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Evangelos Marinakis has personally donated £150,000 to the Nottingham Forest Community Trust.

The Nottingham Forest owner’s donation will be used to help the Trust’s work on numerous football, educational and social projects within the city.

Reds chairman Nicholas Randall also hopes the gesture is another step towards helping improve the club’s relationship with the local community.

“The trust already does some amazing work in the community and we, the club, are seeking to reset the relationship to create a genuine spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding,” said Randall.

“With their current ideas regarding youth engagement and the way in which the Trust communicates with the younger generation, we see them as ideal drivers behind the NFFC Youth Council and, with this contribution by Mr Marinakis, they will now have the resources to establish a voice for the next generation of Forest fans.

“This is the first step of forming a closer relationship. Together, our vision is for the Trust to be the umbrella organisation for the club’s charitable activities and integral to our community engagement.

“I am also delighted to be joining the board of the Trust and will seek to play an active role.”

Graham Moran, who is chief executive of the Trust, says the donation will have a big impact.

“The very generous donation will not only provide much needed support for the existing football, education and social action programmes already being delivered across the city and county, but also investment to develop new initiatives that the owner and his board have outlined since they arrived here in Nottingham," he said.

“The chairman has already confirmed the creation of Nottingham Forest Youth Council, which is a ground-breaking initiative within professional football throughout England.

“The club and the Trust are working very closely on other exciting plans that will see community engagement at the heart of building a successful Nottingham Forest for the future.”