National Trust bans man who pointed out spelling mistakes on website

A long-serving National Trust volunteer who spent 400 hours finding mistakes on the charity’s website has been blacklisted from further work.

Andy Jones, 71, had given up his free time across several areas including the Woolbeding Estate in West Sussex and the Devil’s Punch Bowl in Surrey until finding himself at loggerheads with the management.

The pensioner’s unpaid roles over 14 years included burning waste, gardening, guiding visitors and answering membership queries. 

But he has been told he is ‘not in line’ with the Trust’s values after a chain of events that began when he sent a dossier of misspellings and factual errors on the website to its director-general, Hilary McGrady. 

Bloopers Mr Jones attempted to point out in November 2024 included ‘toliets’, ‘permananat’ and the names of Pre-Raphaelite artist Lucy Madox Brown as Maddox Brown, as well as grammatical mistakes. 

He politely asked Ms McGrady, who is from Northern Ireland, if she would ‘be so kind to forward’ the document to a relevant person.

He spent around 400 hours on the task and hoped that the errors would be amended, but received no response from the CBE recipient. 

Mr Jones did not receive a reply, so he sent another email in January 2025, which read: ‘I sincerely hope my work is helpful to the National Trust.’ 

He again did not hear back, prompting him to quit as a volunteer at his local site and send a strongly worded email to his manager, which he now acknowledges was inappropriate. 

Mr Jones wrote: ‘Still no reply, acknowledgement, let alone thanks from the Oirish [sic] Dame on over 400 hours spent on her crappy not fit for purpose webs***e.’ 

His manager then replied saying how they were ‘disappointed’ by the comments, adding they were ‘not in line with [their] organisational values.’ 

The relationship between Mr Jones and the Trust had been ‘irreversibly’ damaged, and he would not be considered for future volunteer roles, the person said. 

The former volunteer confessed to The Telegraph that his comments were inappropriate but alleged he was stressed due to his prostate cancer diagnosis. 

He still sees the idea of the National Trust as a ‘brilliant one’ but views the senior management as ‘past their “use by” date’. 

‘The organisation needs to be completely re-invented by a new, young, vibrant leadership that brings it kicking and screaming into the 21st century,’ Mr Jones added. 

A Trust spokesperson said: ‘We are always happy to explain our decisions to individuals when it comes to their conduct and the standards we expect but we can’t do this via a newspaper, regardless of what any individual shares or claims, because we have a legal duty of confidentiality.

‘We can say that no-one would be told they were no longer welcome as a volunteer simply for pointing out grammatical errors on a website and this would not lead to relationship breakdown.  

‘Relationship breakdown tends to occur after a series of incidents.’ 

The incident is not the first spat between the Trust and some of its members over values and inappropriate use of language. 

Thirteen gardeners at Mottistone Manor on the Isle of Wight, who had more than 100 years’ service between them, were informed by the charity last June that their volunteering had been paused indefinitely. 

Some members of the team were said by managers to have used language and exhibited behaviours that did ‘not reflect the respectful and inclusive culture’ the Trust aims to uphold. 

The volunteers insisted the claims had been fabricated and called for Ms Grady to investigate the matter. 

The Trust said the issue was reviewed so staff teams could thrive in a ‘positive, respectful and welcome environment’, after which some members chose to leave their roles.

MORE: ‘It all started from us’: 50 years of sound system history at recreated family home

MORE: This Boxing Day tradition could end for good in the future

MORE: Woman behind infamous ‘Monkey Christ’ restoration dies aged 94

Comments Add as preferred source