The National Trust was founded over 125 years ago, with the core charitable purpose of protecting special places for the benefit of the nation; for everyone, forever.  To fulfil our charitable purpose for the whole nation, we needed to look beyond our rural visitor attractions to the places that matter most to people, which are often those closest to home, when 80% of the UK population live in towns and cities. We created an ‘Urban Places’ strategy to help look after special places that sit outside of our ownership, including local greenspaces and heritage, share our skills and develop new ways to protect them.

Birmingham is the UK’s second city and our partnership with Canal & River Trust aimed to bring the Roundhouse building to life, creating a self-sustaining heritage attraction that engages a wider audience, brings people together, and engages people with their environment through both urban industrial heritage and water-based outdoor activities.