Editing National Trust (section)

===21st century===
[[File:Tyntesfield - Time to re-roof - panoramio.jpg|thumb|In 2002 the Trust acquired [[Tyntesfield]], a Victorian Gothic mansion.]]

In 2002 the Trust bought its first country house in more than a decade. [[Tyntesfield]], a [[Gothic Revival architecture|Victorian Gothic]] mansion in Somerset, was acquired with donations from the [[National Heritage Memorial Fund]] and the [[National Lottery Heritage Fund|Heritage Lottery Fund]] as well as members of the public.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2019546.stm |title=Lottery cash pledge for Tyntesfield |work=BBC News |date=31 May 2002}}</ref> Three years later, in 2005, the Trust acquired another country house, [[Seaton Delaval Hall]] in Northumberland.<ref name="Annual Report 2019/20"/>
 
In 2005, the Trust moved to [[Heelis]], a new head office in [[Swindon]], Wiltshire. The building was constructed on the site of the former [[Great Western Railway]] [[Swindon Works|factory]] and is intended as a model of [[brownfield]] renewal. The name Heelis is taken from the married name of children's author [[Beatrix Potter]], a supporter of, and donor to, the Trust, which now owns the land she formerly owned in [[Cumbria]]. A refit of the premises to accommodate increasing staff numbers was announced in June 2019.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/17729345.national-trust-are-refitting-their-office-in-heelis/ |title=National Trust announces refit of Swindon headquarters at Heelis in 2020 |work=Swindon Advertiser |date=25 June 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Dunham Massey Sundial.jpg|thumb|upright|The Dunham Massey sundial]]
In 2007, the bicentenary of the official [[Slave Trade Act 1807|abolition of the slave trade]], the Trust published the article "Addressing the Past" in its quarterly magazine, examining aspects of the Trust's "hidden history" and finding ways of "reinterpreting some of its properties and collections".<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=National Trust Magazine |title=Addressing the Past |first1=Katherine |last1=Hann |first2=Jacqueline |last2=Roy |issue=Spring 2007 |pages=20–23}}</ref> Research carried out by the Trust revealed in 2020 that 93, nearly one third, of their houses and gardens had connections with colonialism and historic slavery: "this includes the global slave trades, goods and products of enslaved labour, abolition and protest, and the East India Company".<ref name="NT2020">{{cite web |title=Addressing our histories of colonialism and historic slavery |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/addressing-the-histories-of-slavery-and-colonialism-at-the-national-trust |website=National Trust |access-date=5 November 2020}}</ref> The report attracted controversy and the [[Charity Commission for England and Wales|Charity Commission]] opened a regulatory compliance case into the Trust in September 2020 to examine the trustees' decision-making. The Charity Commission concluded that there were no grounds for regulatory action against the Trust.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/11/national-trust-report-uk-slavery-links-did-not-break-charity-law-regulator-says |title=National Trust report on slavery links did not break charity law, regulator says |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=11 March 2020}}</ref> In 2020 the [[Dunham Massey Hall sundial]] statue of "a kneeling African figure clad in leaves carrying the sundial above his head" was removed from its position in front of [[Dunham Massey Hall]] after calls were made for the [[Actions against memorials in Great Britain during the George Floyd protests|removal of statues in Britain with links to the slave trade]] in the wake of the [[murder of George Floyd]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 June 2020 |title='Degrading' Dunham Massey Hall statue removed |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-53011156}}</ref>

Between 2008 and 2013, the National Trust in Devon was defrauded of over £1 million by one of its employees. Building surveyor Roger Bryant was convicted in September 2024 of having submitted false invoices to the Trust and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison. The fraud had only come to light when the Trust decided to update its procurement procedures in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Man and son jailed over £1m National Trust fraud |date=21 September 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz9pe103254o |website=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922022719/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz9pe103254o |archive-date=22 September 2024 |access-date=22 September 2024}}</ref>

The [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]] led to the closure in March 2020 of National Trust houses, shops, and cafes, closely followed by all gated parks and gardens.<ref name=":1" /> At the same time, the Trust launched the #[[BlossomWatch]] campaign which encouraged people to share images on [[social media]] of blossoms seen on lockdown walks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=24 April 2021 |title=Blossom watch day: National Trust urges UK to share blooms |url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/24/blossom-watch-day-national-trust-urges-uk-to-share-blooms |access-date=15 July 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> Parks and gardens started to re-open from June 2020.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52845490 |title=Coronavirus: National Trust to reopen gardens and parks |work=BBC News |date=29 May 2020}}</ref> 

In 2021, a group of members started a campaign, [[Restore Trust]], to debate concerns about the future of the charity.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/02/national-trust-members-campaign-group-wants-end-political-agenda/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/02/national-trust-members-campaign-group-wants-end-political-agenda/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=National Trust members launch campaign to battle charity's 'woke agenda' |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=2 April 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> At the Trust's 2023 annual general meeting the Restore Trust Group put up three candidates for the council and two resolutions, but all were rejected by the membership.<ref>{{Cite news|date=15 November 2023 |title=Director of Restore Trust, campaign group putting pressure on National Trust, steps down from role|first=Alexander|last=Morrison|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/11/15/director-of-restore-trust-campaign-group-putting-pressure-on-national-trust-steps-down-from-role|newspaper=[[The Art Newspaper]]}}</ref>