National Trust to raise extra £11m from fees

THE NATIONAL Trust has announced price rises for membership, which it says will help pay for the £16,000 it spends every hour on conservation work.

The trust said the increase in membership fees by a maximum of 50p a month from March 1 would generate an extra £11m to pay for work to protect countryside and heritage in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Among the projects to benefit will be a £2.2m restoration of dams and refill lakes at Prior Park Landscape Garden in Somerset, and a £6.7m scheme at Seaton Delaval in Northumberland will repair the 18th century “party house”.

The trust spent £138.4m on conservation during 2017/18, an average of £15,799 per hour over the course of the year.

People aged over 26 will pay £3 a year extra to be members of the organisation which cares for hundreds of historic properties, miles of coastline and tracts of land, while family membership will go up by £6 a year. A family with two adult members will now pay £126 a year for membership.

Over-60s who have been members for at least five of the past 10 years will see a £2.52 annual rise and a joint loyal senior membership will go up by £4.80, while young people aged 18 and 25 will pay an extra £1.50 a year. There is no rise in the £10 membership for junior members aged five to 17 which was introduced last year.