The National Trust for Scotland, the country’s leading independent conservation charity, has announced its most ambitious-ever programme for investment and activity, with plans to spend almost £60 million on Scotland’s built and natural heritage over the next five years.
In its corporate strategy for 2018-2023, the conservation charity has committed to:
- Delivering more benefit to a greater and more diverse range of people;
- Defending Scotland’s heritage for current and future generations;
- Creating active learning experiences for more than 100,000 people each year;
- Introducing new, engaging and more inclusive ways to present its collections, gardens and the stories of Scotland;
- Undertaking significant landscape restoration projects;
- Growing annual visitor numbers to more than five million;
- Building its membership base from 375,000 to 490,000;
- Increasing annual donations to more than £10 million.
Building on its recently-launched For the Love of Scotland campaign, which features many of the nation’s best-known faces, the strategy highlights some of the 100 ways in which the National Trust for Scotland actively cares for and protects Scotland’s heritage. These feature dedicated volunteers, staff and supporters who love and protect Scotland’s precious natural and historic treasures.
Among its priority projects over the next five years will be the construction of a ‘box’ to protect Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House in Helensburgh. An urgent campaign to raise £1.5 million is well underway, allowing crucial conservation work to commence in the coming weeks.
In the strategy document, the National Trust for Scotland outlines its intention to build on recent work restructuring the organisation so it can safeguard Scotland’s heritage for generations to come.
The Trust recognises that more needs to be done to improve its properties, not only by investing in maintenance and conservation, but by enhancing the experience of visitors and enriching the way it tells Scotland’s story. In particular, it describes how significant investment in its technological systems will improve customer experience and assist volunteers and staff in their jobs.
The strategy also reinforces the role the Trust has in collaborating in wider discussions such as sustainability and climate change – harking back to the campaigning roots of the organisation.
Simon Skinner, chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland, said: “This strategy outlines everything that the National Trust for Scotland stands for: protecting our heritage, sharing unique experiences with people and promoting Scotland, all through the collective endeavour of our supporters and staff. To do that, we need to create an efficient and sustainable business which delivers our conservation ambitions.
“Our charity is unique in Scotland in that its remit is to protect the full spectrum cultural, built and natural heritage. Our independent charitable status also gives us the freedom to take a long-term view about what is best for heritage, to make our voice heard when it is needed and to take radical action, just as we are doing at The Hill House.
“This plan for the next five years sets out how we can make the Trust fit for the future, through investment in every aspect of our organisation – our people, our places, and delivering the technology that both of them need in an ever-changing world.
“We have a range of bold projects underway the length and breadth of Scotland from The Hill House in Helensburgh and Brodick Castle on Arran, all the way up to our ongoing investment in Inverewe Garden. This strategy gives us a renewed focus on the future and underlines our commitment to the totality of Scotland’s heritage, landscapes, and legacy and what it can do for our communities.
“Celebrating the past, while looking firmly ahead, we will ensure our heritage is valued by all and kept safe for generations to come.”
You can find out more about the National Trust for Scotland’s 100 ways by visiting: https://www.nts.org.uk/our-work/our-strategy
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