The number of young people joining the National Trust has soared for a second consecutive year, according to the charity\u2019s annual report, released today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The National Trust writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Young person\u2019s membership, which is available to 18\u201325-year-olds for a donation of just over \u00a34 a month, has grown in popularity by 26% on the previous year, equating to 50,600 new members, and taking the total for the past two years to over 90,000. The charity is now encouraging young people and prospective members to try heritage for free this weekend, when the annual Heritage Open Days festival kicks off. For 10 days, thousands of cultural and community venues open their doors or put on live events as part of Europe\u2019s biggest celebration of heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rene Olivieri CBE, Chair of the National Trust, said: \u2018The surge in young people joining a conservation charity is good news for nature and good news for heritage. I\u2019m thrilled that so many young people want to be part of this cause. But this isn\u2019t the end of the story. Because as things stand, young people in the UK are inheriting a declining natural world and many are facing diminishing cultural opportunities due to decisions made by generations before them. We owe it to them to put that right and make nature and culture part of every young person\u2019s life, whether that\u2019s at the places we care for or outside them. That\u2019s going to mean working harder to reach young people where they are and engaging them on their terms. Heritage Open Days is a good place to start, and I\u2019d encourage everyone, of every age, to get out this weekend and embrace their local buildings, parks, pools, libraries, high streets and museums.\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 Claudia Hayes is a National Trust Collections and House Officer, a member of the charity\u2019s youth network and runs the popular \u2018History with Claudia\u2019 social media accounts. She said: \u2018It\u2019s fantastic that we\u2019ve seen another big increase in young members. It proves that this isn\u2019t a fleeting interest, it\u2019s a growing trend, and it confirms what I hear from young people on social media everyday: that they\u2019re excited by history and heritage and they want to get involved. This type of participation is so important. Because if we can engage young people now and get them to form positive associations with heritage and nature, then they will be more likely to care for these things in future.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the charity\u2019s data, Stourhead in Wiltshire, Calke Abbey in Derbyshire, and Attingham Park, near Shrewsbury, were the three most popular sites visited by young members in 2025\/26. Calke Abbey has seen another uptick in visitors this year since the airing of the Peaky Blinders film, The Immortal Man, which was shot at the site. So-called \u2018set-jetting\u2019 is an increasingly popular trend, with research suggesting more than half of 18 to 34-year-olds have visited somewhere after seeing it on screen. The National Trust\u2019s annual report also noted a 5% increase in overall visitors from the previous year, continuing a trend seen over the last few years. And a record \u00a34.1m was raised from the Trust\u2019s 263 second-hand bookshops. The shops, which are mostly run by volunteers and filled with books donated by the public, have grown substantially in the last decade, with income rising from \u00a31.5m in 2018\/19 to over \u00a34m today. Elsewhere, memberships kept steady at 2.62m (2.61m in 2024\/25) and member retention \u2013 members keeping their memberships \u2013 remained high against an industry average of 77%. Fundraising rose slightly to \u00a3124.7m (\u00a3123.1m in 2024\/25). The Trust\u2019s annual report can be found at www.nationaltrust.org.uk\/who-we-are\/annual-reports from Monday 7 September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n