A popular route up Scafell Pike is among the paths in the Mend our Mountains appeal
A crowdfunding appeal to help repair mountain footpaths has gone into extra time.
The British Mountaineering Council’s Mend our Mountains campaign has been extended by a week as it nears its £100,000 target.
The scheme, run in co-operation with national parks in England and Wales, set individual goals of raising pledges for repairs of routes in each area, plus a general target for schemes across the UK. It was due to wind up yesterday.
The BMC said: “It was an incredible weekend for Mend Our Mountains. With the end looming, and awareness of the campaign buoyed by several media appearances, our total shot up by £22,000 in just three days.
“The combined amount now stands just shy of the overall £100,000 target but still an incredible achievement.
“With the momentum this attention has generated we wanted to make sure no-one missed out on being able to pledge.
“In terms of the campaign breakdown, the overall UK-wide Mend Our Mountains page has brought in an incredible £32,665, smashing the original £20,000 target. What’s more, Mend the Lake District, Mend Snowdonia, Mend the Peak District and Mend the Yorkshire Dales have all sailed past their £10,000 target.
“Mend the Brecon Beacons, Mend Dartmoor, Mend the North York Moors and Mend Exmoor haven’t been quite as successful. The extra week also gives us an opportunity to bring these totals up and maybe get a few more projects over that line.”
Swine Tail on Ingleborough
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority project is to renovate the Swine Tail network of paths on Ingleborough and, so far, 204 backers have taken it past its own £10,000 target by more than £700.
Steve Hastie, the authority’s Three Peaks Project manager, said: “It’s fantastic that we have passed our target, and the extra week is really good news because we are hoping for an even bigger final pot.
“People have been so generous with their pledges and we’d like to say a big ‘thank you’ to them as well as asking anyone who loves the Three Peaks and hasn’t yet pledged to dip into their pockets.
“As an incentive, we have some first class rewards for the different levels of donations people make, including great Damart clothing.
”The Swine Tail network has really suffered because of the huge numbers of walkers using it each year and it is badly eroded.
“It needs a lot of work doing to it including helicopter airlifts of flagstones, and that can be very expensive. But, when the work is completed, walkers will certainly be able to see the difference.”
The Mend our Mountains campaign is being backed by a number of celebrities including mountaineers Sir Chris Bonington and Doug Scott and TV presenter Julia Bradbury.
Pledges can still be made via the Mend our Mountains Crowdfunder page.
