2013 Magazine - Royal Caledonian Ball

Our responsibilities contain and contrast
architecture that was once at the cutting
edge of technology, like Charles Rennie
Mackintosh’s Hill House, alongside turf
ramparts borne of military necessity on the
Roman world’s most northerly frontier.
Technology and conflict certainly come
together at Culloden, with its
internationally acclaimed immersive cinema
that puts you in the middle of the battle, and
will do so again using the very latest 3-D
digitisation at the new Battle of
Bannockburn centre which opens in 2014.
Management of landscape and buildings on
the very largest of scales also has to be
matched to almost infinite attention to
detail. Our experts conserve over 100,000
artefacts representing the everyday tools of
lives once lived and many great works of fine
art and interior decoration.
It is natural to expect an organisation like
the Trust to look after properties but we also
have a mission to promote and interpret our
shared heritage too. In urban areas and
across Scotland, we work with schools and
groups supporting disadvantaged children in
order to introduce them to our shared
heritage. We welcome thousands of school
children to our properties every year and
use every possible method to engage them in
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the excitement and fascination that history
and nature can offer.
We also have an international dimension to
our work, as Scotland’s heritage also belongs
to the world: Our USA Foundation and the
Canadian National Trust for Scotland are
instrumental in keeping alive our heritage,
with the Scottish Diaspora raising generous
donations towards its upkeep.
Neither must it be forgotten that around
10% of the Trust’s membership resides in
London and the south-east of England. For
that reason among many, our London
Committee is vital to our work and plays a
significant part in the fundraising on which
we depend.
As a charity, with limited Government
funding, we depend almost wholly on
generous gifts, donations and bequests, as
well as the fees our members pay. We
estimate that it costs us at least £100,000
each and every day, or about £70 a minute,
simply to meet the basic costs of maintaining
our properties. However, given the real
treasures of world importance in our care,
we see this as a price worth paying.
For more information go to www.nts.org.uk
or email osmart@nts.org.uk to find out
about the events being organised by the
London Committee.