Dear Editor,

I feel strongly that the present National Trust has lost its way due to political and peer pressure, which has caused a good deal of upset and controversy in recent years!

The handling of Covid and the terribly ill-conceived reset plan has caused much distress and anger amongst Staff and Volunteers. Many are scared to speak up through fear of retribution from middle or higher management.

At my property we are still not resuming paper membership applications for reasons nobody can really explain or justify.

I personally am aware of over 2000 requests for membership ranging from Life to Individual which we have had to turn away and suggest online which people just don’t want to do!! Visitors want face-to-face, here and now, reliable onsite experience which also benefits the property concerned.

That’s over £200,000 potentially lost alone, and that’s not including the potential new members that well trained staff/volunteers (all the same in my eyes), could approach and enrol, that could be as much again! That’s £350,000 to £400,000 income lost since May 2020, on one small site alone!!

That should be reviewed but nobody listens to the team's pleas to management.

Surely this is not what the National Trust is about?

Steve Mitchell
Visitor Welcome Services Assistant, National Trust property