The National Trust is a commendable organisation best-known for its act of protecting and caring for nature and the environment.
It looks after the nation’s coastline, historic sites, countryside and green spaces through conservation and educating the public.
With over 5.6m members the National Trust is the largest conservation charity in Europe and recently celebrated its 125th anniversary, following its founding by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley in 1895.
Below are its pledges on how the charity plans to tackle climate change:
- By 2025 it will have created 25,000 hectares of new wildlife habitats.
- In ten years it will establish 18,000 hectares of new woodland made up of more than 20 million trees.
- It will become carbon net zero by 2030.
- By 2021 50% of its energy needs will be met by renewable sources.
It also helps wildlife thrive by providing homes for various types of endangered species and ensuring that these special places and their residents stay protected.
An outstanding example of this is that it brought the endangered large blue butterfly back to Stroud, where it hasn’t been seen for 150 years – an amazing milestone.
During the last year alone, the charity spent £148 million looking after its historic houses, castles, ancient monuments, gardens, parks and nature reserves and a further £225m running them day-to-day.
This isn’t all, The National Trust also cares for 25,000 hectares (61,776 acres) of woodland, 135 wild landscape sites and more than 200 gardens.
Through its work, it aims to connect children with nature and the outdoors through nature-related activities for kids.
Examples of this charity’s movement is its ‘50 things to do before you’re 11¾’.
From learning about bugs or stargazing, the National Trust shows how children can get stuck in with nature even when we’re staying at home.
It also offers an exclusive £10 junior membership package to inspire the next generation of nature and heritage lovers. In 2018 alone, it was reported that 23,000 children became National Trust junior members.
Outdoors and wildlife aside, this outstanding charity also looks after one of the world’s largest and most significant holdings of fine art and heritage objects – a treasure chest of history.
With over 200 collections, 144 of which are accredited museums, no other organisation conserves such a range of heritage locations with buildings, contents, gardens and settings intact, nor provides such extensive public access.
It believes that everyone can get involved, become inspired and make a difference.
National Trust Challenge
The National Trust is committed to sharing breathtaking images of wildlife and nature across its social media platforms.
Every weekend it hosts its National Trust challenge for supporters and wildlife fanatics to get involved and share their videos with the public with a specific theme each week.
This popular hashtag #NTChallenge currently has a phenomenal 130,740 posts.
On the 6th and 7th February 2021, the theme was ‘textures of nature’.
To take part, all users had to do was add the #NTChallenge hashtag to photos until the closing date.
Although there are no prizes involved, it was a great way for users to share their encapsulating images with the public across National Trust’s social media.
This challenge takes place every weekend for supporters to get their photo skills in motion and explore nature’s beauty.
This is a great example of how charities, like the National Trust, can get social media users involved to help spread awareness of the charity, whilst leaving people in awe at the simplistic beauty of wildlife and nature.
Up Close And Personal With Nature And Wildlife
The National Trust uses its social platform as a place to share a library of effortless, high-definition snapshots of nature.
From videos of a group of otters swimming, to a close up picture of a red squirrel.
Those who follow its social media accounts can expect to see these mesmerising images on a daily basis.
With a variety of close up animal shots and bird’s eye view landscape images – there is something for everyone.
A picture which did exceptionally well was its carousel post of a group of rare melanistic seal pubs (below) spotted on Blakeney Point in Norfolk. This post received an impressive 24,369 likes.
These images not only educate the public about animals, plants and wildlife but also highlight the beauty of nature, through close-up, in motion snaps.
National Trust Natures Guides
Social media is also renowned for being a place for people to come to learn and develop new interests.
The National Trust posts eye-catching video content once a week and one type of content that has seen significant recognition was its nature guides.
On the 16th January 2021 the National Trust posted a video consisting of tips on how to help birds thrive in your garden during winter. This video saw more than 54,000 views and 6,000 likes on its Instagram post.
It also posted a ‘Nature’s guide to lockdown’ which outlined what you can do during these times to connect with nature whilst staying local. This video was another social media hit with 45,972 views and 6,132 likes on Instagram.
The National Trust has tuned-in to what users want: to be educated in a fun and concise way, whilst spreading awareness about protecting and nurturing the environment around us.
How-To Recipes
In January saw the month of #Veganuary which gave inspiration for The National Trust to post recipe content across its social media platforms.
During January 2021, the charity posted a recipe for its sweet potato and cauliflower curry pies.
These mouthwatering pies are packed with aromatic spices and topped with crisp pastry perfect for cold, cosy days and according to the caption this recipe is easy to make – it’s a win win.
With a step by step guide to making this delectable hearty meal, the National Trust shows how social channels can consist of diverse content such as recipes despite being a nature focused charity.
With the call to action to its website for the full recipe, this video was a hit over on its Instagram account, receiving over 76,000 views.
National Trust Podcast
The National Trust has its own podcast, yes that’s right, a podcast.
It’s currently in its fourth season, after its previous series three seasons being a success. It delves deeper into the stories of extraordinary places and the people connected to them.
In series four, users can expect to listen to people’s anecdotes of gazing at stars from the hills, exploring secret treetop worlds and uncovering unexpected histories at some of the most unusual buildings.
This podcast is a place for listeners to be taken on an audio adventure, and to escape and immerse themselves in other peoples stories and discoveries whilst becoming educated, encapsulated and left positively perplexed.
You can listen now to series one to three on Apple Podcasts.
Through its National Trust event every weekend to its nature oriented tips, it has captured the audience’s attention and created a community spirit online.
With its consistent daily posts, it has brought people closer to nature, albeit virtually.
Through its dedication and hard work, it preserves the environment and raises people’s attention to the fact that we live in a beautiful world with nature and wildlife in every corner for us to enjoy, nurture and learn from.
Well done National Trust, you truly do highlight nature’s finest.
What do you love about The National Trust’s social media?
Let us know in the comments on our post on Instagram or Facebook.