A �15,000 gift from a charity has enabled Norfolk Wildlife Trust to unlock a further �300,000 from a national grant scheme to progress plans to expand and restore fen and grazing marsh at its Upton Broad and Marshes reserve.

A �15,000 gift from a charity has enabled Norfolk Wildlife Trust to unlock a further �300,000 from a national grant scheme to progress plans to expand and restore fen and grazing marsh at its Upton Broad and Marshes reserve.

The donation from The Geoffrey Watling Charity has been used

as a “contributing third-party payment” to land the six-figure windfall from the Landfill Communities Fund.

The trust's deputy director and head of nature reserves, Matt Bradbury, said: “The Landfill Communities Fund has made a huge difference to wildlife conservation in Norfolk.

“But much of this funding would not have been secured without the support and generosity of organ-isations such as The Geoffrey Watling Charity.”

Mr Watling, pictured below, was

a one of Norfolk's best-known

entrepreneurs and served as chair-man and then president of Norwich City Football Club.

When he died in 2004, he left a large part of his estate to The Geoffrey Watling Charity, which dist-ributes grants to projects in Norf-olk and parts of Suffolk.