William, who grew up in Devon, has a passion for rivers and nature. He currently works for Thames21 (a rivers trust charity based in London), working on developing river restoration projects across the Thames basin. He discovered our plans to create Martlesham Wilds via Twitter, and was inspired to take action.

William says "We need Martlesham Wilds, and restoring land for wildlife is one of the biggest positive legacies we can leave on this world.  The chance to return a huge area of land to nature is a really rare opportunity, so it seemed like a really exciting and positive project when there's so much depressing news around biodiversity and climate currently. I know The Wildlife Trusts do some incredible work and this project seems like a prime example of that."

My friend Ewan was planning a charity walk from London to Brighton and had invited me along to keep him company. I naively signed up without really realising how far it was to be honest but I didn't want to let him down so made sure to see it through and thought I should use the opportunity to raise some cash for a good cause."

After 17 hours of walking, William and Ewan made it to Brighton at 11pm! However, sadly, all the trains back to London were cancelled, so a taxi ride home saved a night of sleeping in the station after a very long day.

William continues "It's definitely one of the toughest things I've done and there was a couple of moments where we didn't think we'd make it, but all in all it was a great challenge and a fun way (in hindsight) to spend a Saturday!"

William and Ewan's tremendous efforts raised £445 for Martlesham Wilds - an incredible achievement. Thank you William and Ewan for help us create a wilder Suffolk! 

Find out more about Martlesham Wilds