UKC

Hi all, it's Eben here from the BMC access team.

We've got an update to the Sirhowy story this week, it's gone up on our site and will be going out on the next newsletter in the week but given it's at risk of being buried in 'other' news I thought I'd post here since the broad comms approach has been working so far!

Here's the article followed by some additional comments.

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The BMC would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everybody who contributed to the Sirhowy Crag Crowdfunder campaign, the total raised was an incredible £20,951 from 605 supporters. Here is an update as to what is happening with the funds.

Policy & Campaigns Officer (Wales) Eben Muse says, “Although we were unsuccessful in our efforts to purchase the crag, the campaign gave us an excellent platform to reach an agreement with the landowner to secure access to the site in future and may act as a template for similar campaigns where there is a need in future.

"All funds raised have been ringfenced for use at Sirhowy to enhance the experience of climbers there, to protect access and to improve the biodiversity of the crag. From the start we wanted this to be something we did together as a community, so please get in touch if you have ideas. We hope to be offering volunteering opportunities in the future!

"Among potential proposed developments at the crag is the removal of the ‘CLIMBING PROHIBITED’ signage previously at place there (their removal has already begun), informative signage acknowledging the funds raised by the community with a small map of the climbing areas and other helpful information, footpath work (as this has been one way to protect habitats at the site), bolt and anchor replacement. All of this will take time, but we will continue to update the BMC community who have been very engaged with this campaign so far."

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The previous update is from February and I know that it didn't reach some of you, but please believe me, we are trying! I plan to keep attending and updating areas, even those outside of my patch in Wales (South West in particular) if I can, given that it's clearly of interest outside of the immediate area.

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/21521-raised-to-protect-sirhowy-crag-in-south-wale...

I believe the reason the funds raised has gone down slightly is due to folks requesting refunds from the crowdfunder - which they are more than welcome to do, no hard feelings whatsoever given the progression of the campaign. A substantial amount of the above is also grant match-funded. Some caveated their refund request with the intention of putting the money towards future crag purchasing campaigns. The access team and broader BMC staff are very grateful to all who have been involved in this so far, it's been a real beacon of positivity.

We hosted a great webinar recently with the Access Fund whose principal model for securing access is funding the purchase of land for local groups who fall within the Access Fund umbrella. We are monitoring for sites which may be suitable for another campaign like this (hopefully with the end result of actually purchasing the crag.

I'm happy to engage with questions about this and our approach, etc. particularly with how we can take this approach (which I'd argue has been quite successful overall) forward. There are several previous threads on the earlier stages of the campaign which may cover some of the questions on that. 

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/info/search.php?forum=0&dates=0&n...

As ever - huge thanks to anybody who shared, supported, donated, asked good questions, or sent a nice message about this. Also shout out to the local developers who've been giving us a hand assessing the needs of the crag and switching signs around!