The Scottish Mountaineering Trust (SMT) has revealed it is the sole beneficiary of the £446,000 estate of legendary Scottish mountaineer Hamish MacInnes.
The significant donation will enable the SMT to expand their grant support for organisations that encourage individuals and groups to experience life-enhancing mountain activities.
MacInnes – affectionately known as the “Fox of Glencoe” – was confident, ambitious, determined, pragmatic and adventurous – and the trust is keen to see these qualities being developed in more people through a broadening of their grant-funded projects.
In addition to the projects SMT has traditionally supported, trustees would like to see more applications from bodies that open up the mountains to young people and those from socially disadvantaged communities.
The SMT will still promote safe participation for all in mountaineering and will continue to welcome applications for education and training projects in the hills.
Since 1990, SMT has donated £1,982,000 to a wide variety of organisations and individuals that support and promote physical and mental health and empowerment, education and training and public recreation through hillwalking, rock climbing, winter mountaineering and ski touring in Scotland’s mountains.
Projects have included upland footpath repair schemes, mountain rescue equipment and facilities, mountain hut renovation, life enhancing mountain experiences for disadvantaged communities, training in mountain safety and skills, publishing guides and information about the mountains, and expeditions with clear scientific or educational objectives.
SMT chair David Broadhead said: “We are delighted that the MacInnes trustees have decided to pass Hamish’s legacy to the SMT. We recognise that this is a big responsibility, as Hamish was an individual steering his own course through life, and the SMT will ensure that his values and memory will live on through the projects we support.”
Kevin Lelland from The John Muir Trust, an SMT Grant beneficiary, said: “We have nothing but praise for the SMT. We have enjoyed a relationship for almost 25 years and received about £200,000 that has enabled us to make the mountains accessible to everybody.”
See Scottish Mountaineering Trust Grants for details of applying for grants. Submission for the next SMT grants should be made by Friday March 21, 2025.