VfJUK: Everyone welcome says the National Trust … except Christians!
VfJUK’s Commission of Inquiry into Discrimination Against Christians (CIDAC) has this week heard testimony from Christian Holden, a Catholic film maker based here in the UK, who specialises in filming and producing Christian films and documentaries. In June this year, Christian was commissioned to make a documentary on the Way of St Cuthbert. Cuthbert, it may be remembered, is patron saint of Northumbria and the idea was that the film would follow a US university professor and his students, as they travelled Cuthbert’s path from the beginning of his monastic life at Melrose Abbey on the Scottish borders, to Lindisfarne, where he was for a time leader of the community, and then later consecrated as Bishop.
As is the way with such documentaries, the filming was to move from location to location and, unsurprisingly, Christian sought permission from the National Trust to film at St Cuthbert’s Cave, now owned by the Trust and where legend has it that Cuthbert’s body was laid to rest in 875 AD. To Christian’s intense surprise, however, permission was refused – on the grounds that the National Trust did not allow its properties to be used for ‘filming with “religious affiliation”.’
Note the words ‘religious affiliation’ rather than religious content, because one feels they are important here. There are many documentaries made by major television networks exploring the history of religious sites in Britain, and no one bats an eye. Indeed, as attested by viewing figures, both people of faith and of no faith find them fascinating! So was the National Trust here objecting to the religious background and subject matter of the proposed film, or the expressed ‘religious affiliation’ of the film maker? Or were they even perhaps objecting to the religious affiliation of the deceased? We await clarification.
In recent years the National Trust has become increasingly dominated by what has been labelled by critics a neo-Marxist agenda, prioritising LGBTQ+ and BAME policies over everything else. In 2017, for instance, the Trust came under fire for attempting to make all staff and volunteers wear LGBTQ+ lanyards, leading many members to cancel their membership. Then in 2023, the Trust dropped the Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter from its ‘inclusivity and wellbeing’ calendar, replacing them instead with dates for the Hindu festival of Diwali, and the Muslim festivals of Eid and Ramadan.
On its website, the Trust boasts, ‘We are committed to meeting the needs and expectations of a diverse society … where everyone has an equally positive experience of our work and feels welcome’. Sounds wonderful … but Christians are apparently excluded from this, our history reduced to one of colonialist exploitation for which we must grovellingly atone.
This is scandalous. Under the Equality Act 2010, religion is a protected characteristic, making it an offence to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of their faith or belief. Yet this is precisely what appears to have happened here – permission was specifically denied on the grounds of ‘religious affiliation’. In specifically citing this as the ground for refusal, the National Trust is in breach of the law.
We would remind the National Trust that it is a charity that exists to preserve and protect the nation’s historic places and heritage. Christianity is not just integral to that heritage, but is foundational. Christian belief first came to our shores in around 42 AD, brought here by Roman soldiers and merchants only a few short years after Christ’s death. From then on it quietly took root and spread, so that by the beginnings of the 7th century we were, to all intents and purposes, a Christian country. Where those first believers trod, they inevitably left footprints – their values and beliefs shaping every part of our society and culture, so that all of our history, land, monuments and buildings are steeped in Christian thought and tradition. Yet, in its arrogance and contempt for that history, the National Trust would seemingly now deny this, focussing instead on the evils of colonialism and slavery.
The National Trust is no longer national or fit for purpose and VfJUK has sent the letter of complaint below. If you share our outrage at the Trust’s expressed rejection of the UK’s Christian heritage – while simultaneously retaining ownership of properties associated with persons who where ‘affiliated’ to Christianity – please email Hilary McGrady, Director-General of the National Trust, protesting the Trust’s betrayal of its founding principles to conserve and protect the nation’s (Christian) heritage and history for the benefit of all.
Write to: Hilary McGrady, Director-General of the National Trust, The National Trust, PO Box 7083, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 1XE
Or email: hilary.mcgrady@nationaltrust.org.uk
VfJUK’s formal letter of complaint:
Dear Hilary McGrady,
I write on behalf of Voice for Justice UK. It has come to our attention that in June this year film-maker Christian Holden was refused permission to film at St Cuthbert’s Cave, owned by the National Trust, for a documentary he was making, tracking a US university professor and his students, as they followed the route from Melrose Abbey, where Cuthbert began his monastic life, to Lindisfarne, where he later became leader of the community and subsequently died. The cave is where the saint’s body was laid to rest.
Christian Holden, a Catholic specialising in making religious promotional videos, and documentaries involving religious themes for general release, was refused permission to use the location because of the film’s ‘religious affiliation’. At every level, this is incomprehensible. Was the refusal in response to the proposed content of the documentary, or was it a response to Christian’s self-acknowledged Catholic faith? The framing of the refusal fails to make this clear. In their response, the Film Office merely stated, “we will not be able to host your filming due to its religious affiliation.”
What is clear, however, is that the documentary was designed for general release, with strong cultural and historical interest that would be accessible to a wide audience. It was not intended as a proselytising or evangelistic tool, and made no reference, either supportive or critical, to other religions.
Whether the Trust’s refusal was a response to the supposed religious nature of the documentary or to Christian Holden himself, in discriminating on the grounds of the project’s ‘religious affiliation’, the National Trust is in breach of its duty under the Equality Act 2010 not to discriminate against a person or persons because of a protected characteristic, as defined under the Act; namely, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, sex, sexual orientation … and religion. Further, under the Act, Public Sector Equality Duty requires the Trust to have due regard to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and to foster good relations between different groups.
Whether in relation to the project, or his personal religious affiliation, Christian Holden has clearly been discriminated against on the grounds of religion. We call for an immediate apology, and for appropriate reparation to be made forthwith to Christian Holden. We await your response.
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