2013 Annual Report

Throughout the year, INTO continued to provide a focal point for the worldwide National Trust movement, advising on the potential for Trusts in the Czech Republic, Portugal and Slovenia, and supporting existing Trust organisations from Jersey to Trinidad; Taiwan to Spain.

Following the successful pilot in 2012, our Working Holidays programme goes from strength to strength and in 2013, four INTO member countries (Czech Republic, France, Slovakia and Spain) offered short-term volunteering opportunities to the public under the INTO banner.

Having listened to our members who told us of the need for small injections of funds, often at the beginning of a project, we launched a new Small Grants Programme which is designed to allow our member organisations to develop and share skills, contributing to their ongoing sustainability. The first grant was made to the National
Trust of Fiji.

What makes INTO unique is its combined knowledge and understanding of the National Trust approach. The movement has grown to include a range of countries from Australia, Bermuda and Canada all the way through the alphabet to Zanzibar and Zimbabwe!

Each is different but they share similar goals, legal constitutions and structures, and today dozens of National Trusts and similar heritage conservation organisations exist throughout the world. INTO aims to help these groups learn from each other and avoid reinventing the wheel, freeing up vital resources and helping them spend more time, energy and money on meeting their objectives.

As INTO members are all over the world, the ICNT provides an excellent opportunity to share best practice and experience in person. But we live in a world of high-speed internet and there are always ways of creating partnerships and sharing on a global scale. We have recently introduced a new webinar facility to better connect our members and we are also building a knowledge base on the new INTO website to help maintain the ICNT buzz 24/7!

Regular contact with our members enables us to understand their needs, wants and haves and therefore better match them to other members within the INTO community who may already have the experience and skills to share.