National Trust to end their Easter Egg hunts

Does the old guard

As a Spanish neighbour of ours used to say, ‘Meezerable sods!’

I wonder if it is because they would be criticized for not catering for food intolerance and dietary choices in the chocolate eggs.

What a strange thing to end. Have they indicated why?

No rosenoir it is because they have stopped their relationship with Cadbury due to concerns about deforestation and palm oil. Personally, I agree with the NT, Cadburys have come a very long way from their Quaker beginnings, and not in a good way. The following link is a good read. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/20/women-took-on-national-trust-over-cadbury-sponsorship-deal

Apologies sirchenin, you had already posted the link. Cadburys have certainly lost their way since they sold out to Kraft.

The National Trust seem to think they are the nation's cnscience. 2 people present them with a petition saying it is cruel to have goldfish in a pond and they immediately remove the gold fish,

I expect that if someone else contacts them condemning them because having fireplaces in all their houses encourage people to think it is OK to burn coal and they would probably remove all the fireplaces they couldand shroud the rest in dust sheets.

Perhaps in future, before they ban something else could I suggest that they only ban things if 25% of the Trust's membership support the move?

I would think that 20 per cent is good.
So few spoiling things for so many.

As I said in my OP I completely understand the concerns around palm oil but they’ve also said that they want the focus to be the outdoors and not a sugary treat. Surely there’s a compromise here? One small chocolate egg isn’t going to result in obese children and the egg hunts encourage families to get out into the countryside - so the solution imo would be to look at swapping to sustainable chocolate.

Easter Egg hunts are fun, we do them at work.
Sorry the NT felt the need to do this, another enjoyment taken away from the kids.

Time for change. Why should NT do the same thing for ever and ever? I think the egg hunts are still on this year, aren’t they?

Yes, they’re on this year but not next. Change for changes sake - especially when it’s such a popular part of their calendar - is not necessary imo. It’s not as if this is the only event the NT do.

As a NT member I sadly think they have lost their way, they try to be so ‘right on’ and think that will sit well with their members all the time....it won’t!
If they have fallen out with Cadbury then other chocolate makers could be used.An egg hunt is fun for children, why spoil it?

Stayed in a NT property one Easter and there were hundreds of people participating. I thought that it was funny as it's not as if children are short of chocolate, but it the hunt that's the thing. They could have got rid of the Cadbury link and had a treasure hunt. Gets the family out and about.

I agree with MOnica and lemongrove The NT should stop trying to be the nation's conscience and concentrate on what they are funded to do.

^ concentrate on what they are funded to do.^

They are funded to preserve some of the nations heritage, not run bl**dy Easter Egg hunts. And I think it is really up to the organisation to decide whether or not to continue to run them, on whatever grounds they think fit.

They could always support local egg producers and use hardboiled eggs.. But that wouldn't be so popular, would it?

No MaizieD it certainly wouldn't be......and the hard headed aspect of NT Easter Hunts is to encourage members to participate and encourage non members to come along and pay ( and perhaps become members.)
Numbers would certainly fall for a boiled egg hunt.

Absolutely it’s up to them Maizie - and it’s up to the people like us who have membership and the many others who go to their properties to decide whether they’ve got better things to spend their money on.

No one is saying that thee should be no change. The NT has changed a lot since I first started visiting their properties in the 1970s, mostly for the best, but in recent years they have begun to think they are the nation's conscience and as soon as one or two people get some publicity for themselves saying something is bad for us, whether sugar, palm oil or any other cause, especially if supported by a popular environmentalist, they immediately jump on the bandwagon.

Now if they were truly concerned about all these matters they would ban all visitors who arrived at their properties by private car. Only those arriving by public transport, or under their own power, bike or foot. Even electric vehicles sgould be banned because of the enormous damaging imprint of making the batteries for them and disposing of them afterwards.

But they won't do that will they? Most of their properties are in rural areas, a long way from good transport links, even if the NT ran their own shuttle buses and many people who would drive to a stately home or remote area of countryside, and get their in 30 minutes or an hour will not spend three hours and all the hassle of getting there by public transport and then as long or longer trying to get home again

I can understand, maybe even applaud NT for terminating it's contract with Cadburys; their chocolate is horrible stuff now, but Cadbury isn't the only chocolate manufacturer in the country. Why not link up with one of the other chocolate companies, maybe one of the small independent companies who source ethical ingredients and would welcome the boost to their company profile.

So many families will miss this annual day out; the NT is losing the plot and forgetting who it's supposed to be attracting.

I agree M0nica. I wonder if they’ll extend their ban on palm oil to everything they sell? Will they stop selling sweet things in their cafes and gift shops in order to “imagine so many healthy, fun and active ways for children to explore National Trust properties at Easter that don’t involve lots of sugary treats.” I doubt it.

I don’t buy ‘Cadbury’s’ chocolate anymore. Horrible stuff! Bye bye ‘Roses’, ‘Creme Eggs’ (yuk) etc.

There are nicer alternatives in my opinion.

I totally agree Urmstongran, it's vile stuff. I threw a pack of Frys choc. creams in the bin last week, one bite and I heaved.
I don't know who makes Frys now but I used to like it.