Gingerbread, the national charity supporting single-parent families, has announced a new strategic collaboration with the National Trust to break down barriers for single parents and their children to access nature and heritage spaces across England and Wales.

Launching in time for the school summer holidays, the arrangement will provide 3,000 free day passes for single-parent families supported by Gingerbread to access National Trust sites. The National Trust’s much-loved Summer of Play, sponsored by Starling Bank, will bring a family-friendly festival atmosphere to 175 National Trust places across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Visitors through the collaboration will be able to get involved with activities ranging from castle-constructions, circus skills, storytelling, dressing-up and crafting.

Gingerbread Interim CEO Lisa Pearce said, “Single parents face some of the toughest barriers to accessing nature, culture, and shared family experiences, yet these are vital for children’s confidence, wellbeing, and education. This initiative will open up opportunities for thousands of children to explore, learn, and connect during the summer and beyond.”

Robin Lewis, Head of Paying Visitors at National Trust, said “We are delighted to link up with Gingerbread to extend a warm welcome to single parent families across our sites. This collaboration supports our mission to ensure everyone can benefit from the wellbeing and connection to nature and heritage that the National Trust offers. One of our priorities under our new strategy is to end unequal access to nature, beauty and history; initiatives like this are crucial to being able to achieve this goal.”

Building on the summer pilot, Gingerbread and the National Trust plan to provide a free meeting space offer for single parent family groups, enabling regular nature-connected meet-ups in welcoming, accessible environments.

The initiative will also include co-created insights to improve single-parent family experiences at National Trust sites and support the Trust’s commitment to ensuring that everyone feels welcome when they visit a National Trust site.

About Gingerbread

Gingerbread is the leading charity working with single parents and their children across England and Wales, providing expert advice, community support, and campaigning for change to ensure all single parents and their children can thrive.

About the National Trust

The National Trust is an independent conservation charity founded in 1895 by three people: Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley, who saw the importance of the nation's heritage and open spaces and wanted to preserve them for everyone to enjoy. Today, across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we continue to look after places so people and nature can thrive.

We care for more than 250,000 hectares of countryside, 890 miles of coastline, 1 million collection items and 500 historic properties, gardens and nature reserves. In 2023/24 we received 25 million visitors to our pay for entry sites. The National Trust is for everyone - we were founded for the benefit of the whole nation, and our 5.4 million members, funders and donors, and tens of thousands of volunteers support our work to care for nature, beauty, history for everyone, for ever.

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact media@gingerbread.org.uk

For National Trust, please contact press.office@nationaltrust.org.uk

FAQs about the National Trust day pass Gingerbread offer

How can I get a free day pass?
We'll be sharing the passes with our single parent community members who have joined a local group. Single parents who live in England or Wales can join for free at www.gingerbread.org.uk/your-community.

How many times can I use my National Trust day pass?
The National Trust day pass is single use

What dates can I use my National Trust day pass between?
Monday 21st July 2025 and Monday 8th September 2025, excluding 23 - 25 August 2025

How many people can get free admission?
Each day pass allows one adult and up to three children, or two adults and up to four children free admission to a participating National Trust places. An adult is someone aged 18 or over, children are aged 7-17. Under 5s go free.

Where can I use the day pass?
The day pass can be used at any participating National Trust places. Check where, opening times and if you need to pre-book at nationaltrust.org.uk/using-your-pass.

How do I use the pass?
Please present your pass and the email you received with your pass, to a team member at your chosen National Trust place.

Do I get free parking with the day pass?
The day pass does not include parking unless the price of parking is included within the standard admission price.

Any other questions? Please check the terms and conditions on the back of the day pass. You can also find out more on the National Trust website.