The Mountain Heritage Trust are extremely pleased to announce that a generous donation of £4,000 was made by the Friends of Blencathra last week.

On Tuesday 5th December we welcomed Chairman Dave Wheeler and Trustee Mike Chambers to the Blencathra Field Studies Centre in Threlkeld where the cheque was gratefully received by Chairman Jeff Ford, Nick Colton (British Mountaineering Council), and the board of Trustees.

After the Friends of Blencathra announced a failed bid to acquire Saddleback in January 2017, donors were invited to claim or disclaim their donations. This scheme has currently led to £20,000 of formally disclaimed funds which has been authorised for allocation to other charities in the local area. Claims can still be submitted to return donations until the 2nd April 2018.

This new scheme was approved after a request was submitted to the Charity Commission asking that these disclaimed donations be allocated to other causes. These new recipients were chosen to fulfil the original intentions of the Friends of Blencathra, namely to promote the conservation and protection of Blencathra’s natural environment and the facilities it provides for recreation and leisure.

These donations that have already formally been disclaimed have now been split between Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (Charity No. 1165345), Fix the Fells in partnership with the National Trust (Charity No. 205846), Friends of the Lake District (Charity No. 1100759), Cumbria Wildlife Trust (Charity No. 218711) and The Mountain Heritage Trust (Charity No. 1083219).

Upon receipt of the cheque, Mountain Heritage Trust Chairman Jeff Ford extended his sincere thanks to the Friends of Blencathra, saying “we are delighted to receive this donation from the charity which will go towards securing the future of our ever growing mountaineering and climbing collections that are housed at Blencathra.”

The donation comes at an exciting time for the Mountain Heritage Trust who are preparing for a number of exhibitions in 2018. In May we return to Keswick Museumfor a large exhibition on Sir Chris Bonington and his links with Cumbria. Whilst our previous exhibition on Joe Tasker will be installed at Preston Park Museum in Stockton-on-Tees from the 29th March.

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