For everyone, for ever: our strategy to 2025

A volunteer and a member of staff tending the garden at Rainham Hall, with the trees starting to bud around them and a view of the hall in the distance. — Volunteering in the garden at Rainham Hall | © National Trust Images/Rob Stothard

The National Trust is committed to promoting and preserving those places of natural beauty and historic interest for which it has the privilege to be responsible for the benefit of the nation, for everyone for ever.

Protecting nature, beauty and history

The Trust is proud of what has been achieved since 1895 and is determined to maintain those high standards of conservation, stewardship and curatorial care for which it has been recognised throughout the world.

Its achievements have enabled the general public and the Trust’s members and visitors to enjoy and appreciate the countryside, coastline, gardens, historic buildings and collections, all of which encapsulate so much of the history of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is a duty to tell that history in a complete, balanced and accurate way, and without judgement.

The National Trust continues as a guardian of the past, and for the future, to uphold its duty to maintain and enhance what has been entrusted to its care.

Grand house with columns reflected in a lake and surrounded with autumn trees at Lyme Park, Cheshire — The south front of Lyme Park, Cheshire seen across the lake, in autumn | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

Looking after the places in our care

In our ongoing strategy, we want to continue to maintain these high standards of care for everything you help us look after, while working in a way that feels relevant and necessary to people and their day-to-day lives. We want to equip everyone in the National Trust with the skills and resources they need to do their jobs with ease and confidence, and to feel proud of our work.

Our strategy 'For everyone, for ever', which will take the organisation through to 2025, outlines how we will achieve this. Our 21st-century ambition is to play a major role in the fight against climate change, meet the needs of an environment under pressure, and the challenges and expectations of a fast-moving world. Underpinning this is our renewed commitment to diversity and inclusion and playing our part to create a fair, equal society, free from discrimination.

We will:

Look after the places in our care by:

reducing our conservation backlog and funding our annual conservation needs
reducing energy use by 15 per cent and sourcing 50 per cent of energy from renewables by 2020/21, against our 2008 usage as a baseline

Play our part in restoring a healthy, beautiful natural environment by:

improving our habitats, soils and water to a good condition for nature on our estates
working with others to conserve and renew the nation’s most important landscapes
developing and sharing new economic models for land use that support nature
championing the importance of nature in our lives today

Create experiences of our places that move, teach and inspire by:

raising the standard of presentation and interpretation at all the places we look after
making our outdoors experience better for all ages and needs
revealing and exploring our cultural heritage through events and exhibitions

National Trust staff repairing the gigantic blue and cream Hardwick Tapestry — The Hardwick Tapestry | © National Trust Images/Trevor Ray Hart

Help look after the places where people live, by:

finding new solutions for managing local green space
celebrating local heritage and equipping communities to care for it
engaging in shaping good housing and infrastructure development

Welcome everyone, for ever, by:

making our places better for people who need support to access them, working through partnerships and testing new approaches
working with others to increase access to parks and green spaces in, around and near urban areas
playing our part to create a fair and equal society, free from discrimination.

Our staff, volunteers, members, donors and supporters will all help us to achieve this, and over the coming years we will: improve our membership offer; give visitors better experiences; introduce simpler and more efficient processes for our staff; and create more ways to volunteer and for volunteers to feel their skills are recognised.

Read our five-year strategy to find out more about our 21st-century ambition (PDF).

Thick frost on the ground with the windpump standing against a bright blue sky at sunrise at Horsey Windpump, Norfolk

For everyone, for ever

We protect and care for places so people and nature can thrive. Find out who we are and what we stand for.

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A volunteer at the National Trust AGM 2022 at Bath Assembly Rooms, England

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