A £100,000 appeal to fund much needed repairs to Scottish hill paths has reached its target and work has now started on one of two major projects.
The ‘Mend Our Mountains: Make One Million’ appeal (headed by the BMC and Mountaineering Scotland) aims to raise up to £1 million for path work in each of the UK’s national parks. In Scotland, the target was £100,000 for work in the Cairngorms National Park and the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.
Skilled path workers began work in April on the badly eroded path up Ben Vane in the Arrochar Alps, in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. £40,000 of the Scottish total has been allocated for the work which is expected to take eight months to complete, finishing in November.
Work on the path up Beinn a Ghlo in the southern Cairngorms is due to start in June and will take four months, with the cost expected to be £60,000.
All the path work is being overseen and coordinated by the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland.
Donations came from all quarters during the year-long appeal — including individuals, climbing and walking clubs, and organisations. A grant of £26,500 came from the European Outdoor Conservation Association, and £20,000 from the Scottish Mountaineering Trust, as well as £10,000 from the BFMF. Pupils from Loretto School in Musselburgh celebrated their own connection with Beinn a Ghlo by raising £1,500 through climbs of Beinn a Ghlo and Arthur’s Seat, as well as a sponsored abseil in Fife.
Stuart Younie, Chief Executive of Mountaineering Scotland said: “I’d like to thank everyone in the outdoors community who has embraced our collective responsibility to help look after the hills and been involved supporting Mend our Mountains.”
For more information about the Mend Our Mountains appeal, visit mendmountains.thebmc.co.uk
Photo by Neil Reid.
