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The Association’s roots go back to 1973 with the formation of the Southdown Association drawn from members of the National Trust in the area bounded by Littlehampton and Brighton and the Downs behind.  Large membership numbers rapidly led to the establishment of more local groups, of which Worthing is one, drawing its members mainly from the area between the Arun and Adur rivers and associated downlands.

For 40 years, membership of our Association was limited to members of National Trust or National Trust for Scotland. However, following an amendment to the constitution in 2014 we are pleased to be able to welcome everyone with an interest in the enjoyment and preservation of historic properties.

Over the years, our Association has donated many thousands of pounds to the National Trust, mainly but not exclusively for projects in Sussex. In 2023 we celebrated 50 years of support for the National Trust.

A Brief History of the Association

It all began in 1973 when a very well-known and energetic Worthing lady, Mrs Pat Baring, visited as many National Trust members as possible to persuade them to help to start a local association in Sussex.

Presumably other indefatigable people were doing the same all along the coast. As a result a large number of NT members met at The Dome in Brighton to form the Southdown Centre or Association, which stretched from Brighton to Littlehampton in the west and northwards over the South Downs.

After a year or so Southdown had grown to over a thousand members and it was decided to divide the membership into two new centres. Southdown kept its name and its membership came from Southwick to Brighton. Our Centre was named the Adur-Arun Centre, with members from Shoreham westwards between the rivers Adur and Arun. The name was chosen partly because it meant that in any alphabetically arranged list we would be very near the beginning.

Only a few years passed before the Adur-Arun Centre had grown to over a thousand members and it divided again, with the Arun Valley Centre formed for members living westward from approximately Ferring.  Of course, members could choose which centre they wished to join and we continued to have quite a number who came from outside our area.

By 1998, when we were celebrating our Silver Jubilee, we had begun to be known as the Adur-Arun (Worthing) Centre and it was then decided to change our name to the Worthing National Trust Association, to coincide with a new model constitution for Centres and Associations drafted by the National Trust. The reasoning behind the changes were firstly, that unless you were local, the name Adur-Arun meant nothing so as Worthing was the largest centre of population, as well as being central to our area, it was the obvious choice. Secondly, as a Centre people seemed to think we had a central base to put up notices, whereas an Association would be thought of as more peripatetic.

Sadly the Arun Valley Association closed at the end of 2005 because they could not fill five vacancies on their committee, leaving us as the only support group in this part of West Sussex.

The Association’s roots go back to 1973 with the formation of the Southdown Association drawn from members of the National Trust in the area bounded by Littlehampton and Brighton and the Downs behind.  Large membership numbers rapidly led to the establishment of more local groups, of which Worthing is one, drawing its members mainly from the area between the Arun and Adur rivers and associated downlands.

For 40 years, membership of our Association was limited to members of National Trust or National Trust for Scotland. However, following an amendment to the constitution in 2014 we are pleased to be able to welcome everyone with an interest in the enjoyment and preservation of historic properties.

Over the years, our Association has donated many thousands of pounds to the National Trust, mainly but not exclusively for projects in Sussex. In 2023 we celebrated 50 years of support for the National Trust.

A Brief History of the Association

It all began in 1973 when a very well-known and energetic Worthing lady, Mrs Pat Baring, visited as many National Trust members as possible to persuade them to help to start a local association in Sussex.

Presumably other indefatigable people were doing the same all along the coast. As a result a large number of NT members met at The Dome in Brighton to form the Southdown Centre or Association, which stretched from Brighton to Littlehampton in the west and northwards over the South Downs.

After a year or so Southdown had grown to over a thousand members and it was decided to divide the membership into two new centres. Southdown kept its name and its membership came from Southwick to Brighton. Our Centre was named the Adur-Arun Centre, with members from Shoreham westwards between the rivers Adur and Arun. The name was chosen partly because it meant that in any alphabetically arranged list we would be very near the beginning.

Only a few years passed before the Adur-Arun Centre had grown to over a thousand members and it divided again, with the Arun Valley Centre formed for members living westward from approximately Ferring.  Of course, members could choose which centre they wished to join and we continued to have quite a number who came from outside our area.

By 1998, when we were celebrating our Silver Jubilee, we had begun to be known as the Adur-Arun (Worthing) Centre and it was then decided to change our name to the Worthing National Trust Association, to coincide with a new model constitution for Centres and Associations drafted by the National Trust. The reasoning behind the changes were firstly, that unless you were local, the name Adur-Arun meant nothing so as Worthing was the largest centre of population, as well as being central to our area, it was the obvious choice. Secondly, as a Centre people seemed to think we had a central base to put up notices, whereas an Association would be thought of as more peripatetic.

Sadly the Arun Valley Association closed at the end of 2005 because they could not fill five vacancies on their committee, leaving us as the only support group in this part of West Sussex.