The River Waveney Trust (RWT) is pleased to welcome broadcaster, author and comedian Griff Rhys Jones to officially open the new home of the Trust, the River Waveney Study Centre at Earsham near Bungay on Saturday 19 October 2013.

This will be an event restricted to River Waveney Trust members only but we would welcome the media to attend on the day. We expect around 150 members to be in attendance.

The Centre, on the site of the former Otter Trust, will use its 32 acres, river frontage, lakes, walks and buildings to offer educational and entertainment events celebrating the Waveney. Opening to the public in Spring 2014, the Centre is already working with local schools and colleges to bring education and wildlife closer together. The River Waveney Trust has agreed a five year lease with the Otter Trust.

The RWT has spent the past few months renovating and redecorating the buildings at Earsham which haven’t been used since the Otter Trust closed its doors in 2006 having declared its work in reintroducing the species as complete.

Griff will arrive at the Centre by canoe at approximately 3.30pm, along with Trust members, having navi- gated down a section of the River Waveney to get a first hand look at the beauty of the natural border between Norfolk and Suffolk. Griff’s arrival can be photographed by arrangement, but please arrive by 3pm if you want to join the earlier photo opportunity.

He will then officially open the Centre at around 4pm, following speeches and a formal handover ceremony between the Otter Trust and RWT. Griff will then be available for photographs and interviews for a short time before moving on to his next engagement in Diss.

Griff Rhys Jones Afloat – One Man in Three Boats will take place at Diss Corn Hall on Saturday evening, featuring Griff talking about his lifetime love affair with boats. His father brought him to Suffolk 50 years ago by wooden boat which later prompted him to settle by a river in the county. Griff will also tell tales of his own explorations of estuaries, rivers, seas and canals, some of which feature in his books To the Baltic and Rivers.

Proceeds from the event, which is close to selling out at the time of writing, will be shared between the Corn Hall Trust and the River Waveney Trust.

 

 

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