Donations to the National Trust

One of the purposes of our Association is to raise money for the National Trust UK. Accordingly we donate an amount each year to support projects, generally of our choosing, and often with a Belgian Connection, at NT locations which we have visited.

Here is a list of past donations, the purpose to which the money was put and the National Trust property which benefited.

List of NTAB donations over the period 2005-2024

2024: £8,650 (€ 10,270)

  • £ 5,200 (€6.185) to the NT English Riviera Team, a NT management group, which looks after four historic homes – including Agatha Christie’s Greenway and the Arts and Crafts house of Coleton Fishacre – and miles of coastline and countryside around coast of South Devon.
  • £ 2,600 (€3.082) to Lytes Cary Manor, Somerset, the family home of the botanist Henry Lyte (1529-1589), whose most important work was his translation of Rembert Dodoens’s Cruydeboeck (Antwerp, 1554).
Dear Jan, I am delighted to learn that you’ve enjoyed your visit to Lytes Cary Manor so much that you and your fellow members and supporters from NTAB would like to give us a donation. It is a very kind and generous gift, and very much appreciated. We would look to put your donation towards a water harvesting project that will allow us to be more drought resilient in the garden, as well as reduce our water usage.  Andrea Hirt, Property Operations Manager - Lytes Cary Manor & Tintinhull Garden
  • £ 850 (€1.008) to the Friends of Wells Cathedral Charity.
Dear Jan Grauls, On behalf of the Wells Cathedral Leadership Team, and all here at Wells Cathedral, I would like to thank you for the very generous donation by the NTAB of 1,000 Euros. We have many urgent projects in restoration and conservation to preserve this magnificent building for future generations, and this kind gift will go toward this ongoing mission. We are all so grateful to our amazing guides and volunteers who make the visitor journey so special, and I am so pleased that you enjoyed your tour with Tom, who is exceptional.Thank you all once again we are truly grateful. Debbie Simpson, Business Support and Events Assistant - Wells Cathedral

2023: £3,640 (€ 4,193)

  • £ 1,600 to The Argory, Northern Ireland, in support of their General Use
I’m delighted to hear that the Belgium Assocation Supporter Group has generously donated £1,600 to The Argory towards the conservation and care of our beautiful site. Please accept my thanks and appreciation for this kind donation on behalf of the whole team at the Argory. We greatly value the support of the NTAB and your generous contribution will go a long way in preserving the heritage and maintaining the quality of our site. We hope that your members will visit and explore not only The Argory but also the other properties within our Mid-Ulster portfolio in the future. Jennifer Hatton, General Manager Argory, Ardress House, Springhill, Derrymore, Grays, Wellbrook, Coney Island
  • £ 1,900 to Murlough Nature Reserve & Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland, for their General Use
  • £ 140 to the Armagh Library (+ £ 260 personal gift from members = £400), Northern Ireland, to thank the staff for preparing a small exhibition of items with a Belgian connection.

2022: £2,070 (€ 2,509)

  • £ 1,020 to Greenway, Devon (Agatha Christie’s summer house)
  • £ 1,050 to East Pool Mine, Cornwall

2019: £ 5,850  (€ 6,858)

  • £ 2,000 to Northey Island, Essex
  • £ 850 to Sutton Hoo, Woodbridge, Suffolk
  • £ 3,000 to Sutton House, Hackney, London

2018: £ 2,200

  • £ 2,200 (€2,500) to Kinver Edge (Staffordshire), for their laser scanning project. Due to the nature of the sandstone that the Rock Houses are carved into, deterioration is inevitable. The National Trust would like to capture information about the caves before they deteriorate further using laser scanning. At the same time they want to help interpret the caves closed to the public using laser imagery on the website and signage around the walls.

2017: £ 2,300

  • £ 1,800 to Benthall Hall for the restoration of an oak chest
  • £ 500 to the Long Mynd for the purchase of a telescope for educational purposes (viewing the wild life, birds in particular)

2016: £ 6,150

  • £ 2,110 to Sizergh Castle, for the creation of the new ‘stump garden’
  • £ 2,310 to Fell Foot boathouse, for the repair of the damage from the recent flood in the Lake District
  • £ 1,730 to Clandon Park.

2015: £4,300

  • £ 250 to Kingston Lacey, as a contribution for the repair of glasshouses.
  • £ 1,350 to Ham House for Hornbean trees (£350) and 2 oak planters (2 x £500);
  • £ 1,200 to Washington Old Hall, as a contribution to the property’s wishlist: croquet set, petrol lawn mower, decorative gravel for Knot garden, garden tools for children, a Washington machine to launder Tudor school garments;
  • £ 1,500 to Seaton Delaval Hall, for garden seating.

2014: £4,500

  • £ 2,500 to Great Chalfield Object Inventory Project, to fund the NT’s acquisition of the “Malines ebonised wood and alabaster casket”.
  • £ 1,500 to Osterley Park, London, to purchase heavy gardening tools to clean the damage done to many trees by the storms of previous winter.
  • £ 500 to the Stowe Archive Project, to purchase storing materials as stated in the description of the project.

2013: £2,000

  • £ 1,000 to Carlyle House, in Chelsea, to allow Jane Carlyle’s sofa to be recovered in appropriate fabric with colour & style of its period.
  • £ 1,000 to Peckover House & Garden, which we visited during our 2013 UK trip, for professional framing of 19th century architectural drawings, picture rail and lighting..

2012: £5,000

  • £ 2,000 to Fenton House, in Hampstead, to cover the continuation of an important restoration project for their collection of early keyboard instruments.
  • £ 3,000 to Sandham Memorial Chapel, for educational panels with background information on the mural paintings by Stanley Spencer, planned to be ready for the centennial of the Great War.

2011: £5,000

  • £ 5,000 to Quebec House, South East, for the Flemish patchwork bedcover in Wolfe’s bedroom.

2010: £7,548

  • £ 1,000 to Chartwell, South East, for the exhibit of Churchill’s ‘hidden treasures’;
  • £ 1,500 to Chartwell, South East, for an oak bench;
  • £ 1,000 to Scotney castle, South East, for an oak bench;
  • £ 3,548 to Uppark, South East, for window blinds and UV-filters, to protect the interiors from sunlight;
  • £ 500 to Winchester City Mill, Thames & Solent, for cookery cards.

2009: £6,452

  • £ 3,000 to Oxburgh Hall, East of England, for the conservation of a 17th century Antwerp cabinet.
  • £ 3,000 to Woolsthorpe Manor, East Midlands, for a new front door to Isaac Newton’s house;
  • £ 452 to Clumber Park, East Midlands, for garden equipment.

2008: £7,442

2007: £3,493

  • £ 3.493 to Gibside, Yorkshire, for a geophysical survey of the walled garden.

2006: £694

  • £ 694 to Nunnington Hall, Yorkshire, for a frame for a newly discovered Turner painting.

2005: £9,974

  • £ 2,500 to Florence Court, Northern Ireland, for the restoration of a Ross painting;
  • £ 2,474 to Mount Stewart, Northern Ireland, for the restoration of Flemish tapestries;
  • £ 2,500 to Snowshill Manor, Wessex, for the new green house;
  • £ 2,500 to Charlecote Park, West Midlands, for a children’s activity pack.