Let's Play 2022 — Culture River

Let’s Play 2022

Project managing the National Trust's flagship family programme, driving 3M visitors across 170 properties and resulting in 70% ‘exceeds expectations’.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

**CLIENT:** National Trust
**ROLE:** Project Manager
**TIMELINE:** March - October 2022
**PROJECT TYPE:** national programming / creative production / visit-driving
**AUDIENCE:** Families, children aged 0-12

Outcomes and achievements

Motivating 36% non-member visits

36% of non-members would not have visited the property at all without the Summer offer, demonstrating strong visit-driving power.
65% warm to member conversion

65% of non-members said they would consider National Trust membership based on their experience with Let's Play.
70% 'Exceeds expectations'

70% of surveyed visitors reported that Summer of Play exceeded their expectations.
Wild Rumpus at 27 sites

Delivered large-scale play pavilions at 18 top-performing properties and smaller interventions at 9 additional sites following comprehensive CDM risk assessment.
Visual stories rolled out nationally

Delivered training and guidance on visual stories to champion improved accessibility in the pre-visit experience.
Consistent brand across 170 venues

Created uniform brand suite offering consistent look and feel while inspiring play, nature, and summer vibes across the entire national cohort.
National press coverage

Play featured in the Daily Mail as a summer highlight event for families, demonstrating strong external profile and market positioning.

THE CHALLENGE

How do you deliver a consistent, high-quality play experience across 170 properties in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland - each with different contexts, budgets, and operational pressures?

Let's Play was a national flagship programme in the National Trust's annual visitor business, bringing the organisation's top-performing properties together under one marketing brand to drive visitors, income, and member retention during the summer holidays.

The 2022 programme needed to stand out in a competitive summer market. Wild Rumpus was commissioned to create an eye-catching play pavilion installation for 18 top-performing sites, requiring comprehensive risk assessment across 18 unique locations.

Meanwhile, the entire 170-property cohort needed consistent branding, high-quality play standards, and clear guidance on accessibility and inclusion - all while respecting the operational realities of overstretched property teams.

A series of wood stepping stumps in front of a Play Pavilion at Let's Play.

A Play Pavilion with colourful bunting and a flag that reads 'Listen' at Let's Play.

Two children play outside with hula hoops.

CAMILLA’S APPROACH

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

I led the communications plan for 27 top-performing properties, delivering exclusive webinars and updates to ensure operational leads were well-informed. I provided 1-2-1 support to Visitor Operations Managers and programming teams around programme delivery, particularly Wild Rumpus installation.

NATIONAL BRAND CAMPAIGN

I worked with designers and marketing executives to develop national collateral, including print and digital marketing, creating a consistent brand suite that offered a uniform look and feel while inspiring ideas around play, nature, and summer.

CREATIVE PRODUCTION

I acted as main point of contact with Wild Rumpus, collaborating on concept development for installations and liaising with 27 host venues. I led the Construction Design Management process, conducting comprehensive risk assessments in collaboration with Wild Rumpus and the Trust's operational risk consultants.

ACCESSIBILITY and EVALUATION

I developed training and guidance resources about visual stories, which rolled out across the cohort. I developed observational evaluation tools to gather data on the parameters of successful play offers. I wrote a new volunteer role profile, enabling teams to collect evaluation locally without impacting staff capacity.