the wherries in context. The creation process was overseen by a skilled contractor who worked with the volunteers involved in the Trusts to support their own learning and use of existing knowledge and resources.
The three Wherry Trusts which manage seven of the eight existing wherries, will use and promote these new resources for teaching and learning opportunities as well as making them available on line.
The resources take the form of an integrated education package introducing wherries primarily to Key Stage 2 students, with material that can be utilised by Key Stages 1 and 3. Wherries are introduced within a powerpoint presentation available for schools and the public.
Links to short videos for in-school teaching will also be available on-line via partner organisation web sites. It is intended that these can be used for pre-visit preparation and post-visit follow up.
The Education Package:
- KS2 Powerpoint presentations were developed to illustrate the evolution and history of the wherries, function, cargoes and people who crewed the vessels
- Wherry Race board game is also being developed. The board game is an excellent interpretative resource for in-school use and will be played by visiting groups staying at How Hill Environmental Study Centre. Copies of the game will also be used by the wherry-owning trusts and distributed to primary schools and other educational groups local to the Broads. 100 copies of the board game have been produced and it is tended that a future reprint of the game will allow for a wider circulation and greater engagement.
- The constructions of a set of 3 working models of pleasure and trading wherries. A further model of a yacht is under construction. These can be handled, dismantled and reconstructed by students and teaching staff to provide a tangible demonstration of the features and operation of trading and pleasure wherries. These will be distributed among wherry trusts and will be made available for loan to schools who express an interest in the wherry project.
Whilst this project is finalised the roll out across schools has been delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Grant Applicant: Norfolk & Suffolk Broads Charitable Trust – delivered by the Broads Authority
Funding received from Heritage Lottery Fund: £8,800
Funding received from Love the Broads: £1,000
Project completion date: January 2020
Image acknowledgement: Fleet of wherries sailing on Barton Broad
Photo: Simon Finlay For: Broads Authority © 2004
