The National Trust has reversed its policy forcing volunteers working at Felbrigg Hall to wear rainbow lanyards and badges, in support of a Prejudice and Pride campaign.
A spokesman for the National Trust said: 'We are making it clear to volunteers that the wearing of the badges is optional and a personal decision. We will be speaking to all our volunteers at Felbrigg over the coming days about this issue.'
They confirmed that volunteers no longer need to wear a badge or lanyard to perform front facing duties, where previously they had been told they could not be allowed to if they did not wear the items.
The National Trust added: 'We remain absolutely committed to our Prejudice and Pride programme. However, we are aware that some volunteers had conflicting, personal opinions about wearing the rainbow lanyards and badges. That was never our intention.'
'We hugely value our volunteers and many across the country have taken the opportunity to get involved in developing our Prejudice and Pride programme, which explores LGBTQ heritage.'
'At Felbrigg, many volunteers have enthusiastically supported a new exhibition, which looks at the life of the extraordinarily generous Robert Ketton–Cremer. His decision to leave the house to the Trust was the result in part of the fact that he had never married and had no heirs to inherit. We asked all our staff and volunteers at the house to wear rainbow lanyards or badges during the six week event as welcoming symbol to all our visitors.'
The charity were also quick to shed light onto why they had had a change of heart on the issue.
Paul Forecast, Regional Director of the National Trust, said: 'Asking staff and volunteers to wear the rainbow lanyards and badges was done with our best intentions.
'Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation and we hugely value their work, passion and the warm welcome that they offer our visitors.'
He said: 'We've listened to our volunteers and feel that making the wearing of lanyards and badges optional, is the right decision to make.'
Mr Forecast added: 'The Prejudice and Pride programme is extremely important to us, it's important that we share our LGBTQ heritage, which plays an important part in the history of the nation and a vital role in unlocking the histories of some of our places. We don't want to detract from the importance of this programme in anyway.'
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