Since March 2000, the Mountain Heritage Trust has worked as an independent charity to protect and promote the extraordinary history of British mountaineering and climbing. Now it needs your donations to ensure it can preserve Britain’s mountain heritage for years to come.
The Mountain Heritage Trust preserves unique heritage collections relating to British mountaineering and climbing, provides research and enquiry services, shares collections through exhibitions, events, education and publications and work with a range of partners to promote the widest possible access.
"How can you know where you're going unless you know where you've come from?" - Lynn Robinson, BMC President
2020 is MHT’s 20th anniversary year and it had planned to be on the road at outdoor events and festivals talking to people and sharing stories as well as hosting a major fundraiser in Sheffield.
This has all been put on hold, but MHT has big plans to develop the organisation and share its historic climbing and mountaineering collections in new and exciting ways. To do this, the Trust needs your help.
So whether you are a rock climber, mountaineer, indoor climber, outdoor climber, boulderer, researcher, reader, or simply a lover of mountains; the history in MHT’s care is there for you and it needs your support.
BMC President Lynn Robinson (left) examines ice axes at the Mountain Heritage Trust.
Money matters
MHT successfully bid for a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund Emergency Fund which allowed its Collections Manager to be brought back from furlough. Plans are underway for a major three-year project to transform the organisation, catalogue all the collections and share historical stories in new and exciting ways.
To fund this project Mountain Heritage Trust will be making a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. To support this, it is looking for £10,000 of this bid's required match funding to come directly from the community its collections represent: the rock climbers, the mountaineers, the indoor climbers, the outdoor climbers, the boulderers, the researchers, the readers, the mountain lovers.
Volunteers looking through Jim Curran's slides
Donate today
Every year the Mountain Heritage Trust needs to raise around £60,000 to ensure the ongoing safety and accessibility of the collections in its care. Usually this comes through a grant from the BMC and direct fundraising at events and festivals. This year, these funds have all been reduced due to the unprecedented coronavirus situation
Your donation will help the Mountain Heritage Trust preserve and share Britain's unique and irreplaceable mountaineering and climbing heritage.
If the bid is unsuccessful, all funds raised will be used to support our core work to preserve and share Britain's mountain and climbing heritage.
The value of heritage
Photo from the Johnnie Lees Collection
If you've ever looked at a mountain view or a rock face and been moved by these glorious natural landscapes, the Mountain Heritage Trust has tales to tell that will inspire that same sense of wonder - the history in its care is there for you. But MHT can't share those stories without support. In the words of one the outstanding figures of British mountaineering:
“It's vitally important that we look to our fellow people who love mountaineering and the mountains and the outdoors, to actually come and specifically help MHT.”
– Sir Chris Bonington (MHT and BMC Patron)
WATCH: Find out about the work the Mountain Heritage Trust does
VIDEO
We want to say a big thanks to every BMC member who continues to support us through the Coronavirus crisis.
From weekly Facebook Lives and GB Climbing home training videos, to our access team working to re-open the crags and fight for your mountain access, we couldn’t do it without you.
Did you know that we've launched a U27 membership offer for just £1.50 / month? And with full membership from £2.50 / month, it's never been easier to join and support our work:
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/join-the-bmc-for-1-month-U27-membership
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