National Trust bans volunteer who pointed out spelling mistakes

A National Trust volunteer who pointed out spelling mistakes on the organisation's website has been banned for 'not being in line' with its values.Andy Jones, 71, had been volunteering with the Trust for well over a decade, across several areas including the Woolbeding Estate and the Devil's Punch Bowl in Surrey.In a volunteering capacity, the pensioner carried out several roles from burning waste, gardening to guiding visitors and answering membership queries. And in November 2024, he sent a dossier containing thousands of misspellings and factual errors on the charity's website to its director, Hilary McGrady.Typos included 'toliets', 'permananat' and the names of Pre-Raphaelite artist Lucy Madox Brown as Maddox Brown, as well as grammatical mistakes.He spent around 400 hours, on his own initiative, and hoped that the errors would be amended, but was left furious after he received no response from the CBE recipient.Mr Jones then sent an email, which he acknowledged was inappropriate, and was banned from volunteering. He initially asked Ms McGrady, who is from Northern Ireland, if she would 'be so kind to forward' the document to someone who would could address the issues. Hilary McGrady (pictured in December) received a CBE in 2025 for her 'services to heritage' Pictured left to right: Gill Shannon, Steve Newberry, Andee Cole, Jackie Field, Graham Field and Harriet Gibbons  - some of the 13 volunteers dismissed as volunteers on the Isle of WightAfter not receiving a response, he sent another email the following January, where he penned: 'I sincerely hope my work is helpful to the National Trust.' Yet again, he did not hear back, sparking him to quit as a volunteer and sent a strongly worded email to his manager.'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,' he angrily wrote.His manager then replied saying how they were 'disappointed' by the comments made in the email, adding they were 'not in line with [their] organisational values.'They added the relationship between Mr Jones and the Trust had been 'irreversibly' damaged' and that he would not be considered for future volunteer roles. The pensioner confessed to The Telegraph that his comments were inappropriate but alleged he was stressed due to his prostate cancer diagnosis.Describing the idea of the National Trust as a 'brilliant one', he maintained it was senior management who were 'past their "use by" date'.He added: 'The organisation needs to be completely re-invented by a new, young, vibrant leadership that brings it kicking and screaming into the 21st centuryA National 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.' Share or comment on this article: National Trust bans volunteer who pointed out thousands of spelling mistakes on charity's website

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