Trust turns to nature in drive to fix finances

Move follows suggestion of £ 200m loss

THE NATIONAL Trust is hoping to capitalise on the public’s reliance on the natural environment during the coronavirus pandemic as it aims to stave off a mounting financial crisis.

The trust has today launched a new campaign which will focus on the link between the living world and wellbeing in an effort to stimulate much- needed donations.

The six- week Everyone Needs Nature campaign follows an announcement last month by the charity’s director- general, Hilary McGrady, when she said a possible £ 200m loss this year would be “devastating”.

She added that the charity’s income “will fall significantly short of our costs for months to come”.

The trust was also forced to shelve plans to commemorate its 125- year anniversary this year – and associated fundraising campaign – by planting 20m trees, due to lockdown restrictions imposed in the wake of coronavirus.

The National Trust’s director of communications and insight, Celia Richardson, said: “The Everyone Needs Nature campaign is designed to capture a moment in people’s lives when they are more aware than ever of the importance of close connection with nature.

“We want people to continue the everyday connections with

nature they’ve made during lockdown, and remind them that nature and wildlife urgently need protection.

“We know from our research that spending time noticing the nature around them has been a real feature of life for people during lockdown.”

Rural areas and open spaces have provided communities with much- needed solace during the lockdown, with people re- engaging with nature as a distraction from the stress and anxiety caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Ms Richardson added: “It’s important that these habits are maintained in the future – they’re vital to people’s wellbeing.

“We can’t ignore the crisis in nature that we were faced with long before the pandemic – more than a quarter of Britain’s native mammals, including the beaver, red squirrel, water vole and hedgehog, are still endangered and at risk of extinction.

“Creatures like these are vital to the survival of nature’s fragile ecosystems.”

Donations which are made to the trust will be used for a variety of nature conservation work programmes.

In June, a YouGov survey commissioned by the National Trust suggested that 68 per cent of people feel that noticing nature around them makes them happy.

The research also found that 61 per cent of respondents said that spending time in the natural world or watching from their window had helped their mood during the coronavirus lockdown.

More information about the Everyone Needs Nature campaign and how to make a donation is available online at the National Trust’s official website, www. nationaltrust. org. uk

“Wewant peopleto continuetheeveryday connectionswithnature National Trust director of communications and insight Celia Richardson