GUERNSEY was the inspiration for a new National Trust association. The idea came after 19 trust holiday organisers had a taste of the island on a three-day familiarisation trip that included local heritage sites.

Peter de Sausmarez – who hosted a lunch for the group at Sausmarez Manor – was delighted with their idea.

‘Guernsey is the catalyst. They had a vote and it was virtually unanimously approved.’

The proposed association would be called Anthem – the Association of National Trust Heritage Excursion Management. It would enable trust travel organisers to meet each year to share their experiences.

‘They want to do this on an annual basis throughout the country and I’ve offered for them to do it here next year,’ said Mr de Sausmarez.

The proposal came after Pat Wilkins – a former Tourist Board travel trade representative – organised the promotional visit to encourage more visitors to the island. Mr de Sausmarez was grateful to VisitGuernsey and Aurigny and said there was an ‘enormous vote of thanks’ for her. Mrs Wilkins said the three days had been a success.

‘It’s gone excellently. I’ve had really positive feedback from all the participants. We’ve got some very encouraging results from bookings.’

One couple in the group were already making plans for a group excursion.

‘It’s a shame about the weather, but they thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Herm and all the attraction visits,’ said Mrs Wilkins.

‘It will definitely lead to a number of group bookings in the not-too-distant future.’

Mrs Wilkins is continuing to work closely with the National Trust by organising trips to Guernsey and presentations to UK clubs.

Sue Shapland was one of her guests. She has been a National Trust life-member for 20 years and has run holidays for the West Somerset association since 1996.

‘I think it’s a delightful island. It’s got a lot more interesting things than I realised.

‘I visited the Occupation Museum and I was fascinated by how much history there was. We also went to the Folk Museum, which gets full marks for content and presentation. The lady who took us round was most interesting and helpful.’

Mrs Shapland said that most of her party would be likely to bring groups over.

‘One of the things we’ve appreciated is that small groups are more suitable,’ she said. Many of her fellow visitors are used to organising about 50 people at a time.

The group enjoyed a Jerbourg Point cliff walk as well as visits to Castle Cornet, the manor and L’Ancresse Bay. They were entertained at Les Douvres Hotel, the Hotel Hougue du Pommier and the Bella Luce.