The grant-giving charity for nature in Suffolk
We are not yet open for applications. Please register your interest
The grant-giving charity for nature in Suffolk
We are not yet open for applications. Please register your interest
East Suffolk Trust is a major new environmental grant-giving charity in Suffolk.
We will empower local people and organisations to better protect, conserve and enhance wild spaces and landscapes in Suffolk and its immediate surrounding area, with a particular focus on East Suffolk.
We exist to make East Suffolk the most ecologically diverse and resilient area in England.
Please reach us at enquiries@eastsuffolktrust.org if you cannot find an answer to your question.
East Suffolk Trust was set up by Sizewell C Limited, East Suffolk Council and Suffolk County Council, known together as the founding parties. They came together because they believe urgent action is needed to tackle the big challenges of climate change and the biodiversity crisis, which are closely linked.
No. It has nothing to do with mitigating Sizewell C’s impacts.
East Suffolk Trust is an independent charity led by a Board of Trustees. The Trustees are responsible for making sure the charity is run properly and in line with its Constitution, which has been approved by the Charity Commission.
The Board will be supported by an experienced Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The CEO will provide strategic leadership and oversee day-to-day operations, working closely with the Trustees to achieve the charity’s mission. More details will be shared soon.
East Suffolk Trust’s Board comprises seven highly experienced and independent charity trustees, drawn from the local and regional business, charity and academic sectors:
Six of the trustees were appointed by the founding parties, which were each entitled to appoint up to two trustees. The six founding trustees are entitled to appoint up to two further trustees.
None. East Suffolk Trust is governed by its independent Board of Trustees. The three founding parties have no role in decision-making, apart from appointing trustees and taking part in an Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee may also include other members appointed by the trustees, who can choose to consult it on certain matters before making decisions.
Sizewell C provides East Suffolk Trust’s core funding. The company has made a legally binding commitment to donate £1.5 million for each year of construction and the first 20 years of operation. After that, funding will continue at £0.75 million per year until the end of the power station’s operational life. All amounts are index-linked to 2022 values.
If construction takes 12 years and the power station operates for 60 years, Sizewell C’s total contribution would be £78 million. If it operates for 100 years, the total would rise to over £100 million.
East Suffolk Trust may also aim to secure additional funding from other sources, such as third-party developers.
Sizewell C’s funding is guaranteed through a legal agreement called the “Suffolk Environment Charity Deed,” set up between Sizewell C Limited, East Suffolk Council, and Suffolk County Council (the founding parties). This agreement legally obliges Sizewell C to provide the funding for the charity as described above.
East Suffolk Trust does not compete with existing environmental charities. Instead, it acts as a grant maker, providing funding to support projects run by other charities, communities, or individuals. This means it brings new, additional resources that wouldn’t otherwise be available, helping more to be done to restore the abundance and diversity of nature in Suffolk.
East Suffolk Trust could have a hugely positive impact. There is no other locally focused, grant-giving environmental charity in the UK with such a large and secure funding stream over such a long period—at least 70 years. Its ambition, long-term funding, and longevity have the potential to be truly transformative for nature in Suffolk.
Not directly. East Suffolk Trust is a grant-giving charity that supports other organisations, communities, and individuals to take action for nature.
East Suffolk Trust will fund projects that help conserve, protect, or improve the natural environment, including coastal and marine areas and the local countryside. It will also fund projects that educate people about caring for and looking after nature.
Yes. Funding will be available for marine-based projects that deliver for nature.
Not only in East Suffolk. Grants will be available for projects across Suffolk and nearby areas. If a project spans Suffolk and a neighbouring county, most of it should take place in Suffolk. Projects that benefit nature in East Suffolk will be given priority.
We expect to open the first grant application window in spring 2026. Further details will be published in due course.
There’s no limit on the number of applications. However, the Board of Trustees has the final say and may choose not to award a grant to an applicant.
Yes. This can be very helpful to projects as it provides security of funding.
Yes. In fact it is very likely that match funding will be encouraged.
East Suffolk Trust will exist for at least as long as Sizewell C does. The power station is expected to generate power for at least 60 years and potentially up to 100 years.
Yes. Other parties can contribute as long as the funding is charitable and supports East Suffolk Trust’s mission and objectives. The Trust will not accept contributions intended to mitigate environmental impacts.
No. East Suffolk Trust is entirely independent from Sizewell C. Its funding is separate and unrelated to any environmental mitigation or compensation that Sizewell C is required to deliver.
There is no relationship - these are completely separate funds. NEIF exists to mitigate Sizewell C’s remaining impacts on landscape and visual amenity, particularly in the Suffolk and Essex Coast and Heaths National Landscape and Heritage Coast.
Like East Suffolk Trust, NEIF is a grant-giving fund, but it is administered by the Natural Environment Awards Panel, which includes representatives from East Suffolk District Council, Suffolk County Council, Sizewell C, Natural England, and the Suffolk and Essex National Landscape Partnership. NEIF is much smaller, distributing around £6 million during construction and £3.5 million in the first three years of operation, after which the fund will be wound up. East Suffolk Trust, in contrast, will operate for as long as Sizewell C does.
Yes, provided they can meet the specific objectives of each fund.
No. East Suffolk Trust is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, and possibly the world. Alongside Sizewell C’s creation of new nature reserves, it shows how major infrastructure projects can benefit nature as well as local communities and businesses. East Suffolk Trust is hoped to set a ‘greenprint’ for how large projects can maximise their social and environmental legacy.
There is no formal relationship. All trustees are required to act independently and in line with East Suffolk Trust’s Constitution. Like any charity trustee, or corporate non-executive director, they must declare any potential conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived.
East Suffolk Trust is working with Community Action Suffolk to establish a strong governance structure, including policies such as a Conflict of Interest policy, to ensure transparency and independent decision-making.
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