Mendip Hills Fund receives largest ever donation

Thursday 30th August 2018

Runners of this years’ Butcombe Trail Ultramarathon have enabled an incredible donation of £3000 to the Mendip Hills Fund. This is the single largest donation to the fund since it started in 2014.

The Butcombe Trail Ultramarathon is based on the Butcombe Trail walk, a 50-mile route around six Butcombe Brewery pubs in the Mendip Hills, which is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The race is mostly off- road and takes in some beautiful running country and fantastic views as it criss-crosses the Mendips. 119 runners entered this years’ event with the first runner completing it in just 7 hours and 47 minutes. The race is now achieving national recognition and is worth 3 qualifying points for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), one of the world’s most prestigious races.

The Mendip Hills Fund awards grants to local projects that benefit the environment or communities of the area. So far it has awarded over £15,000 to a range of projects. Funds are raised from tourism, businesses and events, (such as the BTU) that use the area who wish to give something back to this very special part of the countryside.

Antony Clark and Matt Milkins, race directors from the Town and Country Harriers who organised the ultramarathon, presented the cheque to Phil Smith, vice-chair of the Mendip Hills Fund. Matt said, ‘We are delighted to be able to make such a meaningful donation to the fund this year. We all love running through the special scenery of the area and are very pleased that our event can help to look after the hills and for others to enjoy as well. The rugged landscape is perfect for this very tough event and we look forward to supporting the fund in the future.’

For more information on Town and Country Harriers or for entry to the 2019 Butcombe Trail Ultramarathon on 27 April click here

Mendip Hills Fund receives largest ever donation

Town & Country Harrier runners with Jim Hardcastle, Mendip Hills AONB Manager, Phil Smith Joint-Chair Mendip Hills Fund, Matt Milkins Race Director.

 

 


Categories


Archives

View More