As entire countries and cities have closed down, one historic landmark is opening its doors, at least virtually, to give visitors the opportunity to follow the story of Sir William Wallace, patriot, martyr, and Guardian of Scotland.
The National Wallace Monument in Stirling has not only created a programme of new educational videos tracing the story of William Wallace and The Battle of Stirling Bridge, it has also released a virtual tour of the Monument.
Additionally, the popular visitor destination has also launched a new online shop featuring a number of the best-selling items from its gift shop, including the Braveheart Bear, craft jewellery and history-themed gifts.
The Monument is managed by the charity Stirling District Tourism (SDT), which depends totally on income from visitors to operate the attraction. By offering new online experiences the charity is reaching out to audiences from across the globe, and making sure they will once again want to visit Stirling and hear the story of Scotland’s National Hero.
Commenting on the initiative, Ken Thomson SDT’s marketing manager, said:
“We know that there are many travellers from around the world who are disappointed that they will not be able to visit Stirling this year as they had planned. So, we wanted to provide them with the best possible experience, albeit remotely, including giving them the opportunity to browse around the Monument’s gift shop.
“We have worked hard to consider how we can keep William Wallace’s story alive when the Monument is closed and it has been exceptionally successful, with thousands viewing our virtual tours and accessing our free online resources. There is no doubt that Wallace’s values are shining through in our NHS workers and community volunteers and we wanted to play our role in uniting communities connected by their admiration of our national hero.”
The National Wallace Monument has shown its support for NHS workers by switching the floodlights on the Monument to blue for the month of April and to a rainbow display from 1st May as a symbol of hope for the future.
Ken added: “We will continue to roll out a number of new initiatives including a series of vlogs on topics such as Heroes, The Declaration of Arbroath and Wallace’s capture and execution over the coming weeks. We hope that audiences across the globe will be inspired by his story.”
The online shop can be accessed via https://the-national-wallace-monument.myshopify.com/