Brathay and Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon to work together to get more young people out on the hill

We are delighted to team up with the organisers of an iconic Lake District Mountain Marathon event to encourage more young people to engage with the great outdoors.

Our mission at Brathay to transform the lives of young people in need, through a mix of the outdoors, art and nature made for the perfect partnership with Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon and we have been chosen as their principal charity for 2023. SLMM is organised by Lakeland Events Community Interest Company and donate any surplus to registered charities that support the mountain environment and wellbeing of competitors.

‘We are continually committed to distributing any of our surplus income to charities that support access to the mountain environment and the wellbeing of young people and are particularly excited to be working closely with Brathay in readiness for our 2023 event. If we can include young people who wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to compete that is hugely gratifying.

Stephen Ross, SLMM organiser

We are also working with local outdoor clothing retailer Alpkit with the aim of operating a loan scheme to provide used high-performance clothing and equipment to enable those with limited funds to be correctly kitted out for the event.

The Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon is a two day running and navigation event that takes place in a different area of the Lake District every year. It offers a choice of 6 linear courses and one score course of varying length and technical difficulty to appeal to different age groups, fitness levels and navigational skill. All participants share an overnight camp and runners compete in pairs, with younger participants being accompanied by a more experienced adult.

‘We hope to use Brathay’s presence in the more disadvantaged communities in Cumbria to encourage young people to take part in the event next year. The Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon is a great opportunity for young people to experience adventure, and develop core skills of resilience, teamwork and problem solving, while having a great time.’

Godfrey Owen, CEO Brathay Trust

For more information about the event visit: https://slmm.org.uk/