A row has broken out at the National Trust property of Dunham Massey outside Altrincham after it stopped volunteers from giving personalised guided tours of the grounds.
Reports say that the National Trust have suspended 70 volunteer Park Guides, at the same time the General Manager is complaining about hard it is to recruit volunteers post Covid.
Tony Russell, who has volunteered as a park guide on the site for 17 years, told The Daily Telegraph there had been some frustration following new rules that standardised guided tours.
“Previously each park guide had their own particular interests,” he said. “So on one tour you might hear about the birds, on another it would be the local history.
“The new management came in and changed the way they do them. They wanted to fix particular routes. Consequently, a large number of guides have refused to do them.”
The trust said it would conduct a review into the roles of volunteers following 18 months of informal consultations, including feedback that some park guides were not happy.
A spokesman for the NT told the paper
“No volunteers are being ‘sacked’ and we are hugely grateful for all the time, energy and skills that our volunteers bring to Dunham Massey.”
We need volunteering to be a positive and mutually beneficial experience for everyone and where it isn’t, we must act to address that.
“As some park guide volunteers have told us over 18 months of informal consultation that they are not happy, we are pausing the role for the time being to enable a review of future needs.
“The aim of the review is to ensure that future volunteer roles in the park prioritise care of the parkland and a positive volunteering experience.”
Image from X via Tony Russell
