What we do and why
Since 1931, the National Trust for Scotland has been protecting our country’s nature, beauty and heritage.
We want everyone to be able to experience and enjoy Scotland’s beautiful landscapes, breathtaking architecture and fascinating collections. We work hard to look after many important places, so that present and future generations will share our love for them.
There are over 100 places in our care – battlefields, historical buildings, gardens, coastlines, islands and mountain ranges, as well as the plants and animals that live in these varied habitats. We are the largest membership organisation in Scotland, and we work in partnership with communities, as well as other charities and conservation groups, to achieve our common goals, speaking out when there’s a threat to Scotland’s nature, history or culture. Among the mountains and monuments, we also protect memories and moments. Our places hold great personal significance for people from Scotland and beyond. Every year at Trust places, the stories of millions of visitors are interwoven with Scotland’s vast and vibrant history. We keep this rich tapestry safe, so that these stories can be remembered and relived, again and again.
Archaeology
To understand what came before, we dig deep. Archaeology helps us piece together a more detailed picture of our ancestors. This research informs our conservation work and enriches the stories we tell about our places. We look after around 12,000 archaeological sites and features, spanning from the Mesolithic Age to the modern day. In 2023, we celebrated 30 years of our in-house archaeology team.
Advocacy
We don’t just care for our places – we actively campaign for them. We use our 93 years of expertise and experience to educate, challenge, inform and pioneer public access, whilst also carrying out meticulous research into our landscapes and built heritage. In doing so, we demand better national management of heritage, to ensure that everyone can experience the best of Scotland.
Buildings, monuments and battlefields
We look after castles, a royal palace and historic houses, as well as many other buildings that demonstrate the scope of Scotland’s architectural heritage. This includes our newest acquisition, Mackintosh at the Willow, the remarkable tea rooms designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald. We are also responsible for history-shaping sites such as the battlefields of Culloden and Bannockburn.
Collections
There are more than 300,000 collection items to discover in our places, each telling a story of Scotland’s past and people. Displaying these artefacts in their original settings brings history to life in a relatable way. Interpretation adds layers of social and cultural context, creating engaging experiences and capturing imaginations young and old.
Gardens
As Scotland’s largest garden owner, we cultivate more than 100,000 individual native and exotic plants, while also tackling environmental issues such as biodiversity, climate change, energy conservation and invasive non-native species. Our gardeners combine forwardthinking creativity with a thoughtful approach to honouring the past, nurturing gardens that will stand the test of time.
Countryside and wildlife
We care for some of the nation’s most iconic landscapes, including 8 National Nature Reserves (NNR), 46 Munros and many islands. We provide sustainable access to these places by continually maintaining and upgrading footpaths. Our trailblazing approach to conservation, in addition to the tireless monitoring that’s undertaken by our teams, helps us to protect rare and remarkable wildlife in diverse habitats all across Scotland.
Leading the Trust
Patron
His Majesty The King
President
Jackie Bird
Vice-Presidents
Caroline Borwick
Professor Hugh Cheape
The Duchess of Fife
Professor Michael ScottMorton
Trustees
Sir Mark Jones, Chair
Shona Malcolm, Deputy Chair
David Mitchell, Deputy Chair
Janet Brennan
Peter Drummond
Lish Kennedy
David MacLellan
Jill Miller
Stephen Mitchell
Cameron Murray
Professor Murray Pittock
Michael Spence
Ian Turnbull
Will Williams
Leadership team
Philip Long OBE, Chief Executive
Katerina Brown, Chief Operating Officer
Stuart Brooks, Director of Conservation & Policy
Jane Ferguson, Director of Audiences & Support
David Frew, Head of Mar Lodge Estate
Iain Hawkins, Regional Director (North East)
Stuart Maxwell, Regional Director (Edinburgh & East)
Ian McLelland, Regional Director (South & West)
Pamela Milne, People Director
Michael Terwey, Director of Public Engagement & Research
Clea Warner, Regional Director (Highlands & Islands)
Wonderful places and remarkable collections
Sir Mark Jones, Chair of the National Trust for Scotland, looks back on another important and productive year for the Trust.
I’d like to start by saying how pleased I am that the National Trust for Scotland has been able to take responsibility for Mackintosh at the Willow. For many years we have cared for the Hill House, perhaps the greatest example of Mackintosh’s domestic architecture. Now this is joined by the only surviving example of Miss Cranston’s innovative and highly successful tea rooms.
We hope that this acquisition will ensure that people can long continue to be able to experience the extraordinary talents of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald.
The Trust also looks after very important collections of fine art, and I’m delighted by the successful series of exhibitions we shared in 2023–24, including the works of Raeburn and Ramsay at the Georgian House, and with more to come. It is also very good news that we have been able to digitise the Burns collection, including our recent acquisitions from the Blavatnik Honresfield collection. This is a first step on the path towards making all our collections available online and using them to introduce people to the diverse and extraordinary stories of our places.
I am encouraged by the way the Trust has campaigned on issues that are important to us. The discussion about putting an end to
sand eel fisheries on the east coast of Scotland is of great significance to the seabird populations for which we are responsible at St Abb’s Head NNR and elsewhere.
At every level – at our historic places, our gardens and our wild land – I would like to thank each and every volunteer for the essential support that they give the Trust. I would also like to thank all my colleagues on the Board, and particularly the members of our Investment Committee under Stephen Mitchell, who give so much of their time to ensuring that our investments provide the income that we need. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to our Chief Operating Officer Katerina Brown who, as this review was being prepared, was getting ready to become Chief Executive of Historic Environment Scotland. She has done so much in her time at the Trust to improve efficiency and increase much-needed commercial income.
Finally, I’d like to thank our Chief Executive Phil Long. Under his exceptional leadership, the Trust is playing an ever more effective and widely appreciated part in caring for Scotland’s nature, beauty and heritage.
Protecting Scotland’s heritage now and into the future
Chief Executive Philip Long reflects on a dynamic year for the National Trust for Scotland and gives an insight into the years to come.
As we move into the final year of the first phase of the National Trust for Scotland’s tenyear strategy, Nature, Beauty and Heritage for Everyone, we can take stock of our achievements over the past year and look to the future.
I am delighted to report that more people have enjoyed the Trust’s places than ever before, with over 4.5 million visitors; and our work has inspired record levels of support, amounting to £48.9 million received through membership subscriptions, grants and philanthropy. Here, I’m pleased to report on just some of our conservation work, but as will become apparent in this review, people – the commitment of our team, how we engage with our audiences, and the role we have in the lives at our places – are vital in our charitable purpose.
I’m very proud that we have published our first Plan for Nature, an extensive task involving people across our organisation and more widely. Ever since our founding in the 1930s, we’ve taken responsibility for the natural environment, whether it’s the romantic beauty of Glencoe, Kintail or Torridon, or our gardens, croft lands, islands and coastlines. Utilising all the Trust’s expertise, the Plan for Nature sets out our wish to accelerate restoration of our places into good ecological condition and how we will prioritise our conservation efforts towards habitats and species for which we
have national and international responsibility, placing a high value on landscape aesthetic and a sense of wildness.
In the summer of 2023, thanks to the generosity of the Hebridean Trust, a new place of great importance to nature passed into our care: the Treshnish Isles in the Hebrides. This archipelago is rich in natural life and human heritage, and its acquisition helps the Trust bring renewed attention to the importance of our precious coastlines and the marine environment, threatened by rising sea temperature and levels caused by changing climate. The Trust also owns the majority of Iona, along with the Burg peninsula on Mull and the famous Isle of Staffa, where we are improving the infrastructure to make the many thousands of visits to this small island more enjoyable and safer and to help protect nature. And so, bringing the Treshnish Isles into the Trust’s care means that we can provide an expanded area of protection in the Inner Hebrides for the benefit of its flora, fauna and cultural heritage.
Property acquisitions by the Trust are now rare as we work to care for our existing estate, but we will always be mindful of our duty to protect Scotland’s heritage at risk, whether through ownership or working in partnership. After a very successful, independently led restoration, Glasgow’s Mackintosh at the Willow faced concerns for its future due to the pandemic and the second fire at the Glasgow School of Art’s wider impact on the surrounding area. With foresight, the Trustees of Mackintosh’s original Willow Team Room building contacted us to propose that we work together to take this brilliant work of design into our care, which we did at the start of 2024.
As with the Treshnish Isles, the fact that the owners wanted to entrust the future of this precious place to the National Trust for Scotland
can be seen as affirmation of the respect that people have for our charity and our enduring conservation mission. Bringing Mackintosh at the Willow permanently into our guardianship also adds to our presence in Glasgow (during a year in which Pollok House was returned to the care of its owners Glasgow City Council for restoration), along with the Tenement House, ‘Greek’ Thomson’s Holmwood and Greenbank Garden – helping to make the Trust accessible to more people. A further success addressing this has been our Burns digitisation project which, thanks to generous support, now enables us to share our Robert Burns material online, and the start of a future ambition to make our rich collections of art, design and much else more available.
We remain an independent charity that depends on our supporters to look after our special places.
One of our priorities in the coming years is to transform understanding of Mackintosh and his wife and creative partner Margaret Macdonald through an inspiring programme of public engagement and groundbreaking conservation – both at Mackintosh at the Willow and at the Hill House in Helensburgh, where we are undertaking a major conservation project to protect this architectural masterpiece from further deterioration caused by chronic damp.
Also a priority is our project to invest in Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire. One of Scotland’s most loved and romantic buildings, with a rich human history dating back to the medieval period, Fyvie is blessed with a priceless collection of art and design, including Batoni’s famous portrait of Colonel Gordon and an extraordinary collection of works by Raeburn (the subject of a dedicated exhibition at the Georgian House in the summer of 2023). We plan over the coming years to restore Fyvie’s 18th-century Old Home Farm to provide essential visitor facilities, as well as undertaking much-needed restoration work to the castle itself and development of the wider Fyvie estate as a more exciting and inspiring place to visit.
Meanwhile, wider conservation across the Trust has continued, including the 18-month-long Pink Again project at magical Craigievar Castle to restore the pink harling and provide protective conditions for the exquisite ceiling plasterwork inside. We’ve carried out substantial conservation projects at Brodick and Drum castles and at Canna House in the Hebrides, which will reopen in 2025, where we’re providing a fitting environment for its renowned Gaelic collections. The House of the Binns welcomed visitors again following an extensive programme of refurbishment, and we have celebrated new openings too, when our Gateway to Nature at Corrieshalloch Gorge welcomed visitors for the first time, and the Crathes rose garden bloomed again, its new design made possible by a generous donation. We’re also creating the Glencoe Greenway, a shared-use path enabling people to walk, cycle or wheel into the heart of this breathtaking landscape.
Our organisation and our conservation mission will always face challenges and so it is important that we stand up for our heritage whenever this is needed. We objected to the position of the Berwick Bank windfarm project that threatens the seabird population of St Abb’s Head, and we continue to defend Culloden battlefield from development. Most recently, the Trust has called for the Scottish Government to stop a damaging new proposed development at the heart of the 1314 Bannockburn battlefield, the historic significance of which continues to ring down through the ages.
The National Trust for Scotland remains an independent charity that depends on our generous supporters to look after our special places in the face of continuing world uncertainty, economic challenge, and the growing crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Thus, in 2023, we were humbled to receive a single donation of £2.4m from one member, for whom the Trust’s places have been an important part of their family life for many years. We also continue to receive vital financial support from the NTS Foundation USA, which does such great work as an international advocate for the Trust.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our supporters, staff and volunteers (including our Trustees and Vice-Presidents), without whose very hard work our charity could not operate. I would also like to thank our President Jackie Bird who is passionate about the Trust’s places and who does so much to represent us, as well as hosting our award-winning podcast series, Love Scotland. And I must take the opportunity to recognise the role of our ambassador Cal Major. Cal’s films about her journeys and the importance of the natural environment at Treshnish speak not only to our wellbeing and health, but also to the changing climate, striking a deep chord at the Trust. She is a further fantastic advocate for what we do, and represents the passion and commitment felt for our charity by all who are involved.
Finally, we are proud that His Majesty The King continues to honour the National Trust for Scotland with his patronage, following his many years of being our Patron as the Duke of Rothesay.
Building on strong foundations and gaining momentum
Katerina Brown, our Chief Operating Officer, celebrates collaboration, creativity and commercial prowess.
We welcomed our highest number of visitors –4.5 million – and made record levels of income in 2023/24; it was a fantastic year for the Trust.
Highlights included generous donations, continued membership growth, operational team improvements, and unprecedented commercial success. Having spent the last two years investing modestly in our cafés, shops and holiday cottages, last year we reaped the benefits – these were among our largest sources of income. All profits go straight back into the properties, helping us care for our places in a more sustainable way.
Before the pandemic, our commercial income was around £13m from retail and catering. In 2023–24 that increased to a record £17.4m, delivered across the country. We’ve helped to achieve this by recruiting industry specialists who’ve thought carefully about our
products and aligning their branding with the Trust’s values. We even launched a whole new product range – but more on that later.
Income from our holiday bookings also hit an alltime high, contributing £2m last year. By carefully upgrading some of our existing accommodation, occupancy has soared and guests are delighted; many cottages are close to being fully booked all year round.
We invested £14.5m in capital conservation, another record high in the care of our estate. We’ve been installing Wi-Fi at all of our places, some of which had no connectivity before. It’s an investment of £1.9m over five years, but this upgrade paves the way for the rollout of new
EPOS tills. It also gives our teams more freedom to use portable card machines at events, and install contactless donation points or parking machines.
Behind the scenes, we continue to strengthen our governance. Last year, I reported on the new Project Management Office – we’ve now set up a committee that has oversight of all our big capital projects using a consistent framework. There’s also a developed National Trust for Scotland Enterprises Board and committee, which reviews all our commercial activities to improve efficiency.
It’s my job to protect the Trust from financial and operational headwinds, making sure we’re resilient enough to withstand unforeseen events. We did have some unplanned expenditure in 2023–24, including storm damage. There was also some positive unplanned spending, where we used £1.75m of our reserves to support the acquisition of Mackintosh at the Willow. That amount was challenging but I’m thrilled we got there, largely thanks to generous donations and the income we’d made throughout the year. It is so important to ensure the survival of this cultural gem by bringing it into the care of the Trust.
When we set the budgets a year ago, we took as many actions as we could to minimise its effect on the Trust. We’ve been thoughtful about procurement, making sure as much as possible is bought in Scotland, which not only lowers travel costs but also allows us to tell the stories of local makers and producers.
That leads me to my personal highlight of 2023, which actually began the year before at Arduaine Garden. I was there to visit and support the garden team during the very challenging tree-felling project. Upon arrival, I was hit by the intoxicating smell of freshly cut timber mingled with the heady, end-of-season floral scent of the garden’s beautiful rhododendrons. When the salty Argyll sea breeze wafted in, I recognised this was a very special blend, unique to Scotland. I wanted to bottle it!
Highlights included generous donations, continued membership growth, operational team improvements, and unprecedented commercial success.
As with many organisations, recruitment remains difficult, but we’re almost fully staffed now. Inflation was another big challenge.
We found a brilliant Scottish company, Siabann, and Trust gardeners helped us capture the spirit of the seasons across our places. Our range of skincare and home fragrance products, Ràithean (‘seasons’ in Gaelic), soft-launched in our shops in August 2023, with an official launch in summer 2024. I was part of that journey to create this new product, and I’m chuffed to bits. Accountants don’t do things like this! It’s one of the joys of immersing myself in the Trust.
Just two years ago, I was focused on survival and getting us back on our feet. Now, we have strong foundations in place and we’re gaining momentum – in fact, we’ve sprinted off in some areas. After such a fantastic year, we’re positive about the future. That’s helping our teams deliver, and I’ve never seen them so excited.
Top: Katerina Brown at Gladstone’s Land, Edinburgh Left: Arduaine Garden inspired our new Ràithean retail range
Nature, Beauty & Heritage for Everyone
An overview of our ten-year strategy
CONSERVATION
Caring for Scotland’s special places
• We will have stabilised and improved the condition of our heritage buildings and structures, ensuring their future and that of our collections and gardens.
• We will have enriched Scotland’s protected heritage to make it relevant to more people, either directly through ownership or working in partnership with communities and others.
• We will have enabled nature to flourish across our countryside, gardens, and farmed and designed landscapes, taking the opportunity to aid its recovery in places where climate change and past practices have diminished it.
• We will speak up for Scotland’s heritage, doing whatever we can to promote its benefits whilst protecting the places in our care and other landscapes, habitats and historic places that are important to Scotland.
ENGAGEMENT
Providing access and enjoyment for everyone
• We will be a leading provider of inspiring heritage visitor experiences in Scotland to more than 6 million people a year by 2032.
SUSTAINABILITY
Being a sustainable charity
• We will be a growing, diverse organisation, with over half a million members, 6 million annual visitors and a workforce that’s representative of modern Scotland.
• We will be financially secure, balancing our income with over £100m of capital investment over the lifetime of this strategy, while maintaining enough reserves to ensure our long-term resilience.
• We will be a learning organisation, championing skills to support traditional conservation and innovation as well as delivering an enhanced programme of research, informal and formal learning that mixes traditional and digital outputs to ensure everyone can have access.
• We will enable a greater diversity of people and communities to access our properties to improve their health and wellbeing.
• We will have transformed our organisation to be carbon negative by 2031, working towards a more sustainable visitor economy.
• We will have invested in our people – the volunteers and staff who care for our places – and equipped them with the systems and capabilities they need.
Threave Garden
Habitat restoration at Glen Geldie, Mar Lodge Estate NNR
Conservation
Caring for Scotland’s special places
CONSERVATION
Caring for Scotland’s special places
Stabilising and improving the condition of our estate
Iain Hawkins, our Regional Director for the North East, describes his pride that Barry Mill and its knowledgeable team inspired a £2.4m donation, one of the largest single gifts from a living donor in the Trust’s history.
Last year, a long-standing member visited Barry Mill and met the team, including Mike Metcalfe, our miller, who tells amazing stories about the place.
Our supporter heard about our project to upgrade the mechanism that operates the mill. A working watermill is a rare thing and it should be carefully looked after, especially as it’s made of wood. The mill we see today was rebuilt in 1815 after a fire, but this has been a milling site since at least 1539.
We were carrying out some conservation work on the water wheel because, with age and corrosion, the spindle that holds the wheel upright had become faulty. After his visit, our supporter very kindly gave us a five-figure gift to specifically support that work at Barry Mill. Some months later, our donor was in touch again, to let us know the astonishing news that he planned to make a further donation to help more of our places – with a gift of £2.4 million!
He has been back to visit the mill a few times and has seen what his support has already helped us do. We’re delighted that he’s witnessing the mill being restored to efficient working order. Recently, he came to meet our specialist contractors, Dorothea Restorations, while they carried out further conservation work to the wheel and the mill’s internal workings.
All donations help us meet our core objectives of conservation, engagement and sustainability – the key pillars for the Trust. I think the work at Barry Mill encapsulates all three of those; it’s a very special place. This exceptional gift is a testament to the work our charity does in looking after properties, traditions and skills – as well as the storytelling and visitor experience we provide.
We are enormously grateful to our donor for helping us in this way. Work across our estate is supported by donations large and small; as a fundraising charity, we want to give everyone the opportunity to make a difference to the places they love.
Below: A programme of repairs has been carried out at Barry Mill
2023 saw us undertake an extensive programme of conservation maintenance at numerous sites around the country, using technology to better understand our built structures, and investing in further training and skills development.
The Buildings and property teams not only focus on the castles, houses and palaces in our care, but also the built structures in the many gardens we look after.
FALKLAND PALACE & GARDEN
• Over the winter, we experienced a significant increase in rainfall, which was finding its way into the Tapestry Gallery. We addressed this issue by undertaking roof maintenance and looking at the masonry.
• We also worked with expert craftsmen to identify areas of decay on the Victorian glasshouse. The firm is a local family business that has worked with the Trust for two generations.
CRAIGIEVAR CASTLE
• We refreshed the exterior of the castle with a secret-recipe pink limewash.
• We also carried out harling repairs, stone conservation, masonry restoration and roof work, to protect the castle and its precious interiors from the effects of climate change and time.
• The historic ‘barmkin’ (enclosing wall) has now been repointed and the flagstones to the wallhead have been re-laid, using traditional lime-based mortars.
CULZEAN CASTLE & COUNTRY PARK
• Skilled contractors carefully removed the decayed timbers in the glasshouse and then replaced them with Douglas fir timbers that have been moulded to the same profile as the historical components.
• This project not only conserves magnificent garden structures but also uses traditional skills, creating important opportunities to train a new generation of experts who will be able to care for the glasshouses in the future.
THE HILL HOUSE
• A trial to carefully remove small areas of render from the A-listed building’s exterior has shown that the walls are steadily drying and regaining strength. We welcome these results as we embark on the next stage of our pioneering project to save Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s domestic masterpiece.
CANNA
• The exterior and interior of Canna House is undergoing an extensive programme of repairs and conservation that will ensure the house is strong and secure against the elements, and that its important collections are kept in the appropriate conditions.
PRESTON MILL
• Knowing the processes, manufacture and intended use of industrial collections means we can make informed decisions to be able to best care for them. We undertake regular maintenance to ensure the machinery and wheel is kept in a working condition, rather than only being reactive to things as they fail.
We are enormously grateful to many donors, including National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA and Historic Environment Scotland, for making this building conservation work possible.
Top: The recently restored glasshouse at Malleny Garden
Caring for Scotland’s special places
The vast range of expertise within the Trust will allow our team to continue to offer a unique visitor experience to many more people.
Above: Mackintosh at the Willow
Right: Jean Sinclair and Phil Long take tea in the original Willow Tea Rooms Building on Sauchiehall Street
Enriching our heritage to make it relevant to more people
We were delighted to welcome Mackintosh at the Willow into the Trust family in January 2024. Operations Manager Jean Sinclair explains what makes this place so incredibly special, and looks ahead to a sustainable, secure future of collaboration and care.
Mackintosh at the Willow, home of the original Willow Tea Rooms Building at 217 Sauchiehall Street, is recognised internationally as one of the few complete Mackintoshdesigned buildings in Glasgow that’s open to the public and can be experienced as was originally intended in 1903.
It showcases Mackintosh’s interiors, exteriors and architectural design approach within a single context, which is extremely rare. The experience is like stepping back in time and is – quite simply – unique. Despite the familiarity of his name and iconic style, surprisingly little of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s work survives.
The building also highlights the important contributions that Mackintosh, his artist wife Margaret Macdonald and the pioneering businesswoman Catherine Cranston made to Scotland’s cultural heritage. The adjoining permanent interactive exhibition and educational and conference facilities form an immersive museum to help keep their stories alive.
As well as preserving and maintaining Mackintosh’s most ambitious tea rooms design, Mackintosh at the Willow plays a pivotal role in driving footfall to Sauchiehall Street, attracting
around 200,000 visitors a year. This complements the city’s vision for Sauchiehall Street to become a cultural arts district. Our Creative Learning & Engagement programme delivers creative learning experiences for people, regardless of economic, cultural and societal barriers. This includes running free tours and workshops for students of all ages, and hosting special events for communities and international groups to help connect (and reconnect) people to Mackintosh and Glasgow.
As a small, independent charity, The Willow Tea Rooms Trust was always aware of how vulnerable we were to external market forces. It feels like we are now in safe hands with a sustainable future. Thanks to support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and others, we are proud to join the Trust’s portfolio alongside Mackintosh’s other masterpiece, the Hill House in Helensburgh.
Right from the start, we were made to feel very welcome by everyone. There was a genuine will on both sides to make the acquisition as smooth as possible. Everyone has acknowledged the hard work of the team at Mackintosh at the Willow and what has been accomplished so far – there is a real desire to build on and celebrate that, rather than change what we do. The vast range of expertise within the Trust will safeguard the heritage of this iconic building and allow our team to continue to offer a unique visitor experience to many more people, ensuring a great future for Mackintosh at the Willow.
Caring for Scotland’s special places
Enabling nature to flourish across our countryside, gardens, and farmed and designed landscapes
Kate Sampson, Senior Ranger at Brodick Castle, Garden & Country Park and Goatfell, reports on another promising year for the endangered Arran whitebeams in Glen Rosa.
We planted 1,800 trees in the winter of 2023/24. They included birch, oak, hazel, aspen, willow, rowan and alder, as well as 30 Arran whitebeams, 9 cut-leaved whitebeams, and just 1 of our really rare Catacol whitebeams – but one is better than none!
These species of whitebeam are endemic to Arran, which means they’re only found here – and that makes them very rare. Their original area isn’t actually on Trust land, but to help protect them on the island, it’s important that we plant them in Glen Rosa. This ensures they’re growing in more than one place in case anything happens to that original site. It would only take a fire to sweep through the area and we might lose the Arran whitebeams forever. By planting in Glen Rosa, we haven’t put all our eggs in one basket.
Support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery in 2018 enabled us to fence off a 400-hectare area where we’ve been successfully planting whitebeams. Long before that, however, we started working with Henry Murdo, a tree guru on the island who’s passionate about preserving and protecting whitebeams for the future. He showed us how to propagate them.
We now have our own tree nursery and have grown some whitebeams from seed. The garden team at Brodick Castle has been helping us with that by looking after them in their polytunnels. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh visited in 2023 to collect seed and cuttings, which they’ve been growing on for us, too. They also surveyed where all our whitebeams are, so that they can map them.
The Millennium Forest for Scotland project gave us funding to plant whitebeams in small exclosures (areas fenced off to exclude grazing animals), which revealed the potential for what we’re doing now. Two decades later, those trees have
started producing seed, and the hope is that they will soon start regenerating themselves.
Saving Arran whitebeams is a true team effort. We are very grateful to players of People’s Postcode Lottery and supporters of our Dedicate a Tree appeal, who have helped to fund this important work.
Visit nts.org.uk/trees to learn more about our Dedicate a Tree appeal.
Top: Checking on seedlings grown in our tree nursery at Brodick Bottom: Ranger Ellie Oakley teaching Floraidh Keyworth the art of tree-planting
2023 was a great year for species recording at our National Nature Reserves at Mar Lodge Estate, Ben Lawers and St Abb’s Head, with significant new discoveries also being made.
MAR LODGE ESTATE NNR
We added more than 100 new entries to our species list, and also recorded welcome sightings of rare and returning species. Some of our highlights included:
• 30 types of spider found at the estate for the first time –among them are 5 nationally scarce money spiders
• A strong Rannoch brindled beauty moth population, first spotted here only in 2022
• Issler’s clubmoss and small cow-wheat, both priority species for the Trust
• The highest altitude Scots pine in Scotland, found at a lofty 1,160m
• The tiny bog orchid, which hasn’t been recorded here for 30 years, and the hybrid sedge Carex × helvola
• A wildcat came to prowl around for a few weeks
• Birds galore, including whitethroat, little ringed plover, pied flycatcher and wood warbler
BEN LAWERS NNR
We were delighted to record new species from a wide range of taxonomic groups throughout the year. Fascinating finds included:
• The tell-tale markings of beavers on felled trees, and then the surprising discovery of a dam – this could be the highest altitude colony in the UK
• Autumn gentian and knotted pearlwort, plus the first sighting of heath pearlwort above Lochan nan Cat since 1951 (we’re proud of our pearlworts!)
• The tree bumblebee, making its first known appearance at the reserve
• Azure damselfly
• Brown china-mark, birch mocha and large emerald moths
• New records for the garden chafer, Odontocerum albicorne (caddisfly), Rhopalomyia ptarmicae (cecidomyid fly) and Campiglossa argyrocephala (fruit fly)
• Scarlet caterpillarclub fungus and the smut fungus Anthracoidea pulicaris
ST ABB’S HEAD NNR
At a successful BioBlitz in August, we were helped by members of the public to carry out species monitoring and land-based surveys, documenting 326 species in just one day. Later dives at two sites near the harbour boosted the total number to 349 species over both days. Highlights included:
• Peregrine falcon, great skua and tawny owl
• Hairy porcelain, European green and hermit crabs
• Some impressively named moths: smoky wainscot, dingy dowd, dark arches, July highflyer and more!
• Minke whale
• Several different jellyfish, such as moon, crystal, blue and lion’s mane
• Atlantic wolffish
• Nudibranchs (sea slugs)
Top: Large emerald moth
CONSERVATION
Caring for Scotland’s special places
Speaking up for heritage that does not have a voice
Head of Nature Conservation Jeff Waddell explains why we’ve published a Plan for Nature and what it means for the vulnerable habitats and species in our care across Scotland.
More than 100 Trust staff and volunteers have been involved in reviewing our new Plan for Nature, which sets our long-term approach to nature conservation and outlines the activities we will undertake in the years ahead to look after Scotland’s nature for everyone.
The 2023 State of Nature report produced by over 60 conservation and research organisations in the UK shows that nature continues to decline, so our work is urgent. Our Plan for Nature is defined by what is both important and threatened in Scotland and at our places. We look after most types of Scottish habitats, but we have special responsibility for heathlands, pinewoods and willow scrub in our mountainous places; seabird colonies and machair on our islands; and habitats defined by ancient trees in our parklands and wood pastures.
Our species conservation activity focuses on mountain plants and seabirds, but also includes several other species that we have unique responsibility for at our places – hen harrier, corncrake, Greenland white-fronted goose and vendace (a rare freshwater fish). It also takes in four species that are restricted to Scotland: the slender Scotch burnet moth and three species of whitebeam trees. In addition to this, we have special responsibility for around
200 species of invertebrates, lichens, mosses and fungi, which only occur at a handful of sites in the UK.
For these habitats and species to flourish, we aim to restore nature at all of our places, as far as we are able and with consideration to our tenants and cultural heritage. Over time, restoration will lead in one of two directions, either towards wild, low-intervention habitats such as native woodlands and peatland, or towards nature-rich, traditionally managed habitats such as wildflower meadows, heathlands, wood pastures and parklands. A lot of our planned activity will also deliver nature-based solutions to climate change by locking up carbon in trees and peat.
In total, the Plan for Nature lists 76 specific actions we will undertake to look after Scotland’s nature so everyone can enjoy and benefit from it – we’re going to be busy!
Read more about the Plan for Nature at nts.org.uk/plan-for-nature
A proposed offshore windfarm by St Abb’s Head NNR seriously threatens seabirds. Ellie Owen, Senior Seabird Officer, outlines the Trust’s objection to this application.
The Trust is a keen advocate for sustainable energy generation, but we oppose any development that harms Scotland’s natural environment or negatively impacts local communities. The position of the Berwick Bank windfarm means that it would be damaging to both.
The impact on kittiwakes is predicted to be over seven times as bad as the next-worst offshore windfarm. In total, across all Special Protection Areas analysed in the application, Berwick Bank is expected to result in the loss of 40,606 puffins, kittiwakes, guillemots and razorbills over the course of 20 years. Kittiwakes – our noisy characters among the cacophony of the seabird colony – and our much-loved puffins are both Red List species in terms of conservation concern.
Independent research conducted for the Trust found that local communities object to an offshore windfarm that can cause this level of ecological harm, with 80% agreeing that the proposed development should be re-sited to a location where these impacts are lessened. Our research also found that 84% of people agree that protecting the natural environment is vital to the local and national economy.
We are particularly concerned about St Abb’s Head – it is predicted to have the highest seabird losses of all the protected colonies
assessed. Its unique landscape and seascape would be significantly altered by 307 turbines, each taller than the Eiffel Tower.
The developers, SSE Renewables, were required to present ideas to mitigate the damage. Although we are grateful for their effort to seek mitigations, there were no realistic or feasible options. The best mitigation is to re-site the windfarm further offshore.
We are awaiting a decision from Scottish Ministers and are hopeful that alternative sites will be explored. We will carry on advocating for all offshore windfarms to be located in the right places for nature. In the meantime, we continue our efforts to protect more than a million seabirds nesting at sites in the Trust’s care.
Visit nts.org.uk/help-seabirds for five steps you can take to support Scotland’s seabirds.
Above: A razorbill by its nest
Left: A corncrake in machair
Top: Ellie Owen, Senior Seabird Officer
The Tenement House
Engagement
Providing access and enjoyment for everyone
ENGAGEMENT
Providing access and enjoyment for everyone
A leading provider of inspiring heritage visitor experiences
In the summer of 2023, our Raeburn’s Edinburgh exhibition at the Georgian House proved very popular, seeing an 87% increase in member visits from the previous year. Dr Antonia Laurence Allen, Regional Curator for Edinburgh and East, gives a glimpse into the inner workings of creating such a special show.
Paintings, photographs, prints and drawings make a house a home. We’re doing our job if visitors feel welcomed into a homely atmosphere when visiting one of our historic houses. However, an unintended consequence is that a Raeburn, Ramsay or Reynolds masterpiece often becomes ‘part of the furniture’.
I decided to take some objects out of their original context and place them in a gallery setting at the Georgian House. This enabled people to see them in a new way alongside other works by the artist, and also encouraged them to visit the works again in their original places at a later time.
I wanted Raeburn’s paintings to tell a story about Edinburgh, giving people another way of looking at the city, to see the streets and buildings in a different light. I was keen to add many levels of access – for example, audio recordings brought each sitter to life. We also ran a range of events, such as children’s workshops, lectures and a walking tour by Lisa Williams, who runs the Edinburgh Caribbean Association.
It was important for us to share a fully rounded social history, including Raeburn’s ties to slavery and the sugar trade in Jamaica, as well as his investments and Edinburgh property portfolio. I hoped to stop visitors in their tracks, first beguiled by the beauty of a portrait and then intrigued by the layers of history to be found in one person’s story.
Raeburn’s Edinburgh was a team effort. We borrowed and condition-checked works from several Trust places, and our Regional Conservator Lesley Scott provided guidance and training to the Collections Care staff on packing and gilding, paper conservation and framing. And I must mention Visitor Services Manager Sheonagh Martin and our many volunteers who help us steward the space and engage with visitors.
There were visitors from Dublin, Dubai, Sydney and San Diego, although the largest proportion was from the UK. Compared to the previous year, we had an extra 1,975 Trust members visiting the Georgian House, who had come specifically to see the exhibition. Visitor comments really focused on our helpful, well-informed and kind team. I think that speaks volumes about the level of professionalism at the property and their enthusiasm for the exhibition.
Chris Wardle, Gardens and Designed Landscapes Manager for the North East, gives a behind-the-scenes account of the bold reimagination of the rose garden at Crathes Castle, which was unveiled last summer.
Letters in our archive written by Lady Sybil Burnett, who developed the garden at Crathes with her husband Sir James, clearly state that the garden should evolve over time and never stand still. We were given permission from the past to do something different.
The rose garden at Crathes has been through various incarnations since the 1880s, revealing the spirit of its owners throughout history. This most recent redesign was made possible by the generosity of the late Professor Ian Young and his wife Sylvia, garden lovers with a particular fondness for roses. They funded many National Trust for Scotland projects across the North East. The reinvention had a long genesis – 13 years! I was working as the head gardener at the castle when the idea was first mooted.
We were given permission from the past to do something different.
The mantle of the project was then handed to our current head gardener, James Hannaford, while I took a step back from front-line gardening to focus more on the budgets, reports and admin needed to support the teams in the region. The original design, with the theme of time, didn’t really change, but James added a central feature
based on Neolithic stone balls found in Aberdeenshire – another reference to the rich heritage of the area.
As much as possible, we used craftspeople, plants and materials from our local area or from within Scotland. The planting contains echoes of the past; for example, James has grown lavender as a reference to a lavender farm that used to exist in nearby Banchory. However, we’re also considering the future of our plants – we’ve chosen more disease-resistant varieties and those that are adaptable to a changing climate.
The garden has been designed to be here for the next 100 years or more, but we’ll change its ‘clothes’ periodically, because plants and fashions come and go. The space has a different feeling now. We’ve taken a more modernistic approach, but that’s one of the beauties of the National Trust for Scotland: we are proactive and forward-thinking about change. We’re prepared to be brave, but we don’t discard the past – we learn from it.
Above right: Chris Wardle in the rose garden at Crathes Castle
Left: Antonia Laurence Allen in the Georgian House
ENGAGEMENT
Providing access and enjoyment for everyone
Championing skills to support traditional conservation and innovation
At Threave Garden, we train the next generation of creative, forward-thinking gardeners. It’s an inspiring place to get hands-on experience and benefit from expert teaching, explains recent graduate Paul Chiappe.
The School of Heritage Gardening has been nurturing gardeners since 1960 and is one of only a few horticultural education centres to offer practical training alongside learning the theory.
It gives a unique opportunity to develop skills and confidence while working across a wide range of garden areas, such as the walled garden, herbaceous beds, lawns, nursery and glasshouses. The large collection of plants guarantees that there will always be something new to discover.
Trainees can learn from the skills and knowledge that our instructors have accumulated over their years of working in horticulture; it’s an ideal way to tap into that experience. It’s great to see how everyone brings their own perspective – rarely is there only one way of doing things.
Working towards the Threave Certificate in Practical Heritage Gardening, trainees complete fortnightly plant identification tests and plant profiles, as well as a plant diary and a garden study tour report. One day a week is also spent preparing for the RHS Level 2 Certificate in Practical Horticulture.
It’s very difficult to choose a favourite area of the garden. I really enjoy propagation, as I never tire of the joy of creating new plants, especially from seed. The walled garden is nice to work in, with formal ornamental planting dividing the space and a range of fruit and vegetables grown too. In the wider garden, I like being surrounded by interesting plants and noticing visually pleasing combinations, as well as carrying out tasks such as hedge trimming to hone my skills.
This broad variety of training has given me a solid grounding to go forward and build on throughout my career. I’m delighted to be staying at the National Trust for Scotland, having secured a position as a gardener at Newhailes. It’s been a pleasure to study alongside my fellow trainees at Threave and learn from them too. Everyone’s journey has been so different and each of us brings different interests and strengths to the team – but we’re all united in our passion for caring for the Trust’s heritage gardens.
Top: Paul Chiappe in Threave Garden Above: A trainee practising potting plants
A
legacy fund set up in memory of the 6th Marquess of Bute is supporting the next generation of conservators here at the Trust. Alice Law, our 2023–24 Bute intern in Collections Care and Historic Interiors, shares her experience.
The Bute internship is co-managed with Icon, the Institute of Conservation. Working with the Collections Services team, the internship is aimed at graduate conservators and emerging professionals.
When I finished my MSc in Conservation Practice at Cardiff University in October 2022, I was looking for my first position in heritage. I’d been at university during the pandemic, so I didn’t have some practical skills – I applied for this role thinking it sounded like a great opportunity to get hands-on experience.
It’s very much a ‘no two days are the same’ kind of job. When I first arrived in March 2023, I shadowed my mentor Lesley Scott ACR (Regional Conservator for Edinburgh & East) and assisted various property teams. The main season was just beginning, so I helped to uncover objects and get the houses ready to open.
Since then, I’ve really honed my handling skills and have gained experience in using preventive conservation techniques such as light monitoring, environmental monitoring and integrated pest management.
I’ve worked with the Trust’s other regional conservators across Scotland, too. I was heavily involved with the decant at Leith Hall’s
military museum when it had its electrics refitted, helping to get everything out of the museum … and then putting it all back in again. I also acted as the on-site conservator for a couple of days, so I got some really valuable experience of problem solving and managing a team. There was plenty of thinking on my feet!
I have helped to set up the Ramsay and Raeburn exhibitions at the Georgian House, and I did a preventive conservation project at Robert Smail’s Printing Works (one of my favourite Trust places!), getting their integrated pest management programme up and running again and looking at the environmental conditions there.
The Bute internship has offered me such a diverse range of opportunities. Working at all the different sites has definitely been a highlight, and I’ve formed wonderful relationships with people across the Trust. It’s been great – I’ve learned so much and I’m excited to put my conservation skills into practice in my next role.
Above: Alice Law undertaking collections care at Robert Smail’s Printing Works
ENGAGEMENT
Providing access and enjoyment for everyone
Enable growth and diversity of people to access our properties
Susanna Hillhouse, Head of Collections, reflects on an ambitious project to bring our prestigious Robert Burns collection to a global audience for the first time.
We received a generous donation that enabled us to pursue a project to make our Burns collection available online, including more recent acquisitions such as Burns’s First Commonplace Book (jointly owned by the Trust and the National Library of Scotland) and 12 manuscripts that have never been accessible to the public before.
The donor is a member of our Patrons’ Club with a scholarly interest in Burns, and he also encouraged the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA to match-fundraise. NTSUSA more than rose to the challenge, and we are very grateful to all donors in the US who supported this project.
In the past few years, we had already created catalogue records across our properties to improve the internal management, care and security of collections. With future public access in mind, everything had been beautifully photographed. This all helped us to move quickly, so we could use the donation to share more than 2,500 items online for everyone’s enjoyment. It was a fast-paced project and a lovely example of cross-team working in the Trust.
We have developed the searchable Burns database to be of particular interest to scholars, but we’ve created additional functionality and content to appeal to a wider audience. There are new research articles and four themes to explore about Burns’s life and work. Alongside our archive, we also feature a vast array of objects from the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum collection, including personal items relating
to Burns, his family and his memorialisation over the years. We understand that not everybody can physically visit the museum; now they can access these manuscripts and artefacts from anywhere in the world.
The star items have to be the handwritten poems and Burns’s letters. These are incredibly delicate artefacts, so they’re never going to be permanently on display because they would fade and deteriorate over time. Online, it’s now possible to zoom in on the pen strokes and the grain of the paper – these are difficult to see in the glass cases in the museum, where we keep light levels low to protect the objects. It’s fascinating to spot where Burns changed his mind and scored things out. We also provide transcriptions of many of the manuscripts plus audio recordings of his most famous works.
And this is just the beginning. As well as keeping the content refreshed, we’ll be looking closely at how people use the site and the feedback they give us, not only to improve the Burns pages, but with a view to sharing more of our collections in this way in the future.
Above: Susanna Hillhouse
Collaboration, good communication and a great deal of digital expertise helped the project team create an engaging online experience, explains Digital Product Executive Penny van Millingen.
Last
year I celebrated my ten-year anniversary working at the Trust,
and I took
on the role of digital project lead, working with our Collections team to create an online home for the Burns collection.
A key part of that role was to work closely with the Burns collection project officer and our external digital agency, Cogapp, to ensure that the design and functionality of the site would meet our high standards. It’s important that the Trust’s digital platforms provide our visitors with an accessible and enjoyable experience.
My remit included reviewing wireframes with our designers to ensure brand and visual identity was being adhered to, workshopping user journeys for the collection pages, and checking the accessibility and functionality of the final online collection.
Digital integrations between systems can be extremely complex, and one of the largest challenges of this project was managing the integration between the Collections database and the Trust’s website. Thanks to our agile way of working and Cogapp’s experience in building online collections, in partnership with K-int (the software development company responsible for connecting the two systems), we were able to
work through any technical issues that arose without seriously impacting our project timeline.
The success of this project relied on the effective communications of the project team, our collaboration across departments, and the support of such an experienced digital agency. The feedback we’ve had so far has been fantastic, both internally and externally.
By digitising our collection, we’re not only providing worldwide access to these fascinating objects, but we’re also sharing a more in-depth experience with our diverse audiences. As we build on our existing collection pages in the coming years, by providing further interactive features, we hope to inspire future generations to support the Trust’s important work in conserving and caring for these unique collections.
Scott McCombie, Senior Ranger at Glencoe, about to walk the route of the Glencoe Greenway
Sustainability
Being a sustainable charity
Being a sustainable charity
Growing as a diverse organisation with half a million members
Our Shared Moments campaign launched in August 2023, encouraging more people to support our charity, help protect Scotland’s precious places, and share special moments with family and friends at our properties.
Jen Winter and Sean Cullen feature in the campaign, which reflects their real-life love of the Trust as members.
Scotland’s landscapes and landmarks have played host to some of our most amazing adventures as a couple.
Sean and I have always spoken about joining the Trust, so I bought a Joint membership for his Christmas present in 2022, knowing that we could use it when we’re travelling to places across Scotland together. When I was buying our membership, it was important to me to know that our money was going towards ensuring Scotland is well-looked after and that the footpaths are maintained.
We’re both outdoorsy but particularly Sean, who has introduced me to a lot of new places. He also goes hillwalking with his friends and already had all the gear, knows the names of all the Munros, and even has a map where you scratch off the ones you’ve done!
One of our first proper dates was at Ben Lomond in the evening, to see the sun set. It was the first mountain we climbed together, and it was just brilliant. Since then, hillwalking has been
One of our first proper dates was at Ben Lomond in the evening, to see the sun set. It was the first mountain we climbed together, and it was just brilliant.
Ben Lomond
something that we’ve done regularly as a couple. It’s our weekend thing, to get away from the city. We try to leave Saturday free and then go either to a castle or another National Trust for Scotland place. It’s nice to spend quality time together. When you’re out in the hills you can just sit and talk. As someone who’s grown up in an era of social media and always being ‘switched on’, I think that’s really important.
Scotland’s such a beautiful country but you don’t always get to appreciate that when you’re doing your 9–5 during the week. We hired a campervan to complete the North Coast 500 and I think it was one of the best holidays I’ve been on. The key place we wanted to visit was Culloden. We’re really into Scotland’s history, and Sean’s a big Outlander fan as well, so we knew bits about Culloden. But I don’t think it actually hits you until you see it; it’s a very moving place.
Top: Jen and Sean pause for a snack in Glencoe NNR Above: Culloden Battlefield
We must never take for granted the fondness, not just in America but around the world, for our traditions and achievements.
Becoming financially secure, balancing income with investment
Our President, Jackie Bird, visited New York in April to celebrate the incredible support our charity receives from the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA.
Earlier this year, I joined actor Dougray Scott and a host of other Scots to take part in New York’s annual Tartan Day parade.
The event marks the end of Tartan Week, effectively a shop window for all things Scottish, and I was invited by NTSUSA to represent the National Trust for Scotland.
It’s no secret that many Americans have a soft spot for Scotland, but before my trip I had not really appreciated the extent of the enthusiasm of the Trust’s partner organisation across the pond. The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA is a huge supporter of our work, and its members share a love of ‘the old country’. Their reasons are many: some were born in Scotland, others have a proud ancestry, and some simply feel a connection.
Many members of NTSUSA make regular trips to visit the places in our care and have a deep understanding of Scottish history and heritage. They’ve also been fantastically generous in their donations and fundraising – since 2000 they’ve provided grants of over $11m to help places including Glencoe, Culloden, St Kilda and the Hill House.
Their fundraising calendar culminates each year in a grand gathering where guests toast the haggis, savour some whisky and throw themselves into a riotous ceilidh. It was a joy to watch such an appreciation of Scottish heritage. We must never take for granted the fondness, not just in America but around the world, for Scotland’s traditions as well as our modern achievements.
The highlight of the evening was the annual naming of a Great Scot, paying tribute to someone whose achievements have enhanced
Scotland’s reputation around the world. Past recipients have included Alan Cumming and Diana Gabaldon, and this year it was a man very much of the moment: actor Tom Conti. As well as having a stellar back catalogue, his recent role in the Oscarwinning film Oppenheimer has again put him in the limelight. Fascinatingly, Tom and his actress wife Kara have links with Charles Rennie Mackintosh – some years ago they conceived a documentary drama about Charles and his wife Margaret and played the title roles. I think it’s fitting that in the year the Trust has taken ownership of Mackintosh at the Willow we’ve honoured one of our most talented and enduring actors, who’s also a fan. I think Mackintosh would have approved.
Above: Jackie Bird and Tom Conti, recent recipient of the Great Scot award
Left: Jackie enjoying New York’s Tartan Day parade
Being a sustainable charity
Becoming carbon negative by 2031, working towards a more sustainable visitor economy
Bart Bukowski, Head of Food & Beverage, explains the brilliant work his team is doing to reduce plastic usage and make planet-friendly decisions.
Our Food & Beverage teams are trying to source our menu items more sustainably. In 2023, we wanted to remove all plastic across our drinks category.
Sales of water have gone up significantly in recent times, primarily driven by tourists in the Highlands and Islands. We were selling nearly 80,000 plastic bottles of water every year, so we decided to source an alternative to replace these across all our places, working with our wholesaler Bidfood Scotland. We are trying to cut down on plastic waste, which is so bad for the environment that we’re working to protect.
Re:Water is a bottled water produced in the UK, sold in 100% recycled aluminium packaging, with both still and sparkling options. The bottles can be reused and they’re easily recycled, too.
We also started selling Flawsome! drinks last year. They make natural juices with no added sugar, using ‘wonky’ fruit and vegetables that would have gone to waste. It’s packaged in cans, glass bottles and plastic-free cartons.
The introduction of Re:Water and Flawsome! in 2023 replaced 135,000 plastic bottles that would otherwise have been sold at our places. We’ve even gone plastic-free on small bottles of wine.
We’re also consciously switching to smaller, sustainability-focused brands with a story to tell. Our own coffee blend Nàdar (‘nature’ in Gaelic) launched in the summer of 2023, developed with our Glasgow-based supplier Matthew Algie. It’s important for us to know where our coffee comes from – the Trust’s special blend is Fairtrade certified, benefitting the farmers and cooperatives who grow it. Research has shown that our customers prefer milky coffees, so we’ve made sure it tastes lovely with milk! And we’ve not forgotten about our tea drinkers. We’ve chosen to stock a delicious, ethically sourced Suki tea with plastic-free, recyclable packaging.
It’s our ambition to divert as much waste from landfill as possible. At Inverewe, we trialled turning food waste and Vegware compostable packaging into compost for the beautiful garden. Nothing goes to landfill – and we now want to replicate that model in more locations.
We are a conservation charity with a great sense of responsibility, and that applies to all of us in the commercial team, too. Postpandemic, alongside recovery and income growth, we’re proud that sustainability is at the heart of every decision we make.
Above: We proudly sell reusable and recyclable bottles in our cafés
In the winter of 2023, construction work began on the Glencoe Greenway. Operations Manager
Emily Bryce shares an update on our project to get people walking, wheeling and cycling into the heart of the glen.
The
Glencoe Greenway is a huge step forward for us.
It provides safe and sustainable pedestrian access to areas that previously were only accessible by car, as well as bringing people closer to a 300-year-old settlement at Achnacon.
Active travel has been a key focus of this project, which has created 5km of new shared-use path – 3km built from scratch and 2km of upgraded existing pathway. This now makes it possible to walk or cycle from our visitor centre to some of the glen’s most popular sites for the first time –crucially, without having to travel along the side of the busy A82 trunk road.
The Greenway is part of our long-term ambition to become less reliant on cars in experiencing the wonders of Glencoe. It joins other paths at
An Torr to complete the popular Glencoe Orbital Trail, and connects to the Caledonia Way (also known as National Cycle Route 78) that runs from Oban to Fort William.
The landscape is of paramount importance at Glencoe, and we didn’t want to do anything that would negatively intrude on that. The Greenway has been designed to blend into the rural environment as much as possible – with a bound gravel surface and targeted planting of hedges and trees. We’ve had lots of positive comments from our local community; people are excited to see this work happening after a long time in the planning.
The Greenway is part of our long-term ambition to become less reliant on cars in experiencing the wonders of Glencoe.
This has been a big project to manage because we’re investing in high-quality path infrastructure in such a special, protected place. It’s fantastic to see years of behind-the-scenes work come to fruition.
It’s also great to see the new path edges greening up with natural regeneration already – in six months, it will look like it’s always been here. I’m really excited for local people and visitors to get out and enjoy it!
The Glencoe Greenway has been made possible thanks to funding from the Scottish Government through Sustrans Scotland’s Network Development Fund, as well as the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund. Our initial survey work was supported by the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS).
Left: Emily Bryce in Glencoe
Being a sustainable charity
Investing in our people –the volunteers and staff at our properties
Thanks to our partnership with the Open University, we now offer more than 30 places each year for staff to study towards a microcredential on a specialist topic. Among the first to take advantage of this initiative was Retail Product Manager Gemma McQue, who is already putting her new skills and knowledge to good use.
I’ve become increasingly interested in sustainability in recent years and I’d already been taking small steps towards positive change in my role sourcing and developing the products we sell in our National Trust for Scotland gift shops.
Since the launch of our ten-year strategy, and specifically with regards to the objective of becoming carbon negative, I’ve been aware that we need to be doing more. I wasn’t sure where to begin, so when I heard the Trust had partnered with the Open University and that there was a relevant course on offer, I decided to apply.
The microcredential I chose to study was Climate Change: Transforming your Organisation for Sustainability. My aim was to improve my understanding of the wider subject of climate
change, as well as specific topics directly linked to my role. The course supports you in writing a plan to make changes as an individual and in your organisation.
I was told it would require ten hours of study per week for the tenweek duration. There’s no pressure to work at specific times, so you can fit it around your work and personal life. My line manager was very supportive and allowed me to use half a day from my working week towards my studies. In addition to this, most of my weekends and many evenings after work were spent studying, and I worked on my final assignment over the Christmas and New Year break –but it was all enjoyable and worthwhile.
When I received my result, I felt really proud – I was delighted with my mark. I’ve gained a lot of confidence from the course, and I think the opportunity this partnership has created for staff at the Trust is fantastic. It’s exciting to use my new skills and knowledge to develop our Retail Sustainability Strategy, which aligns with the Trust’s Climate and Environment Policy. I have a huge list of ideas that will keep us busy for the next few years!
Above: Gemma McQue and Breagha at Preston Mill
We’ve introduced a Mental Health Day for everyone working at the Trust – an extra day off to step away from the spreadsheets or put down the pruners and visit any of our places. Martin Hughes, Operations Manager at Inverewe and Corrieshalloch Gorge NNR, recommends taking this chance to recharge and relax.
The Trust has so many beautiful places across Scotland, and the Mental Health Day is a great opportunity to go and explore one of them. It offers a rest from work, both mentally and physically.
I took my first Mental Health Day in December 2023, along with one of my colleagues, Tommy. We decided we’d like to go to Glencoe together. We both love the outdoors, so we went up a hill. I can’t think of a better way to rest my brain than in a beautiful environment with loads of space, fresh air and gorgeous scenery. It was nice to do it with Tommy; it gave us time to reflect on the season that had just passed and to plan a wee bit for the future, but not in a way that was like a structured meeting. It was more just chewing the fat as we were walking up the hill. That was good from a mental health point of view – it gave us time to actually celebrate what’s gone well at work.
You don’t need to talk shop, if that doesn’t work for you. You could just take in the views.
I was the first person at Inverewe to take the Mental Health Day, as I wanted to try and lead by example. I think it’s so important that we use these days. In this fast-paced world that we live and work in, it is important to look after ourselves.
The main thing for me is being able to switch off completely. It makes you feel good afterwards. There’s no script of what you should do on these days, no match report, no pressure. You can go alone or with friends or colleagues.
The process is simply to tell your line manager, work out a date, go to the place, and that is it … just enjoy your day!
Martin Hughes at Corrieshalloch Gorge NNR
Being a sustainable charity
Investing in our people –the volunteers and staff at our properties
Volunteers bring a wealth of knowledge and passion to the running of our charity, as Trustee Jill Miller explains.
The Trust would not be what it is without our volunteers who bring a wide range of skills and knowledge, as well as their storytelling abilities and connections to their local communities.
I’ve been involved with the National Trust for Scotland all my life. When I was at school in Fife, we visited Culross and Falkland Palace for school trips. As I got older, I’d meet friends for walks at the Hermitage, walk locally at Hill of Tarvit and spend holidays on Arran, visiting Brodick Castle.
When I retired from my role as director of cultural services at Glasgow Life in 2021, I wanted to continue an involvement with people, heritage and the cultural sector. The opportunity that came up to volunteer on the Trust’s board was specifically focused on outreach and access, which matched my skills and interests – but the icing on the cake was the outdoor and environmental element to the Trust’s work, because that’s something I’m also very interested in.
The Board of Trustees supports the executive team to develop the Trust’s strategy and take it forward.
Many different volunteers with a wide range of experiences bring their expertise to the strategic planning and oversight of the organisation. I am delighted to hear about the development of a Lottery-funded pilot programme that’s looking at engagement, particularly how to make our places more relevant to people in their local areas.
But the most exciting moment for me last year was Mackintosh at the Willow joining the Trust. Having worked in Glasgow, I recognise the significance of this acquisition. Now that we care for both Mackintosh at the Willow and the Hill House, we have a real opportunity to realise the full potential of Mackintosh as a major cultural asset for Scotland.
Volunteers give their time generously to this incredible organisation that looks after the most amazing properties and outdoor spaces that you can experience in Scotland. You can’t put a monetary value on the passion that comes from a person who has chosen to volunteer at a certain place and share its stories. That is something that comes from the heart, and it absolutely resonates with local individuals, local communities and indeed visitors from across the world.
Above: Jill Miller
We are grateful for the dedication and passion of more than 2,000 volunteers who help us promote and protect Scotland’s heritage. One of those volunteers is Tej Singh, who loves sharing the history of Weaver’s Cottage with visitors from all over the world.
When I retired in 2013 from my job as a local general practitioner, I decided that I would very much like to volunteer in a historical place or a museum.
I’d watched a programme on television and saw how people at the National Trust for Scotland work so hard to keep the places in their care in good shape. By maintaining properties and opening them up to the public, the organisation looks after the heritage of the nation.
I joined the team at the Tenement House in Glasgow and worked there for around 10 years, until travelling became difficult. I didn’t want to give up, so I put in a request to work at Weaver’s Cottage in Kilbarchan. I’ve been volunteering there for over a year now. Weaver’s Cottage is so special because of its long history of handloom weaving. This was once a thriving industry that specialised in making tartan, even supplying it to Queen Victoria and her family. Everything in the cottage is valuable historically, but my favourite item is the old loom, which is still in use today. The garden is also wonderful and very well maintained – it’s a lovely place to sit and relax for a while and enjoy the scents and sights of the colourful flower beds.
The most rewarding bit of my job is meeting and greeting people from all over the globe and sharing the history of Weaver’s Cottage with them.
It was the cottage’s 300th anniversary in 2023 and I was delighted to be part of those celebrations. The cottage was mentioned in the Scottish Parliament, and Lorraine Cameron, the Provost of Renfrewshire, also organised a lunch in a local hotel for staff and volunteers to thank them for all their work in caring for this place.
The most rewarding bit of my job is meeting and greeting people from all over the globe and sharing the history of Weaver’s Cottage with them. I feel proud to be part of such a hardworking team, who look after the cottage with great care – it’s as if they are looking after their own home.
Above: Tej Singh in the doorway of the 300-year-old Weaver’s Cottage
Equality, diversity and inclusion
Helping Santa spread festive cheer is Operations Manager Claire Grant, who explains how the Newhailes team have created a welcoming space for anyone who would like a calmer Christmas event.
Since we started our Santa experience, we’ve always had specific slots for people of all ages who may feel overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of big Christmas events, including autistic children, children with sensory sensitivities or who may be socially anxious, and their families.
People’s general perception of visiting Santa is that they’re in garden centres or shopping centres – really busy places with huge queues at that time of year. By contrast, our event is very personal. Each family gets a designated time slot, so there’s no queuing. A member of staff brings the family through to see Santa, and if anyone does become overwhelmed, we’ve allowed a bit more time between sessions so there is no need to rush.
Our Events Manager Dixie Sudron came up with the idea. We realised that the set-up here suits anyone with sensory sensitivities or who may be a little anxious, because it’s so calm – we didn’t actually have to make any major changes. It’s not big and brash and loud. Some gentle music plays in the background and the room is dimly lit as it’s in a historic house. We offer a quiet and traditional experience; this isn’t an in-your-face, tinsel-and-glitter kind of Christmas event!
Santa knows his visitors’ names and what’s on their Christmas list; it’s so special to see the reactions they have to meeting him.
The whole experience is wonderful. Santa knows his visitors’ names and what’s on their Christmas list; it’s so special to see the reactions they have to meeting him. It’s very popular – we welcome the same families coming back every year. People often contact us before the tickets go on sale to say how much they’re looking forward to it, and then get in touch with us again afterwards to thank us. We feel very honoured to play a part in preserving the magic of Christmas.
Top: Claire Grant at Newhailes
Bottom: The Santa experience in Newhailes House
Children of Empire symposium at Culzean
In September 2023, the Trust joined forces with the University of Glasgow’s Beniba Centre for Slavery Studies to hold a symposium exploring the histories of children in colonial spaces. The two-day event brought together academics, artists, curators and historians. In attendance was Taylar Carty from the University of Glasgow, who sums up the importance of this conference for students.
One of those children was ‘Scipio’, as he became known, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a young boy.
In the early 18th century, he ended up in Scotland, far from his Guinean home, and eventually served the Kennedy family at Culzean Castle, the venue for our symposium. As a PhD student researching enslaved children in the British Caribbean, the
Encountering Children of Empire symposium encompassed all the themes I aimed to pursue, research practices I aimed to adopt, and challenges I had not yet thought of. Grappling with questions of re-traumatisation and suitable narratives, these dialogues contributed to the much-needed action of academics, museums and heritage sites to broaden their scope, experiment with different methods, and connect these histories to wider audiences, especially younger people. Incorporating voices outside of higher education and heritage backgrounds into symposiums such as this would be a key point of action.
This conference connected me with other students who are eager to formulate new methods for engagement – it is evident that such change will provide new and diverse perspectives for the academic and heritage sector. Not only did I make valuable contacts with academics and other students that will be vital for my research, but I also obtained an understanding of the steps being made to broaden engagement with heritage sites and their histories.
Encountering
Supporting the Trust
In 2023/24, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery. David Frew, Head of Mar Lodge Estate, looks back on the enormous impact this funding has had on nature conservation at the UK’s largest National Nature Reserve.
Funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, awarded through the Postcode Earth Trust, has given us the chance to get vital conservation projects up and running, which have brought great benefits for biodiversity, ecological restoration, climate change mitigation and all the iconic species that are found at Mar Lodge Estate and beyond.
That includes kickstarting our groundbreaking montane woodland regeneration programme in 2019, with further support given for this project over the past three years.
We’ve planted another 4,000 montane willows this year – the support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery allowed us to start something that’s now become business as usual, and the
success of this project means that we’ve been able to attract funding for future work from other generous donors, including those in our Patrons’ Club.
This funding has also helped our ongoing deer management programme, enabling us to share
interpretation at a lot of our trailheads to explain all the work that’s happening on the estate. We’ve added some riparian planting along the River Dee to improve the freshwater habitat, prevent erosion and increase woodland connectivity; and we’ve started to reinforce the very small populations of aspen that were left at Mar Lodge Estate. Aspens are very under-represented in the Cairngorms because they are so palatable to deer.
We have also used this funding to create an additional 46ha of woodland on the eastern side of Mar Lodge Estate. This is a natural regeneration scheme, so we’re not planting anything there, but we’ve fenced it off to allow the existing woodland to recover. The results are already spectacular.
For as long as anyone could remember, hen harriers hadn’t been seen at Mar Lodge. They came back in 2016 and now we have 11 breeding pairs. They’re traditionally thought of as a moorland species, but we’re finding that they love this regenerating woodland. Undoubtedly, our woodland work is helping these threatened species return and thrive – and support by players of People’s Postcode Lottery has made it possible for us to achieve that. We are extremely grateful for their support.
In 2023, the Trust benefitted from £900,000 in funding thanks to the support of People’s Postcode Lottery players. This boosts so much important work across Scotland, including:
• Supporting employment of 17 members of staff, including 9 rangers at our National Nature Reserves
• Introducing conservation grazing at Ben Lawers
• Tackling over 40 hectares of invasive non-native plant species across Trust places
• Improving access at Corrieshalloch Gorge
• Supporting the Scottish Landscape Alliance
• Enabling opportunities to test new approaches, learn and build knowledge
Above: Linn of Dee
Left: Woodland restoration at Mar Lodge Estate NNR
Financial summary
For the year ended 29 February 2024
income and endowments
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Full details of the Trust’s financial performance and operation are provided in the Trustees’ annual audited financial statements, available on the Trust’s website at nts.org.uk/our-work/publications
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
CONSERVATION
Our heritage assets are in a stable and improving condition.
ENGAGEMENT We are known as a leading provider of inspiring visitor experiences in Scotland to a diverse audience of over 6 million visitors a year.
By 2032, half a million members will have supported over £100 million of investment in conservation, access and learning.
SUSTAINABILITY We have reduced our environmental impact and will be carbon negative by 2031.
We are financially secure, balancing our income with over £100 million of capital investment over the lifetime of this strategy, while maintaining enough reserves to ensure our long-term resilience.
CROSS-CUTTING*
Our volunteers and staff are equipped with the systems and skills they need.
Conservation Performance Index (CPI) 1 – tracking the % of a sample of heritage assets in a good condition
Total visitors across all Trust properties within the year
Satisfaction score out of 10, derived from property visitor surveys across the year
Number of members at year end
Fundraising performance measured by income from donations and appeals
Financial performance against budgeted operational deficit/ surplus after depreciation
Workforce Engagement Index 3 , tracking the % of the workforce who recommend the Trust as a good place to work
per 100,000 visits
* Cross-cutting KPIs underpin all three strategic pillars.
1 The Conservation Performance Index (CPI) is used to measure how well we are putting conservation into practice at our properties.
2 2023/24 saw us achieve a record 4,530,482 visitors across the Trust estate, exceeding a pre-pandemic high of 4.2 million.
3 This is a measure of the response to the question ‘I would recommend the Trust as a good place to work’ from Trust employees and volunteers.
The generosity of our supporters, and the tireless work from our staff and volunteers, enables us to care for our special places and share Scotland’s heritage for everyone to enjoy, now and in the future. Thank you! Find out more at nts.org.uk/support-us
Crathes Castle Garden