A charity founded by the man known as “Mr Norwich City” has reached the milestone of handing out £8m in grants to good causes across Norfolk and Waveney.

Norwich Evening News: Geoffrey Watling at Norwich City Football Club's centenary dinner in 2002. Picture: Eastern Counties Newspaper/Archant LibraryGeoffrey Watling at Norwich City Football Club's centenary dinner in 2002. Picture: Eastern Counties Newspaper/Archant Library (Image: EDP © 2002)

The latest batch of grants handed out by the Geoffrey Watling Charity set up by former Canaries chairman and president Geoffrey Watling has pushed the total amount paid out by the organisation to a record £8,084,555.

Mr Watling, who is credited with saving the football club when he took the helm in the 1950s, set up the charitable trust in 1993, following the death of his daughter Carol, with the appointment of four trustees.

Upon his death, in 2004, the majority of his estate was bequeathed to the Geoffrey Watling Charity to continue the good work he started and, since then, organisations of all sizes and across the region have benefited.

Among the latest round of distributions a grant of £50,000 was made to the Norfolk Community Foundation Covid-19 Community Response Fund and £30,000 towards a University of East Anglia project to develop a new coronavirus test for frontline NHS staff.

Other grants were made to support projects at St Faith’s Church Gaywood, the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre, Norfolk SEN Network, Nelson’s Journey, Menscraft CIC Norwich, The Bircham Centre, The Pastures Residential Care Home in Hales and St George’s Theatre in Great Yarmouth.

Alan Watling, chairman of trustees, said: “We are pleased that the charity set up by Geoffrey back in 1993 has reached this remarkable milestone of over £8m helping charities and charitable organisations in the communities of Norfolk and the Waveney area of Suffolk and we look forward to continuing to offer financial support to make a difference for such organisations for many years to come.”

The GWC board of trustees meets quarterly to consider applications for grants from organisations across Norfolk and the Waveney.

Grants are given to causes which the trustees believe merit support.

Among the organisations which have been helped by the GWC in the past are Norwich Theatre Royal, Norwich Historic Churches Trust, Norfolk Wildlife Trust and the Norfolk and Norwich Association for the Blind.