Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, Director General, considers the future
of the National Trust and introduces the strategy to 2010 and beyond.
Engaging
supporters
Our overwhelming priority for the next period is to involve more deeply all the
people who support us – or who might support us – inspiring them with the excellence of our conservation
work and purpose. We’ll remind them of how vital the work of the Trust is in looking after special places
for ever, for everyone and as champions of a perpetual cause that today goes beyond conservation excellence
and access to embrace the environment.
©NTPL
/ Paul Harris
Properties are at the heart of our new strategy. This means our supporters will
see a change when they visit us. Each property is unique, but what will be common to all is that people
won’t just be welcomed as visitors and customers, they will be encouraged to explore the property and
its stories, to see and understand the significance of what is there and the conservation work that
goes on, to get involved, and to connect what they see at our properties with what is going on in the
wider world.
We’ll also be communicating more with our supporters, finding out what interests
them and helping their interests to grow, whether it be through historic properties and their contents,
gardens, the coast, archaeology, countryside, fine art, outdoor activities, wildlife or specialist research
and publications. We want to turn more people from ‘just’ being customers into more active supporters,
and to that end we will replace the word ‘customer’ with ‘supporter’ throughout the Trust. We’ll aim
to make every encounter with the Trust a positive one.
©NTPL
/ Joe Cornish
Improving conservation and environmental
performance
For this approach to be successful our supporters need to be inspired by what they
see. Excellent conservation and access delivered to a high standard is a pre-requisite for the new strategy
to work. For the first time we will be able to track conservation performance at every property and
be able to say what needs to be done to meet our conservation objectives.
We’ll be investing a great deal of money and time in conservation – addressing maintenance
and backlog; improving cottages; maintaining footpaths; managing wildlife habitats; and ensuring inspiring
and appropriate interpretation, care and presentation of our gardens and the contents of our houses.
We’ll enable people to see and share in both the process of discovery and conservation, and we will
promote the research, scholarship, skills and expertise we rely on.
We’ll also be building on our credentials as one of the country’s oldest environmental
organisations, tackling environmental challenges like climate change by setting specific targets to
reduce our environmental footprint. We’ll be focusing on our use of water, energy and management of
waste, setting an example, and sharing our experience with others.
©NTPL
/ John Hammond
This all adds up to an exciting agenda for the next few years. It’s built on a record
of phenomenal achievement over 110 years during which time the Trust has become admired and envied throughout
the world. Our future depends on continuing to inspire, enthuse and engage millions of people around
our cause.
Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, Director General
July 2007
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