About the SMT

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About Us -2025

About Us

The Scottish Mountaineering Trust was established by Trust Deed in 1962 by the Scottish Mountaineering Club and is registered with the Scottish Charities Regulator OSCR.

The primary objectives of the Trust are to promote and support the health, education and recreation of members of the public by encouraging their safe participation in mountain activities in Scotland and elsewhere. Mountain activities are principally hillwalking, rock climbing, winter mountaineering and ski touring.

Like all charities, the activities of the Trust are bounded by Government legislation and the projects we support must be clearly aligned to the recreational and educational objective of the trust and be of benefit to the public.

The full document of the SMT’s Constitution and Rules can be found at Constitution and Rules of the Scottish Mountaineering Trust 2025.

Activities of the trust

The Trust makes grants to organisations and individuals for projects that meet the objectives of the Trust. By far the largest area of expenditure has been in supporting footpath repair. A growing area of activity for the Trust is supporting organisations introducing young people and people from disadvantaged communities to the mountains as part of wider personal development programs.

The Trust is also keen to encourage the safe participation in mountaineering, and so support is given to training courses in mountaineer skills of all kinds – especially those aimed at young people. As part of this the Trust also supports many mountain rescue teams with grants for equipment and training.

Donations have also been made in the past to land purchase appeals by conservation bodies and smaller grants have been made to other organisations for renovation of club huts.

The Trust has also supported the development of scientific knowledge about our mountains and an appreciation of the history and culture of mountaineering.

As well as providing grant, the Trust owns the Scottish Mountaineering Press which publishes books associated with the Scottish mountains.

More information about some of the projects we have supported can be viewed on Our Projects.

Income of the trust

The Trust’s revenue is derived from two main sources:

Publishing guidebooks on behalf of the Scottish Mountaineering Club and other books about the Scottish mountains. The Trust’s publication activity is carried on by a wholly owned subsidiary company, Scottish Mountaineering Trust (Publications) Limited, trading as the Scottish Mountaineering Press . The operating surplus of the company is normally paid to the Trust under the Gift Aid scheme.
Donations and Bequests. In recent years bequests and donations have become a significant source of finance for the Trust and we are always keen to talk to people and organizations about donations to the Trust. The Trust has demonstrated that it is a very efficient way for people to support a variety of Scottish mountain projects that bring benefits to a wide range of new and experienced hill goers. Many donors wish to remain anonymous, but information about some of our recent supporters can be found at Our Supporters’ Stories .
You can find out more about how you can support us by going to Support us now.

Membership of the Trust

Trustees are appointed by the Scottish Mountaineering Club and normally serve for a period of three years. The Chairman is normally the immediate Past-President of the Scottish Mountaineering Club and serves for a period of two years. Additional to the Trustees, there is a Secretary and a Treasurer who are nonvoting officers.

Where the money goes

Below are shown the totals of the grants and loans made by the Trust in its major areas of activity in the period 1990-2024.

Footpath Construction and Maintenance	£660,000
Funding for Mountaineering Scotland	£235,000
Land Purchase	£68,000
Mountaineering Education and Training	£123,000
Mountain Rescue Equipment and Facilities	£111,000
Support of Expeditions	£35,000
Renovation of Club Huts	£379,000
Other ( facilities, equipment, publications etc.)	£371,000
TOTAL	£1,982,000

SMT Annual Reports

A full list of the grants awarded by the SMT since 1998 can be found at SMT Annual Reports.