UK: distribution of the British Mountaineering Council's expenditure 2010-19, by type

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) has over 84,552 members and exists to promote the interests and protect the freedoms of climbers, hill walkers, and mountaineers, including ski mountaineers. The BMC was formed in 1944 and is a democratic representative body controlled by a National Council made up of locally elected Area Representatives and nationally Elected Officers. The BMC is recognised by Government as a National Governing Body of sport and is supported by a range of income sources. The BMC have frequently reiterated their commitment to the careful control and monitoring of their expenditure, without restricting their capacity to deliver on their mission statement: to promote the interests and protect the freedoms of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers; to celebrate British mountaineering heritage; promote sustainable access to the cliff and mountain environment and to engage new generations in the development of mountaineering activities. This statistic presents the expenditure distribution of the BMC from 2010 to 2019, categorised into salaries and personnel; miscellaneous office costs; cost of specialist programmes; personal accident and combined liability insurance for members; summit magazine; and meetings and events.

Salaries and personnel

The expenditure associated with salaries and personnel represents the most significant proportion of the BMC’s total expenditure and has seen a consistent rate of increase at around 3.6 percent increase over the period observed. Although the number of staff employed at the BMC has increased slightly, the majority of this increase can be attributed to index-related salary increases of pre-existing staff.

Office costs

The BMC’S second most significant expenditure is that which is associated with miscellaneous office costs has remained reasonably constant over the observed period. Peak expenditures were observed in 2012, which can be attributed to increased IT-related costs associated with website and database upgrades; and 2016, which could be attributed to the extremely controversial ‘Climb Britain’ and its subsequent abortion.

Specialist programs

Exhibiting a similar share to that of the office costs is the expenditure associated withthe cost of specialist programs. The vast majority, 24 percent in 2018, of this expenditure is associated with access and conservation programs. An area seen by many of the BMC’s members as the most important aspect of the organisation’s existence. Much of this expenditure goes towards the ownership and management of 16 crags, three winter monitoring stations, and the operational costs of the Regional Access Database.