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.
Museum of the Broads – Enabling less able visitors to access the Marsh Harrier
The Museum’s new electric launch, Marsh Harrier, is wheelchair accessible via a lift within the boat. It was operated by an existing 48 volt system. However, once operational at the end of 2019, it was found that the power required to operate the bow thruster, the bilge pumps, and the lift drained the batteries to an extent that trips were then limited or had to be curtailed.
This grant will fund the installation of a 12 volt electrical and self-contained 12 volt charging system on the boat. It will enable the lift to be used without detriment to the normal running of the boat and create access for passengers unable to negotiate the boarding steps and to lower and raise passengers in wheelchairs into and off the boat.
The new 12 volt system, like the existing 48 volt system, will be charged using electricity generated by the Museum’s own solar panels.
The Broads Trust Trustees agreed the grant application early in 2020 but this was delayed due to Covid
Peter Howe, Trustee of Broads Trust, presents the cheque to Nicola Hems, Curator and Robert Paul, Chairman of Museum of the Broads Trustees
Date: August 2020
Grant Applicant: Museum of the Broads
Grant amount provided towards the full project costs: £1,300
Salhouse Broad Adventure Play area – Friends of Salhouse Broad
Salhouse Broad is popular to visit by boat, cycle or foot, being close to the village of Salhouse with its many facilities including pubs and cafes. It is a destination is its own right.
The aim of this project is to create a bespoke natural play space for everyone to enjoy. The new play area will encourage children and families to engage with the stunning natural woodland adjacent to the Broad and within The Broads National Park. It will widen the offer to both local residents and families visiting the area, encouraging them to visit at any time of the year and to stay for longer.
With direct links to the river, local footpaths and well known cycle routes, it perfectly fits the vision of Love The Broads to enable access for all, including young children, to the Broads and its natural environment, bringing with it all the benefits to health and well being
The new play area was built if natural and sustainable materials, with the chestnut timber sourced, processed and seasoned from sustainably managed local woodland. Timber from the existing play area, which is some years old, will be used in other parts of the site for repairs such as to the boardwalks etc. The play area was completed in a snowy February 2021
CAP.Co, a local, Broads-based company who are international leaders in the field of creating adventurous, playful, educational spaces, have been commissioned to deliver this project
Date: January 2020
Grant Applicant: Friends of Salhouse Broad
Grant Amount provided towards the full project costs: £2,000
Broads Reed and Sedge Cutters Association – Improving Fen Access for Reed Harvesting
The purchase of specialist mats will help to protect the fragile peat fen from compression from even light-weight reed cutting machinery. This project aims to provide modern equipment to adapt operations to climate change and rising sea levels. It will improve access to a number of sites that are managed for conservation and commercial reed, (renowned for its high quality and used in fencing and thatching roofs across the country) and sedge. It will involve the purchase of 20 track mats to prevent ground damage to these biodiverse peat fens and facilitate the removal of the quality local product from the marsh. Currently many areas of marsh can only be accessed on foot and laying these transportable and temporary track ways over areas of unstable ground will enable the Broads Reed and Sedge Cutters Association‘s members to use machinery to remove the final product.
Date: January 2020
Grant applicant: Broads Reed and Sedge Cutters Association
Grant provided: £1,200
RAF Air Defence Radar Museum – Video recording of memories
Video recordings of the memories and stories of the men and women who worked in this fascinating radar station throughout the Cold War period. These unique historic recordings will be broadcast within an Exhibition at the Museum. They will add personality, engagement and historical information to the visitor experience and will inform young people of the challenging times and social history the Cold War era and ensure that these memories are available to all before they are lost forever.
(left) Peter Howe, Trustee of the Broads Trust, presenting a cheque to Trustees of the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum, Neatishead
(right) The Operations Room in the Radar Museum
Date: January 2020
Grant Applicant: RAF Air Defence Radar Museum
Grant amount: £2,219.97
Thurne Mill – Capturing Memories of the Mill
The Friends of Thurne Mill was created 5 years ago. Their purpose is to keep visitors and residents informed and involved and grow the interest in this iconic Broads historic Mill. This project will creat a physical and digital history about the folk who lived and worked at the Mill and the impact it had on the local community. A Love the Broads grant will part-fund the costs of recording and digital equipment to enable this historical record to be captured now and to be added to in the future.
“By granting these funds, we will be able to create an archive that will last through the generations. It means a great deal to the organisation and we are really looking forward to getting started”,
Friends of Thurne Mill
Date: 2019
Grant Applicant: Friends of Thurne Mill
Grant Amount: £2,034.10
Nancy Oldfield Trust – Wellbeing on Water – Audio Visual Equipment for presentations
The Nancy Oldfield Trust, based at Neatishead, have been working on a project “Wellbeing on Water” to provide free boating activities for people who are in palliative care or who have received diagnosis of a terminal illness. Love the Broads, thanks to the exclusive sponsorship of Norfolk Broads Direct, has fully funded the purchase of new audio visual equipment for use in an outreach programme visiting groups and organisations to talk about this initiative and to promote the use of their services.
Date: 2019
Grant Applicant: Nancy Oldfield Trust
Grant Awarded: £500
(exclusively sponsored by Norfolk Broads Direct)
Uncovering Otter Secrets on the Lower Waveney Marshes
Otters have enormous popular appeal but there can also be conflict with anglers and garden pond-owners. This project, which fully funded equipment and community workshops and talks, uses the newly discovered data from a volunteer-led and run study. It monitors the otter population by recoding video evidence of the otter presence and behaviour patterns. The project extended over three Suffolk Wildlife Trust Nature Reserves on the Lower Waveney and was centred at Carlton Marshes.
Date: 2019
“We’re very excited about receiving this grant and looking forward to getting the project underway. Thank you” Project Co-ordinator, Suffolk Mammal Group
Applicant: Suffolk Otter Group
Total Grant: £822
Norfolk Wildlife Trust – Interpretation panels at Herons Carr Boardwalk
Love the Broads provided a grant to Norfolk Wildlife Trust towards the cost of a series of interpretation panels at Herons Carr Boardwalk overlooking Barton Broad, the second largest of the Norfolk and Suffolk broads. This was part of the Tipping the Balance project.
“Please pass on our sincere gratitude to the Trustees of the Broads Trust and Herbert Woods for their support of this project. We are now able to move ahead with the interpretation, which is great news”, Senior Grants Officer, NWT
Date: 2019
Applicant: Norfolk Wildlife Trust
Total grant: £2,125
(exclusively sponsored by Herbert Woods Broads Holiday Adventures)
Norfolk & Suffolk Broads Yacht Owners Association
Love Sailing on the Norfolk Broads project aims to showcase the Broads as a major sailing destination and to encourage adults, schools and youth groups, with an interest in sailing, to visit or return to the Broads.
The NSBYOA consists of the 5 last remaining (larger) sailing yacht hire companies left on the Norfolk Broads. These are Eastwood Whelpton, Hunter’s Yard (NFHT), Martham Boats | Norfolk Broads Boating, Cruiser & Sailing Holidays, Swallowtail and Olivers Sailing Holidays. It aims to visit key tourism events to market the Broads’ sailing offer. This would require a gazebo and banners to attract and engage with visitors at relevant Shows. Funding was provided towards the cost of purchasing a gazebo and banners to effectively market sailing in the Broads.
Date: 2018
Applicant: Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Yacht Owners Association
Total Grant: £1,500
Introduction of Fen Raft Spider to the Broads
The Broads has lost 67 species since the 1950s and research reveals that 423 rare species, including plants, insects and fish have not been recorded in the last 23 years. Projects such as this are the only way to secure the future of iconic wetland species.
This project, which is now completed, has enabled another new Broadland population of this rare and beautiful animal and to share the excitement with an ever growing audience.
Dr Helen Smith, who lead the project, commented in her completion report:
“We are very grateful to Love the Broads for their generous support for key elements of the Fen Raft Spider translocation programme between 2015 and 2018. During this period, the Broads Authority, and both Norfolk and Suffolk Wildlife Trusts also provided partnership funding to support the wider translocation and conservation programme. This recent phase of the programme built on earlier work financially supported by many organisations. These were led by Natural England and included the BBC Wildlife Fund and RSBP. The Sussex Wildlife Trust, 13 BIAZA-affiliated British Zoos and collections, and the Universities of East Anglian and Nottingham made other important contributions. Many individuals associated with these organisations, and many more volunteers from the region helped to make Broadland’s four new Fen Raft Spider populations a reality”
Total Grant amount: £750 per annum over 4 years 2015 -2018 – £3,000
Applicant: Broads Authority on behalf of SWT, RSPB and Natural England
For more info: Fen Raft Spider
