What we are doing to protect Britain's glorious buildings, landscapes and coastlines.
Britain’s glorious buildings, landscapes and coastlines belong to us all.
They provide inspiration, fun, physical and intellectual challenges, companionship, joy, consolation, and peace. The simple pleasures of a walk in the woods or time spent before a blazing hearth feel of greater value than anything you can buy on the high street. We exist so that as many people as possible can share in these benefits.
Over recent years we have transformed our finances and the way that we are run, but there is still plenty left to do.
A sense of belonging
We were founded more than a century ago for the benefit of the nation. That means the whole nation, including those who still feel that the Trust is: ‘not for people like us’. We must challenge the perception that we are some sort of exclusive club or that we are solely concerned with bricks and mortar. As one of the nation's biggest landowners, we are, and always have been, about the great outdoors.
Life is local
In the past our houses were at the heart of their communities. Now they can be both time-capsules and give a taste of local culture. Our countryside has always been dynamic and changing, but it too has helped to model our national character and to define the qualities that places confer on those that live there.We want to put all our places back a the centre of community life.
Time well spent
Helping people enjoy life to the full has always been at the heart of our charitable mission. We do our best to give people memorable experiences in wonderful places. But we know we can do even better. We've worked hard to tell people about the enjoyment on offer at our houses, gardens, coast and countryside, particularly in a time of economic difficulty.
Bringing places to life
We are now developing exciting new ways to present our special places – by firing the imaginations of the widest possible range of visitors without compromising our duty of conservation.
Our people free to be creative
In the past, we found our internal culture required too much approval - slowing up decision-making. We're now handing power to our staff and volunteers at our places and spaces and slashing the rulebook, rewarding individual initiative. We will measure our success by asking visitors about their experiences and perceptions of our conservation work, and monitoring the rate of increase in local membership.
Sustainable income, sustainable places
As a charity independent from the government, we work hard to raise money to sustain our buildings, chattels and land through expert conservation. To sustain that independence, we aim to increase the number of our properties in profit; build up our reserves and wage war on waste. We will also take care of our environment by reducing energy and water use and, developing our own energy sources.