Temporary closure statement

As in the previous website post, and part of the MHT’s survival plan the board of trustees made the decision to temporarily suspend our part-time freelance Administrator's contract and to furlough our full-time Collections Manager, a position which will be reviewing at the beginning of June. We are sure that you appreciate this was not an easy decision, particularly for an organisation running with only one permanent member of staff.

Following MHT's previous website statement of 1st May 2020, regarding the current closure of their office and archive, there have been some questions concerning the BMC's financial contribution to the Trust which they would like to clarify. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting drop in income, the BMC have been forced to review their financial expenditure to all programmes and organisations. Yet whilst there is some uncertainty about the future level of donation from the BMC, it is not currently the intention that this be withdrawn in its entirety. The BMC remain committed to mountain heritage and expect to be in a position to decide the level of its contribution to MHT in the coming months as their own financial situation becomes clearer.

MHT would welcome the continued support of the BMC in these uncertain times, and hope that support will be forthcoming to a level that allows us to re-instate Kelda Roe, our Collections Manager.  

While our Collections Manager was home-working we were able to maintain a remote enquiry service and keep in touch with our supporters via our website and social media. Unfortunately, these services were put on hold until our financial situation improves and we have staff back in post. We apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused. Rest assured that the Board of Trustees (all volunteers) are working hard to resume service as soon as possible while sustaining the viability of the Trust and its future.

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As noted in our earlier website post on closure of the office at Blencathra, a Trustee has still been making regular checks on the archive collections in store and this will continue, with someone on site 24 hours a day monitoring the buildings. Despite furloughing our staff, the continued safety of the collections in our care is our number one priority. Our landlord and a number of our Trustees have a copy of our collections contingency plan in case of emergency and we have installed a remote flood alarm (all shelves are already several centimetres from the ground).

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We will issue a further update on when operations are likely to resume as soon as possible. If you need to speak to us urgently please email trustees@mountain-heritage.org  and a member of the Trustee Board will get back to you as soon as possible.

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If you would like to support the Mountain Heritage Trust financially, our Just Giving page accepts one-off and regular donations. Thank you for your support.

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Image copyright: Dorothy Kellogg Collection, Mountain Heritage Trust