Update from the National Trust

It’s seven weeks since we closed our gates to help stop the spread of coronavirus. We’re so grateful to you and all our members for your kindness and support during our closure: from simply keeping up membership to paying virtual visits and sending messages of goodwill. It’s a brilliant reminder of what a strong community we are together. We know you’re as keen as us to get back outdoors and to all the Trust has to offer. We’re busy working out how to make it as easy as possible for you to visit your favourite places, and stay safe.

The Government announced some changes to the country's lockdown position on Sunday and we're working to see what this means for us. I wanted to write to members first to let you know what we’re planning. Keeping visitors, staff, volunteers and local communities safe as lockdown restrictions ease means we need to maintain social distancing, and so we will have to avoid creating hotspots and discourage gatherings. We know this means that when we reopen we’ll need to carefully manage visitor numbers. And we know the safest way to do this is through an online pre-booking system. This is new for us and we’ve had to work fast to get it in place. We’ll write to you as soon as we can to let you know how it will work and what to expect.

Many of our staff are furloughed and our places have been ‘put to bed’, so it will take us a little while to wake them all up again. We’re prioritising opening our gates and offering beautiful outdoor spaces first, and always in line with Government guidance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. From Wednesday 13 May, we’ll start opening some car parks in England, so people can access fresh air, open space and nature. Car parks which are staffed and have facilities, will take longer. All car parks in Wales and Northern Ireland will remain closed. Members can park for free at our reopened car parks. We're also finding that without our usual visitors, wildlife has moved into some car parks and open spaces, so we’ll be asking you to be on the lookout for unexpected fellow-guests in some places when you return.

Our cafés, shops, gardens and houses will follow in time, but only where and when it’s safe. The safety of our staff, volunteers, visitors and local communities remains our priority so any reopening will need to be phased and gradual. Our website will be kept up to date with crucial information and it will be really important that you check it before visiting. Things have changed for you and for us, and we want to work closely with you and ask for your support to help us stay open by booking in advance and following some simple safety guidelines.

We’ll be in touch later this week to share more news of our reopening plans and what they mean for you. In the meantime, we’re working to bring the National Trust to your home. We have so much wonderful content about our places, people and collections, so don’t forget to pay us a virtual visit at nationaltrust.org.uk soon.

We’ve missed you and we can’t wait to welcome you back.