National Trust warns: we need cash help or our heritage will crumble

THE National Trust for Scotland (NTS) painted a “nightmare scenario” of the nation’s treasured buildings reduced to graffiti-daubed ruins as it launched an urgent appeal for fresh donations from trust members.

Four months ago the charity, which owns 129 properties throughout the country, announced plans to carry out a radical transformation of its vast estate to save sites from closure.

Yesterday, in a bid to raise £110,000 in emergency funding, the trust sent out letters from chief executive Kate Mavor to thousands of members, asking them to donate £15 towards a new I’m In It for the Future fund to help protect the nation’s heritage.

Ms Mavor said: “In my letter I have painted a nightmare scenario in which one of Scotland’s most iconic properties is allowed to fall into disrepair and eventually crumbles to a graffiti-ridden hulk, the memories, history and shared culture it represents lost forever.

“That has happened all too often in the past to all sorts of heritage properties. Even a small donation can prevent this prospect from becoming a reality.”

She added: “Places like Culzean, Culloden and Glencoe are part of the fabric of the nation, and each in its own way tells the stories of how we in Scotland came to be who we are now.

“For that reason, we cannot afford to take any of this rich heritage for granted and assume someone else will always take responsibility for it.”

Ms Mavor added: “As a charity we count on the generosity of hundreds of thousands of members who pay their subscriptions and often make other donations too – but the sheer scale of our responsibilities mean that we asking for just that little bit more.”

A trust spokeswoman explained said the charity needed at least £110,000 to continue maintaining, conserving and restoring some of Scotland’s most precious buildings, gardens and landscapes.

She said: “The costs incurred in looking after Scotland’s heritage are eyewatering: £600,000 annually just to comply with legislation on routine jobs like boiler checks and fire alarm checks; £400,000 a year to buy basic tools, plants and pest controls to protect collections – all before undertaking any major restoration projects.

“Every penny raised through donations will go directly to the care of properties and landscapes.”

She added: “Just £15 would buy 24 pairs of white gloves that trust conservators use in handling delicate artefacts, £30 would buy 25 tree saplings to be planted in beautiful gardens, £100 would enable one metre of countryside pathway to be repaired and £500 would pay for a chimney in one of the country’s grandest houses to be swept.”

In August, the heritage organisation published a five-year strategy as bosses revealed that at least £100 million was needed to put the trust on a sound financial footing over the next few years after it was taken to the brink of insolvency by a financial crisis two years ago.

The NTS was plunged into crisis in 2009 when auditors warned that the reserves had slumped lower than £4m.

NTS commissioned an independent review, led by former Holyrood presiding officer George Reid, which was published last year.

The review found that the charity was crippled by “byzantine” management structures which had “grid-locked” decision-making, while warning that the financial planning was “unsustainable” and that the organisation had no idea how much needed to be spent on major sites.

Its flagship sites include Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran, Falkland Palace in Fife, Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire, and the Glenfinnan Monument in the Highlands.