Inclusion and Diversity Progress Report
Becoming a more inclusive organisation is one of our top priorities. Find out more about our work to create an accessible and welcoming environment for all.
Our commitment to inclusion and diversity
We're committed to meeting the needs and expectations of a diverse society. Find out what we're doing to create an inclusive, accessible and welcoming environment for our supporters, staff and volunteers.
Whether you're a member, supporter, volunteer or staff member, it's important that everyone has an equally positive experience of our work and feels welcome. We call this work Everyone Welcome and every part of the organisation is responsible for it.
We’ve created the Inclusion and Diversity Progress Report to share some of the work we're doing to connect with those currently least represented among our staff, volunteers and supporters. This report also shares some of the progress we're making and the impact it's having.
We’ll be publishing a progress update every two years, so anyone can track this progress and hold us to account about meeting our commitments.
The work of the National Trust is always guided by our charitable purpose, which places on us a duty to promote the preservation of nature, beauty and history, for the benefit of the whole nation. We can only do that if we reflect the nations and communities we serve.
A quote by Hilary McGradyNational Trust Director-General
Our work for supporters
Most people experience the National Trust through the places in our care. We’re working hard to offer experiences that are welcoming, accessible and relevant to existing visitors, as well as new and more diverse audiences.
Some of the things we're doing to make this happen include:
- exploring new and improved transport methods to help more people reach the places in our care
- improving the accessibility of more than 150 places since 2021, as well as developing a toolkit with Dementia Adventure to help places become more inclusive for people living with dementia
- developing and sharing richer, fuller histories about the places we look after and the people who lived and worked in them
- testing how we reach younger audiences by creating Children and Young People Hubs at 19 of the places in our care
- funding walk leader training for people from minority ethnic communities to help tackle inequality in access to the outdoors
- ensuring that our communications and advertising are accessible to everyone and reaching the groups that are currently the least aware of the National Trust.
Our work for staff and volunteers
We want our staff and volunteers to reflect the communities they serve, and we’re working to ensure that we're an inclusive place to work and volunteer.
We collect staff data on age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion and belief, and sexual orientation. We're working to improve our data on gender identity and socio-economic background and will share this in a future progress report.
Based on the staff who shared diversity data as of 31 December 2023 (these numbers exclude those that have chosen ‘prefer not to say’ or not shared their data):
- 42.3 years was the average age of our staff
- 3.8% of our staff are disabled
- 3% of our staff are people of colour
- 6.9% of our staff identify as LGBTQ+
- 56.6% of our staff are female
- 27.8% of our staff are male.
The diversity of our staff is gradually increasing each year, but we have lots more to do when it comes to recruiting – particularly in relation to ethnicity and disability.
Some of the things we're doing to make this happen include:
- supporting the career progression of people of colour through a Talent Accelerator programme
- delivering the Creating an Inclusive Culture programme to leaders across the Trust, from our Executive Team to property leadership teams
- listening to people's experiences and views through our annual staff and volunteer survey
- increasing the diversity of job applicants and offers by providing strengths-based recruitment for some types of jobs
- supporting our three inclusion networks, LGBTQ+, Race Equity and WorkAbility, which play a vital role in improving our internal culture.
Gender and Diversity Pay Gap Report
We’re continuing to publish our Gender Pay Gap Report with a focus on reducing the gap. Over the last year, we’ve been increasing the staff data that we hold and we're now also able to publish our pay gaps for disability, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Our ambition is that we'll improve and increase the benefit we offer by reaching new and more diverse audiences, as well as those who already visit and support us. We’ll continue to listen, learn and share our progress.
Contact us
If you have any questions about our commitment to inclusion and diversity, please email us.
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