National Trust AGM | 2024

November 2024 saw National Trust members from around the country come together in Newcastle for their Annual General Meeting at Newcastle Civic Centre. We caught up with Libby Johnstone, Governance Manager at National Trust, to learn more about the conference and what drew organisers to Newcastle.

Can you briefly summarise what your conference is about?

The National Trust AGM is a yearly event for our members to come together, tell us what matters to them, and to shape our work. The event programme includes speeches from our Chair and Director-General reflecting on the last 12 months, marking milestone achievements and the organisation’s plans moving forward. This year we were excited to share the direction of our new 10-Year Strategy which will be launched in January 2025. The day is also an opportunity to hear from our members, with Q&A open to those 700+ members that joined either in person or online.

Why was Newcastle the perfect fit for this event?

Newcastle was an easy choice for our AGM as we have fantastic connections to local partners, for whom we hosted a reception at the Great North Museum the evening before our AGM. It had also been one year since the devasting felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, and meeting in the North East was a suitable tribute to the Sycamore tree and landscape. We took the opportunity to reflect on the community projects that had arisen from the loss of the tree, and the hope brought by its saplings.

National Trust Annual General Meeting 2024 at Newcastle Civic Centre. ©National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, especially in business events. Did your event take any measures to be more sustainable?  

The National Trust takes great care to keep our operations as environmentally friendly as possible, and we open up our meeting to members online, which makes our event both more accessible and sustainable by reducing travel. For this year’s event we were also supported by the Civic Centre to reduce the impact of our catering; ensuring lunch packs contained as much recyclable material as possible, and there were a great number of plant-based food choices. We’ve also significantly reduced our paper waste by providing AGM materials to members online.

Was there anything that made the event particularly memorable or unique?

We showcased a video involving school children nearby to the Sycamore Gap – it was moving to see the art piece and poetry they had produced in response to this setting, and the power of nature shone through. It highlighted more than ever the importance of the Trust’s work protecting nature, beauty and history.

How did Newcastle Gateshead Convention Bureau help you with this event?

NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau helped us to identify a number of great venues across the city as well as recommending hotels and supporting our delegates with finding places to stay near to our Conference venue.

Visit the National Trust website to learn more about their work: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Cover image credit: National Trust Annual General Meeting 2024 at Newcastle Civic Centre. ©National Trust Images/Paul Harris