What does the National Trust stand for?

The National Trust was established over 100 years ago by radical Victorian reformers who believed passionately that our historic and natural environment was worth saving. Today, our heritage has never been more popular, our natural environment never more vital to our quality of life and yet the threat to these has never been greater.

The National Trust knows it must use its voice to protect not only its properties, but all parts of our historic and natural environment. Visit our policy pages to find out the Trust’s views on a wide range of issues which affect these fantastic assets.

The National Trust in the East Midlands in numbers:

• The National Trust has massive support - 260,000 members in the East Midlands, over 3 million nationally.
• The East Midlands' 3,500 volunteers perform over £1 million pounds of ‘work’ each year and we simply couldn’t operate without them.
• We own, protect and manage approximately 20,000 hectares of land in the East Midlands, including 12% of the Peak District.
• Over 30,000 school pupils visit our properties each year.
• Every National Trust job creates between 5 and 9 full time equivalents in the local economy.
• We inject £16 million into the regional economy each year.

But to really understand what the Trust does, take a look at ‘The National Trust in the East Midlands … revealed’ (PDF 876KB) to find out from a range of people what the Trust has done for them.

The National Trust: - Tourism in the East Midlands

The Trust is a major player in the tourism industry nationally and in this region. Our work protecting and managing over 600,000 acres of countryside and 700 miles of coast in England, Wales and Northern Ireland underpins the essential environmental resources upon which so much of the tourism industry depends.

Our leaflet, Tourism: Policy from Practice (PDF/401KB), highlights future challenges for the tourism industry; including the growing tourism balance of payments deficit and the need to promote domestic tourism more widely. Case studies of our holiday cottage operations and The Workhouse help to illustrate how sustaining high quality, natural, cultural and historical assets are fundamental to the continued appeal of the domestic tourism sector.

Nature and the National Trust

The scale of our responsibility for the natural history of England, Wales and Northern Ireland is unrivalled by any other organisation. In the East Midlands alone we own, protect and manage approximately 20,000 hectares including 12 per cent of the Peak District, 20 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and 2 National Nature Reserves.

Our publication 'Nature and the National Trust' highlights our importance as a nature conservation organisation.

Discovery and learning

The National Trust exists not just to preserve special places but to bring them to life for everyone to enjoy. Our job is to bring these places to life for all of our visitors, including school pupils and community groups. Our 'Vision for Learning' booklet gives snapshots of how visits to our properties can often be the first step on a much longer journey of discovery.