The woke National Trust had become so “troubled and political” that it did not progress in discussions to honour it with an anniversary coin by The Royal Mint, according to reports.
The Royal Mint, the official producer of coins for the United Kingdom, had decided in 2018 against producing a coin marking 125 years of the National Trust after the conservation charity had continued on its lurch to the left, as demonstrated the year before with incidents including when it removed the word “Easter” from its Easter egg hunt and banished volunteers out of sight of the public if they refused to wear gay pride branding.
Minutes of a meeting held by The Royal Mint’s subcommittee obtained by the left-progressive Independent former newspaper and published on Sunday revealed that under a section regarding the charity’s 125th anniversary, it read: “The theme was not approved. 125th was not a good anniversary. Judged to be a somewhat troubled and political organisation.”
The minutes reportedly do not state the reason behind the decision, but are possibly inspired by at least the two incidents from 2017, which at the time garnered much media attention, including from then-Prime Minister Theresa May, a vicar’s daughter and National Trust member, who criticised the charity for removing the word “Easter” from its Easter egg hunt, calling the move “absolutely ridiculous” and remarking: “I don’t know what they’re thinking about.”
A Royal Mint spokesman told the website this week: “As the theme was speculative, the National Trust was one of many themes considered and would not have been informed before or after this decision was made. The Royal Mint advisory committee sits outside of the Royal Mint and they consider a wide range of themes every year, not all of which are successful.”
The National Trust had garnered criticism in recent years for its woke activities, not least for its decision to demand all visitor-facing volunteers at Felbrigg Hall wear gay pride apparel during the charity’s “Prejudice and Pride” season in 2017, which they promptly reversed after it was reported hundreds of supporters had cancelled their membership.
More recently in light of the protests by the Marxist Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in the UK, the charity published a shame list of 93 properties it works with highlighting their links to colonialism and the slave trade as part of its “Colonial Countryside Project”, including the home of British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, Chartwell House in Kent. It was later revealed that the project was in part funded by taxpayers’ money.
It was also revealed this year that charity volunteers were being forced to undertake diversity training to tackle alleged “unconscious bias”.
There was a public backlash, however, against the charity’s woke leadership, resulting in the founding of the Restore Trust group, led by members, which pushes against the charity’s far-left positions and seeks to return the National Trust to its otherwise long-established roots of preserving British heritage and culture.
In May, Restore Trust hailed as a victory the resignation of National Trust chairman Tim Parker, who had pledged his support to the far-left BLM in November, after the traditional conservation movement had filed a motion of no confidence in him.
“His position was clearly untenable given everything that has happened and the current crisis of confidence in the National Trust amongst its staff, volunteers and members,” Restore Trust said, calling for the next leader of the organisation to be someone “with a deep understanding and appreciation of our nation’s heritage”. Applications for the new chairman is now closed, with further updates expected in late December to January.