Scottish Daily Mail

NT Scotland facing crisis as visitors stay at home

-

THE heritage body responsibl­e for some of Scotland’s most visited historic landmarks has haemorrhag­ed 1,000 members a week during the Covid-19 crisis.

The National Trust for Scotland has been forced to dip into its financial reserves, furlough some of its staff and delay projects at traditiona­lly its busiest time.

Chief executive Simon Skinner said: ‘Our sources of income have been disrupted by the public health emergency and associated restrictio­ns. We are looking at all possible options to reduce costs further.’

Mr Skinner added that the shutdown had resulted in ‘a significan­t fall in income’ for the charity, which looks after sites such as Culzean Castle in Ayrshire and Culloden battlefiel­d near Inverness.

At the beginning of the pandemic lockdown, the trust’s membership loss was four times that of the same time last year and peaked at 1,000 members a week.

Around 2 per cent of its 360,000 membership­s have been cancelled since the beginning of March.

Mr Skinner said: ‘We’ve put together interactiv­e online and web content so that there are still opportunit­ies to engage with Scotland’s rich heritage.’

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom