Mountain Training Cymru Statement in response to Sam Rowlands MS statement and Daily Post online article

Wednesday 24th January 2024

Mountain Training Cymru has successfully applied for Sport Wales Development Grant funding for several years. This funding option ended permanently in March 2023, leaving our organisation facing a challenging financial future. The current business model, without additional funding, can draw on our reserves for two more years after which there is no currently available solution.

Discussions with Sport Wales are ongoing and we hope that, despite changes to their funding criteria, a workable solution can be found to enable us to continue our important relationship with them. Mountain Training Cymru aims to support the inspiring, sustained surge in participation in hill walking and climbing, while so many other sports are static or in decline. We are hopeful that Sport Wales can find a way to invest in activities that are valued by so many people in Wales and therefore, secure the future of Mountain Training Cymru.

Our walking and climbing personal skills and leadership qualification pathways underpin the entire outdoor sector in Wales. Participation in walking activities across Wales has seen huge growth which has resulted in voluntary Mountain Rescue teams being stretched to unsustainable levels, as well as continuing pressure on many rural communities. Mountain Training Cymru is a critical part of the solution to these growing safety issues.

It should be noted that Mountain Training Cymru is not a mountaineering centre, as the Daily Post headline claimed. It is an awarding organisation for skills courses and leadership qualifications.