You can help us develop inspirational green solutions at our properties.
'Climate change has implications for everything the National Trust does. Working together, we can all be part of the solution'.
Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, Director General, The National Trust
The National Trust is already experiencing the impacts of climate change first hand at our houses, gardens, coastline and countryside. We are committed to playing our part in tackling climate change by reducing the environmental footprint of everything we do. But this is a huge programme of work, and with your help we will achieve so much more.
© NTPL / Joe Cornish
At many Trust properties we’re already using small scale renewable technologies – energy generated from water, sun, wind and wood. These modern technologies have been chosen and designed to be compatible with historic buildings and sensitive landscapes.
With your help, many more of our sites will benefit from renewable energy technologies - and together we’ll make a bigger difference to tackling climate change. We’ll even be able to develop and test new technologies to save energy, water and waste at our sites.
We’ve also got a great opportunity to share this work with our 3.5 million members and 13 million visitors, including 500,000 school children - demonstrating how energy saving and small scale renewable energy can be part of everyone’s home and community.
Every penny you contribute to our Green Solutions Fund will be invested directly in projects such as the examples below. And you can come and visit our properties to see the benefits for yourself!
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Kinder Scout, Derbyshire
© NTPL / Joe Cornish
The restoration of the peat bogs of the High Peaks is an exciting project and has a wide ranging positive impact – the re-introduction of plant, bird and animal species that have been missing for up to 200 years; the creation of a carbon sink to reduce the impact of climate change; the improvement of water quality.
Find out more about the Peak District Appeal
Gibson Mill, West Yorkshire
© National Trust
The revolutionary potential of combining small scale renewable energy and energy saving in historic buildings is demonstrated at Gibson Mill in Yorkshire. We’ve transformed this 200 year old, listed former cotton mill into a visitor centre, café and community space 100 per cent self sufficient in heat and electricity, as well as water and waste treatment. The only outside service that Gibson Mill is connected to is phone lines.
‘The wood burners at Gibson Mill use wood from the surrounding estate. This allows us to give greater priority to woodland management and helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The wildlife benefits from this – butterflies in particular – and it makes the woodland a better place for walkers’.
Guy Laurie, Property Manager
Brancaster Millennium Activity Centre, North Norfolk
© NTPL / Paul Harris
Brancaster Millennium Activity Centre is a 17th century listed building on the North Norfolk coast, renovated into a residential education centre. Hidden beneath the coastal mudflats are long pipes. Water flowing through them draws in the natural warmth stored within the mud. The heat is pumped under the floors of the Activity Centre to keep visitors nice and cosy. Ground heat recovery systems like this one work just as well on dry land, and you don’t need a huge amount of space.
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‘We encourage students who visit Brancaster to think of ways they can reduce their impact on the natural world. They get actively involved in our recycling, composting, energy reduction, renewable energy and water saving programmes'.
Jo Johnston, Centre Manager
Kynance Cove, Lizard, Cornwall
© NTPL / Paul Wakefield
The visitor buildings and café at Kynance Cove have been re-roofed with over 500 solar slates that generate electricity throughout the year to supplement the mains supply and export to the grid at times of low use.
The solar slates have produced over 5,000Kwh of electricity in the past 12 months – enough to light a 3-bedroom house for eight years. Wool insulation ‘Thermafleece’ has also been used to make the buildings energy efficient.
'Kynance Cove is a good example of the Trust's commitment to using innovative design and green technology to breathe new life into historic buildings'.
Rob Jarman, Head of Sustainability, the National Trust
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There are many positive practical ways we can help prevent climate change. Your contribution to the Green Solutions Fund helps us implement these at our properties. Every tonne of carbon we save helps reduce the risk to National Trust sites from climate change.
Find out more about steps we can all take to help tackle climate change.
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