Our 250 Club lottery reached a significant milestone in 2021, celebrating its 40
th anniversary, and over £290,000 has now been donated to the Trust. We use the funds as a Third Party Contributing payment to a Landfill Operator, meaning this incredible amount from the 250 Club has enabled us to unlock more than £2.6 million towards habitat restoration projects across Norfolk.
Dereham Wetlands
In recent years this has included restoration of two NWT valley sites, Rush Meadows and
Scarning Fen, 2km apart along a small tributary of the Wensum called Wendling Beck, or locally, Dereham Stream. They are both SSSI and form part of a valuable ecological corridor for wildlife through the landscape. Donations from the 250 Club – and those subsequently unlocked from WREN via Landfill Communities Fund – helped us clear scrub from the open meadow habitat, plus helped us clear ditches and install water control sluices. The recovery of Rush Meadows has been so successful that we have recently been able to reintroduce British White cattle to graze the fen.
Breckland heath
NWT Thompson Common in the Brecks is one of the best places in Europe for beetles, with more than 600 species recorded, and one of only two UK sites where you can find northern pool frog. For many years, however, the site’s biodiversity has been threatened by excess nutrients seeping out of a neighbouring pig farm. We were recently able to buy the land and begin its restoration back to Breck grass heathland. With 250 Club-enabled funding from Biffa Award, we hope to reinstate previously-lost “ghost”
pingos (ancient ponds) and clear scrub to improve the connection between the new land and the existing reserve.