The Archbishop of York has slammed the National Trust for dropping the word "Easter" from their annual Easter Egg Hunt, which is sponsored by Cadbury, in what he called the equivalent of "spitting on the grave" of the founder of the chocolate manufacturer, the devout Quaker John Cadbury.
The annual event takes place every Easter across hundreds of National Trust properties and has in previous years been called the "Easter Egg trail". But this year the Trust has labelled it the "Great British Egg Hunt" - taking out the word Easter.
Cadbury, which sponsors the event, this year advertised it by saying: "We invite people from all faiths and none to enjoy our seasonal treats."
But the Church of England Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has railed against the lack of Easter in the title. In a statement he said: "If people visited Birmingham today in the Cadbury World they will discover how Cadbury's Christian faith influenced his industrial output.
"He built houses for all his workers, he built a church, he made provision for schools. It is obvious that for him Jesus and justice were two sides of the one coin. To drop Easter from Cadbury's Easter Egg Hunt in my book is tantamount to spitting on the grave of Cadbury."
Both Cadbury and the National Trust dismiss the claims as nonsense. In a statement, a National Trust spokesman said: “It’s nonsense to suggest the National Trust is downplaying the significance of Easter. Nothing could be further from the truth. We host a huge programme of events, activities and walks to bring families together to celebrate this very special time of year.
“A casual glance at our website will see dozens of references to Easter throughout. Our Easter events include our partnership with Cadbury, which has been running Easter Egg Hunts with us for 10 years. They’ve proved consistently popular with our members and visitors. As part of its wider marketing activity at Easter, Cadbury will always lead on the branding and wording for its campaigns.”
Cadbury's and the National Trust adverts for this year's 'Egg Hunt". NT added the word 'Easter', above, this morning
The National Trust added in a Tweet: "We are not downplaying the importance of Easter in any way, with [more than] 13,000 mentions on our website alone."
Cadbury said in a statement: "It is clear to see that within our communications and marketing we clearly state the word Easter and include it in a number of promotional materials, including our website, where we do also promote our partnership with National Trust at this seasonal time of year."
Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Theresa May said that the omission of Easter was "ridiculous". "I'm not just a vicar's daughter - I'm a member of the National Trust as well." May told ITV News. "I think the stance they have taken is absolutely ridiculous. I don't know what they are thinking about frankly.
"Easter's very important. It's important to me. It's a very important festival for the Christian faith for millions across the world. So I think what the National Trust is doing is frankly just ridiculous."
Loading ...
