Or do the National Trust need to start looking after their members during the 'Rona

[MaconVillagesisgoodchardonnay]

I know we're in "unprecedented times" before anyone starts with that one.

I pay a family membership for NT and in a normal week I will use it at least twice a week with the children, either alone, with husband or to meet up with friends.

I haven't been since March when they opened it up to everyone, caused chaos and subsequently shut.

Since reopening and operating a booking system, the venues close to me you need to book almost a week in advance which is utterly bonkers. They haven't prioritised their members, or in fact communicated with us at all regarding this, in fact I've had no post from them since Jan renewal.

I've emailed them to see whether I can have either a partial refund or an extension on our membership - AIBU? I haven't had a response yet. I'd rather now have an annual pass to a private estate locally and know I can be guaranteed somewhere to go. When the schools do break up for summer the chances of booking a NT day out become even slimmer.

I'm a bit ratty after the baby kept me up all night but AIBU to be a bit fucked off at them?

Love the stereotype of elderly volunteers. Ds is a volunteer and is 24; I am too, and am 54.

As a pp said, the staff are furloughed, and the volunteers do do a fair bit of training, so it's not as easy as just 'use sixth formers'. I don't think the property at which we volunteer will be open much before September for the house, if then.

I've been getting a good bit of use out of ours, and haven't asked for the rebate because I can afford not to. However my goodwill would probably evaporate if everywhere local was booked up and I couldn't get in at all. Have been avoiding places without bogs.

I’m also happy with it, just means getting up early on Friday and sorting out booking

@DorisLessingsCat, I’m with you on that opinion except I’m more than slightly cynical.

I'm fine to consider membership a donation. We have less money this year, we will be donating less.

re aged - of course there are younger ones but th reality is you are outliers in the bell curve

I think I am going to volunteer to garden but also in early 50s But we might be moving abroad so want to do it before too long

@mogtheexcellent

Our renewal was due in April. I cancelled the direct debit

We'll join up again when we next visit. We have an unused EH membership gift pack we can use in the meantime.

I’m not sure it is possible to buy membership on sites at the moment.

The whole pre booking thing is to avoid having to take payment or swipe cards on sites, which adds danger to staff, volunteers and visitors. So I am pretty sure that they aren’t signing up people for members on site either with all the rigmarole that involves. I assume you can sign up for membership online?

I feel sad for the NT and that sites are looking neglected. That’s a direct result of membership cancellations. Less money = keep staff furloughed = no maintenance. I’m a bit worried about the long term implications when the staff are made redundant - what will happen to site then? And they won’t be able to afford to buy and new coastlands or other things that they previously would have been able to buy, so they will be lost to the country ...

The ‘Rona - how horrific

You beat me to it.

How did people get an extension with English Heritage? They told me they weren't going extensions unless people renewed. Even with 3 months free I think its still more expensive than their new member deals so pretty pointless.

I don't know why people seem to treat it as some sort of club

Because they call it a membership. If they want it viewed as a large donation then they name it appropriately. It's not unreasonable that someone who paid for something called a membership thinks they may now be a member of some sort of club or entity.

Of course, if they called it a donation then it opens them up to scrutiny on the whole "give us 20% extra at no cost to you" line. I'm happy with them claiming my tax back but let's not pretend it's at no cost to me. The alternative is that I can claim it back instead. If they have it, I don't.

I have many frustrations with the NT but I also want the buildings and land protected so will continue to donate (and continue to be frustrated about the way they run things).

@Puffinhead glad I'm not the only one. Sometimes I feel they've been elevated to untouchable status. Fundamentally they are a private organisation and private landowner in charge of some of our most precious and beautiful natural environments and that sits uneasily with me.

I have decided to cancel my membership next year as when I messaged them asking for a 2 month extension since they were closed for two months and we couldn't use the memberships, they refused.

Disgraceful way to operate and definitely cutting their noses off

We’ve visited our local NT property every week since it reopened the grounds. There are adequate, very clean loos open and the tea room’s been open for take away for the last four weeks too. I’m pretty happy with them. A long walk with the dog in beautiful surroundings and a take away cream tea feels like a real treat after endless weeks of being locked up.

@WhentheDealGoesDown that’s all well and good if you’re just at home with nothing else to do. Not so good if you’ve got commitments such as work. Most people can’t spend an hour trying to get tickets (particularly weekend tickets) like I had to last week.

We joined the NT a few years ago when we were visiting elderly parents in areas where there were NT properties that we would go to for the cafes. We no longer have elderly parents and we currently live in an area with very few NT properties, so we were thinking of cancelling. I'm pleased we decided not to because this is the time when they'll need the money the most. We have several favourite holiday spots on the coast which would have been ruined if the NT hadn't bought up land along the coastline and prevented development. We can find £120 to help support them.

I actually don’t mind not being compensated. I just want to be able to use my pass. It’s terrible trying to book the places near to me.

I'm a member and the booking system has been hit and miss for me. Sometimes I'm lucky and I get tickets, other times, not so. I have managed to get tickets to the science museum, London, so worth checking that out for a day out in August.

[quote Mumtumwobble]@WhentheDealGoesDown that’s all well and good if you’re just at home with nothing else to do. Not so good if you’ve got commitments such as work. Most people can’t spend an hour trying to get tickets (particularly weekend tickets) like I had to last week.[/quote]
It takes about 5 minutes at the most at 6am for weekend slots. No queue

I wouldn't expect them to prioritise members. They need income to manage their properties. Members have already paid so there is little benefit in allowing them in. Non-members will be paying for entry.

I'll admit to being incredibly frustrated the first few weeks of re-opening as you needed to get up a 6am on Friday morning to have any chance of booking for the following week and then crossing your fingers for the weather.

I have to say it has got better since. Weekday visits can usually be booked the day before and weekend slots are still available to book on Monday / Tuesday.

What is frustrating me is learning that families are booking a slot for Saturday and Sunday and then deciding which day to go. As members there is obviously no cost, but it is preventing other families from going and potentially depriving NT of income as most people probably buy a drink or an ice-cream.

In my view, NT need to
a) get better at dealing with no shows
b) have a system that allows people to cancel
c) have a waiting list for when cancellations arise.

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus

The charity status appears to be a bit of a red herring. Other charities have managed to offer priority to members.

I have found it quite easy to book but the ones near us tend to be honking great moorland deer parks rather than dainty gardens so loads of room to roam.

Agree with a PP that the gardens etc are looking neglected. Was chatting to a staff member at Lyme and they said lots of volunteers are older and shielding. Presumably employees furloughed as well.

There must be a better system than this.

When I was at Tyntesfield yesterday there was a sign up saying they usually had 170+ people working on the gardens. This was reduced to 4 working across 8 properties. I think the gardens looking a little unkempt is reasonable!

@WhentheDealGoesDown it took me the best part of an hour to get tickets last week and the booking didn’t open until about 8am. I did check earlier, but it wasn’t live. You’re obviously fortunate to live in an area where the demand is less. It would be fine if that was the case, but it isn’t here. I do think an hour at 8am for most people is very inconvenient and completely unmanageable for some.

@MummyToALittleMonster Thank you so much for posting that link - I would never have known about it otherwise!