On 10 February the National Trust launched its new strategy Going Local.
At the centre of the new strategy is the concept of NT properties functioning as community spaces, to involve local residents more in the daily life of the property and widen the Trust’s appeal to new audiences. Seaton Delaval, the Trust’s newly acquired Northumberland property, has been cited as an example of the new approach in action; local residents are writing pieces for the Guidebook, the village school, Parish Council and other local groups will be using rooms on a regular basis for activities and meetings, and instead of a teashop the local café owner will be selling refreshments from a stall in the grounds. Summing up the new strategy, Director General Fiona Reynolds said: “If we’re to truly fulfil our original, radical purpose, we have to reach out in this way – to local residents, to people who feel the National Trust isn’t for them. We have to make contact with people in a new way.”
