We are a Scottish charity that provides grants to projects and organisations that promote public recreation, knowledge and safe enjoyment of the mountains, especially in the mountains of Scotland.
Our work is financed by donations from individuals and organisations who share our values, and from the publication of guidebooks for the Scottish Mountaineering Club and other books connected with the Scottish Hills.
The £100,000 Diamond Grant was awarded to the exciting new partnership between the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland (OATS) and Mountaineering Scotland at the Dundee Mountain Film Festival.
It aims to develop a sustainable long term funding model that will change the perceptions of the public, Government and agencies to ensure that hill path repair and habitat restoration is recognised for its social, economic and environmental benefits. The campaign will start with a project to address decades of path erosion on An Teallach – one of the country’s most-loved mountains in the North-West Highlands.
John Fowler, Chair of the Scottish Mountaineering Trust, said: “There were a number of worthy bids for the Diamond Grant, but the Trustees were really impressed by the ground-breaking approach that OATS and Mountaineering Scotland have come up with.
“Their imaginative funding model to support our paths will have a major impact on Scotland’s mountain community for many years to come. Using the repair of the path on the iconic An Teallach as the prototype is a great idea as it is such a large and important project. We look forward to working with them going forward.”
75 colleagues of Marty Stephens at KPMG have raised over £27,000 for the SMT in his memory, by completing the mammoth Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge. The walk in early May this year went under the banner of The Marty Stephens “Smash It” Challenge and It keeps alive his legacy in the professional services firm KPMG.
Kingussie Community Development Company (KCDC) has won a £9000 SMT grant for work on the Creag Bheag path near the hill’s summit. The path is “the jewel in the crown” of the town’s 20-mile path network, and will soon provide an even finer circular hill walk, with fantastic views across the Spey valley.
The SMT has made a £20,000 grant to the Venture Trust charity so that more vulnerable people can benefit from a wilderness journey through highland Scotland. These journeys are the centre of VT’s intensive programme for people who face the barriers caused by addiction, poverty, unemployment, a convictions history, or mental health troubles.
