Message from the Executive Director

Goal #1 of the Bermuda National Trust’s Strategic Plan 2023-2026 is to broaden and deepen our community connections. We want to better engage with sections of the community that are under-represented at the Trust, specifically the Black community, the Portuguese-heritage community and the 20-40 age group.

As an organisation, if we are to be fully integrated with the Black community, we need to understand the barriers that could be preventing people of colour from feeling they belong as a member of the Trust, or feeling a connection with the places and things we hold in trust.

As a first step towards better understanding, we asked CURB (Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda) to facilitate a workshop on racial equity for BNT staff and Council members. The workshop led by CURB executive director Stacey-Lee Williams was very thought-provoking and informative, and the focused engagement of everyone participating was great to see. In just a day and half, we generated many positive ideas to move the Trust forward with this important strategic goal. Thank you to Stacey-Lee and CURB! We look forward to further collaboration between our organisations.

Karen Border

Executive Director

We are excited to launch our annual raffle! Don't miss the chance to win one of four amazing prizes, including an electric Mini Cooper. Other prizes include an Electric Motor Bike, a $1,000 Market Place Grocery Voucher and a $1,000 BELCO Voucher.

Tickets cost $100, and we have only printed 1,100 tickets, giving you a better chance to WIN!

Tickets are available at the following locations:

Online – Click the link below or visit our website to easily purchase a ticket online! You will automatically receive your ticket number and be entered into the raffle.
At Waterville, 2 Pomander Road, Monday – Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm or call 236-6483 and we can process your card over the phone.
At the Trustworthy store at the Globe Museum in St. George's (view opening hours)
Through other supporting partners!

The draw will take place on Tuesday, 5 December at 10:00 am at Waterville, 2 Pomander Road and can be watched through Facebook Live.

Purchase your ticket today!

Natural Heritage Updates

Myles Darrell, Head of Natural Heritage

Hope for the future

Enduring the heat and humidity, a team of young volunteers has been out giving nature a helping hand. They worked at Sherwin Nature Reserve to battle encroaching invasive plants to make way for the thriving of the newly planted native species they then planted. I encourage you to read their comments: obviously we all benefit from their hard work – but they too feel rewarded about their contribution to our island.

Etana Holdipp, 13, Whitney Institute

It was hard work, but it was fun. We learned so much. For example, I saw poison ivy for the first time. I also got my steps in. It was so refreshing to see that people actually care about nature. If I could, I would do it all again.

Georae Trott, 13, Whitney Institute

The first thing we did was to identify what kinds of plants were invasive or native to the environment that they were in. We also got to see the types of conditions that the plants need to grow. After all that we got to destroy invasive plants and plant native plants in their place so that we can help the forest grow into the beautiful forest that we once knew.

Osheah Douglas, 12, Dellwood Middle School

Sherwin Nature Reserve is a place of life. (The Trust’s) goal is to restore Bermuda’s natural beauty. They are trying to reach this goal by taking out the invasive plant species. Today we went there to learn about biodiversity and got to plant some plants. Sherwin Nature Reserve has given me and a lot of other children new information. Sherwin Nature Reserve has given me a lot of hope for the future of Bermuda and its plants.

Why this matters

Working to conserve and protect the environment is fulfilling – but it can also be frustrating at times. Pressure to focus our attention on advocacy - pleading the case for our open spaces and their vital ecosystems - diverts resources from the equally crucial work of working on our own reserves.

The state of our natural areas reflects the kind of community we are. A garden overgrown with weeds is demonstrably neglected, unappreciated and unimportant. Broken windows left unrepaired in urban areas are known to lead to more broken windows, trash and vandalism. The message here is: model the standard of behaviour expected.

Bermuda of all places depends on its natural beauty; it’s our bread and butter. Business and tourism visitors are here not just for quality hotels and restaurants or beneficial tax regulation; they are here because it is a really lovely, healthy, safe place to be. It’s our business differentiator.

And let’s not forget Bermuda’s full-time residents: we need open space and nature for our own mental and associated physical health. Research shows that benefits of spending time outdoors include:

lowered blood pressure
reduced stress
improved mood and immune function
better sleep
increased creativity.

These benefits can remain with us as much as a week after time spent in nature.

Imagine this scenario: the ocean and its bounty around our coastline is dead – no reefs, no fish, no clear turquoise waters to explore; filthy trash-filled beaches; open spaces dominated by weeds. Our distinguishing features – our beauty, our native trees and shrubs, and the wildlife they support, gone.

While melodramatic, it’s not an unrealistic scenario, considering the environmental challenges many countries are facing today. Like the broken windows, issues need to be addressed before they get out of control and become too big to fix.

Over the last few years, we have increased efforts to improve the state of our nature reserves, especially in high density neighbourhoods. In the process, we have built stronger community relationships, gotten to know our neighbours better and expanded support for the work. The more people feel connected to our environment, the greater the impact we can make.

Be part of the solution! Join us on September 23, 9am-12.30pm, Scaur Lodge Nature Reserve community tour and volunteer morning. You can go to our website to register and there is information about what to bring and expect, click here for more information.
There are various other ways you can get involved in something that betters Bermuda and suits you if the Scaur date doesn’t work or suit your interest, just follow the link, share some insight about yourself and we can find a way to make you a part of the team Volunteer - The Bermuda National Trust (bnt.bm).

Cultural Heritage Updates

Dr. Charlotte Andrews, Head of Cultural Heritage

Taking antiracist action

Our CURB workshop, reflected on above by our Executive Director, reminded our team of the importance of not just talk, but taking action. Midway through our workshop, the staff and Council decided to use the antiracist momentum we were feeling to take an important step towards making our headquarters at Waterville more equitable and welcoming for all.

We did so by removing several portraits of white Bermudians that have long hung in the parlour and dining room, though they have no direct connection with the house. These rooms are regularly used for Trust Talks and meetings and are open to visitors, so the representation on the walls is important as our ‘public face’. Waterville is also part of our ongoing RISE efforts to ‘Re-imagine Sites of Enslavement’ under BNT’s care and curation. While it is possible that some portraits will be rehung, it will only be done in ways that are sensitive and appropriate for telling a more inclusive Bermuda story. We welcome any feelings about the removal of the portraits you may wish to share.

Council and Museums & Collections Committee members Linda O’Shea and Meredith Ebbin

Buildings Mechanic Duane Symonds

World Heritage Wins

For two weeks in August, we assisted visiting Professors Emma Waterton and Jason Dittmer of the Heritage for Global Challenges Research Centre with their fieldwork in the World Heritage Site. Interviews, surveys and focus groups gathered data about St. George’s as the first of several World Heritage Sites being researched by the pair.

Director of the Department of Culture Dr. Kim Dismont-Robinson, BNT Executive Director Karen Border, BNT Council member Meredith Ebbin, and Mayor of St. George Quinell Francis.

In their Trust Talk at Waterville, Emma and Jason gave an overview of their multi-UNESCO site study and explained how the comparative project seeks to gain new understanding from each site that can be applied to each location’s unique management issues and interpretation. Their collaborative methods with the Trust and other partners are helping to ensure their research positively impacts the Bermuda World Heritage Site.

The next night, the Trust invited an array of World Heritage partners to a happy hour event at the Globe Museum. While the casual event provided a fun chance for everyone to connect, we also stressed the ongoing need for a joint interpretive plan as part of the wider World Heritage Site Management Plan. We are excited to work on our own interpretive plans for the Globe Museum and BNT’s other properties in St George’s collaboratively with other partners, East End residents and the wider Bermuda community.

From left, Astoria Smith, Francine Trott, Elizabeth Christopher, the Mayor, Alaia Wharton-Davies and Chris Davies.

From left, Leverhulme Professor Emma Waterton and Professor Jason Dittmer with Charlotte

Verdmont Open House

Never been to Verdmont? Love Verdmont? Live near Verdmont? Want to Visit Verdmont again? Whatever your connection to the 300-year-old historic house and surrounding property, you are invited to our open house and community day on Saturday 14 October from 11am-3pm. There will be heritage activities for all ages, food and drink, and family fun throughout the museum and gardens!

If you are interested in getting involved in our open house event planning, such as being a heritage, food or music volunteer or vendor, please contact me by 15 September on charlotte.andrews@bnt.bm or 236-6483 x.225