More on the Mottistone garden volunteers
The Telegraph reports,
National Trust gardeners ‘forced out after clash over values’
Managers claim some of group’s behaviour did not align with ‘inclusive culture’ but gave no examples
For decades, a dedicated group of volunteer gardeners have tended to the grounds of Mottistone Manor on the Isle of Wight. Even throughout the pandemic, they planted bulbs, trimmed hedges, and cut grass at the National Trust estate.
But the 13 volunteers say they have been forced out, without warning, by trust managers who claimed their “attitude and values” did not align with the charity’s “respectful and inclusive culture”.
What exactly the gardeners are supposed to have done wrong has not been explained.
The decision appears to be the latest example of the trust’s pursuit of a “progressive culture” which has included exploring properties’ links with slavery and colonialism and asking some staff to wear rainbow-coloured clothes and lanyards.
Graham Field, 76, who is acting as a spokesman for the gardeners, said: “With a cold and dismissive click of a send button, over 100 years of gardening skill, site-specific knowledge and hard work were lost to the trust.”
The manor and its 650-acre grounds were mentioned in the Domesday Book and were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1963 by the 2nd Lord Mottistone.
The volunteers, who looked after the six-acre garden overseen by one full-time head gardener, were a close-knit group. Mr Field, a retired civil servant, and his wife, Jackie, 75, a former school teacher, spent their Thursday mornings working in the garden for 12 years.
The group would hold a Christmas party and take their coffee breaks together, and they could explain the history of the estate to visitors if asked.
Yet all that would change on June 19 when, having worked a shift that appeared no different from any other, the volunteers returned home and received an email that all garden volunteering had been paused.
The trust’s senior volunteering and community officer for the Isle of Wight wrote to the group: “Please do not turn up to volunteer at this time.”
The prospect of an untended garden filled the gardeners with dread.
Mr Field wrote back: “A garden cannot and should not be ‘paused’ at any time. Doing so could quickly undermine everything accomplished to date and over many years.”
The garden, with its colourful borders, shrub filled banks and grassy terraces, is described as “one of the most peaceful and magical on the island” by the Isle of Wight’s official tourism website.
It has won numerous awards at Wight in Bloom, the island’s annual gardening competition, and hosted the wedding reception of Benedict Cumberbatch and his wife Sophie Hunter in 2015.
Almost a week after the first email, the volunteers received another.
This time it was from the trust’s visitor operations and experiences manager on the island, and it made serious allegations about some of the gardeners’ behaviour.
“The decision to pause all volunteering in the garden was not made lightly,” he wrote in his email on June 25.
“It is a necessary step to address serious concerns regarding the behaviours, attitudes, and values exhibited by some members of the team.
“A culture where individuals feel free to act or speak without regard for others cannot be allowed to continue.
“This had had a significant impact on team cohesion and the overall effectiveness of our work.”
Another email followed a month later. This one came from the trust’s head office on the island and had no name on it.
It alleged there had been “instances of behaviour, language, or attitude that do not reflect the respectful and inclusive culture we strive for”.
The gardeners claimed the allegations came as a complete surprise and that they were unsure what the managers were referring to.
In August, they sent an official complaint to Tina Lewis, the trust’s director of people, in which they claimed they had been “subjected to comments about their behaviour, attitude and values that are insulting, inflammatory and patently untrue”.
Ms Lewis wrote back a week later, saying she had spoken to the property team, and reiterated the same allegations that some of the gardeners were not upholding the trust’s standards.
The letters prompted the gardeners to submit another complaint, this time of almost 1,500 words, which accused the trust of a “cover-up” and demanded that Ms Lewis explain the allegations in detail.
She responded with an email of just 160 words that said the trust “will not be engaging in further correspondence”.
“Not one of our concerns or questions had been addressed,” said Mr Field. “That our complaint had merely been sent back to the managers we were complaining about was rather like asking the prisoner in the dock to declare a verdict and not the judge and jury.
“But then we were only volunteers who could not take our cause to a tribunal. It seems our only recourse is to the media and court of public opinion.”
A trust spokesman said: “We have a legal obligation to protect people’s confidentiality, regardless of what any individual wishes to share publicly, so we can’t comment on any individual case.
“Earlier this summer we held a review to secure the future care of the gardens at Mottistone and ensure all volunteer and staff teams can thrive in a positive, respectful and welcoming environment.
“Following this review, some volunteers chose not to continue, and we respect those individual decisions.”
The Mail has this take on the story:
National Trust in new woke row as 13 volunteer gardeners are terminated for failing to be 'inclusive'
The National Trust was in another woke row last night after forcing out a group of elderly volunteer gardeners, claiming they were not the 'right fit' in its drive for inclusivity.
The 13 gardeners, who have spent their retirement tending award-winning gardens at Mottistone Manor on the Isle of Wight, were devastated to learn by email that the trust was 'terminating the volunteering agreement'.
It claimed the gardeners, with more than 100 years of NT volunteering experience, had failed to attend health and safety briefings, refused to accept sustainability changes and created a culture where 'individuals feel free to act or speak without regard for others'.
But the furious volunteers say the allegations are fabricated and called on trust director general Hilary McGrady to investigate.
Their spokesman Graham Field, 76, a former civil servant who has worked for 12 years at the gardens, which are mentioned in the Domesday Book, said the volunteers had been denied access to an impartial complaints process.
He said: 'We have been caught up in some politicised agenda when all we ever wanted to do was to tell the story of Mottistone. With a cold and dismissive click of a send button, over 100 years of gardening skill, site-specific knowledge and hard work were lost.'
In an email to Ms McGrady, he added: 'Some volunteers feel there has been an orchestrated campaign to get rid of them, so unprecedented have been the attacks. Against this background the three newest and least experienced arrivals were allowed to work throughout the "pause" while all long-serving volunteers were excluded. This is discriminatory.'
He rebuffed the trust's stance that the volunteers had refused to accept changes.
Last night Cornelia van der Poll of Restore Trust, which campaigns to reinstate the National Trust's traditional values, said volunteers at other NT properties had similar experiences.
'Pity the National Trust doesn't seem to value the amazing resource it has in volunteers,' she added.
The National Trust didn't respond to repeated requests to comment.
But it previously told a horticultural trade publication: 'Some volunteers chose not to continue volunteering following a pause while we developed a new approach for the future of the garden at Mottistone.
'We recognise that change can be challenging and for some, the new ways of working and expectations were not the right fit. We remain committed to fostering an inclusive and rewarding volunteering culture at Mottistone.'
The charity last year received a backlash for a vegan overhaul of its cafes. It excluded Christian holidays from its 'inclusivity and wellbeing' calendar in 2021.