Scottish Mountaineering Trust offers £100k Diamond Grant to support mountain legacy project
The Scottish Mountaineering Trust (SMT) is marking its 60th anniversary year in 2022 by offering a Diamond Grant of up to £100,000.
The cash is targeted at helping more people to experience and enjoy the mountains, particularly in Scotland.
The SMT was set up in 1962 to support deserving mountain projects, and over the years has contributed £1.6 million to a wide range of schemes., including training weekends, a mountain rescue base, a mountain film festival, a club hut and a new bridge.
Up to now the SMT has awarded grants ranging from a few hundred pounds up around £10,000, but the Diamond Grant will add a new dimension to its work.
Chairman Simon Richardson said: "We want the Diamond award to be not just a grant, but also a legacy that will provide enduring benefits to the mountaineering community. We’re hoping to hear from projects that are really distinctive, that break fresh ground.
"We’re doing our best to attract a wide range of applicants. As well as the grassroots of Scottish mountaineering, we are reaching out to other groups whose work might be helped, even transformed. We believe the Diamond Grant is the biggest single grant ever made by a charity to Scottish mountaineering and we’re looking for something really special. We’re open to all ideas."
As with its normal grants, the SMT does expect Diamond Grant applicants to have a degree of commitment and resources to call on, whether that is in skills, experience, manpower or existing funding.
Those interested in applying for the grant can find detailed guidance online now at thesmt.org.uk, and also contact details for an informal discussion of their plans.
The SMT hopes to make a single award of up to £100,000, but if no scheme on that scale is approved it may decide to help several smaller projects, each with a minimum need for £20,000.
As a charity, the SMT is committed to supporting projects that have a clear public benefit, and that help more people enjoy the world of mountains. So, whether a project concerns a hut, a book, a hilltrack, a crag or an exhibition, what matters is that the mountaineering community will be richer for it happening.
