The Skiers Trust is the UK’s oldest and widest reaching national snowsports charity for young people.
The power of snowsports to enhance and change lives cannot be underestimated. Whether supporting the next generation of aspiring British competitors to compete on the world stage or giving a life chance to young people with special educational needs, physical disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds, the Skiers Trust helps young people thrive and reach their potential.
Snowsports have the capacity to enthuse, motivate and generate lasting confidence. Our grant recipients can confirm the real difference that our support has meant to them.
We believe it’s in everyone’s interest to widen access to snowsports for young people whatever their background.
Today and the Future
We drive the core of our charitable work through our Focused Funds and Futures Funds. Our Focused Funds enable us to target our support of young people in a clear and successful way that matches the intentions of our donors, achieving balance in delivering our grants across the full range of our charitable objectives. Our Futures Funds support individual disciplines through in-depth collaboration with the relevant national body for each discipline to bring our respective expertise to bear for the future of British snowsports.
We also run a number of Foundation Funds that have greatly supported young people over many years. We are proud of the contribution they make to society.
We are highly efficient financially. We have no employees and no offices. We operate in a modern, lean way. Our Trustees are truly executive; they do all the work alongside our Ambassadors. For large donors, our Focused Funds and Foundation Funds have extremely low, single digit expense ratios.
We can only make a difference if we receive donations. Our contribution is to add the special in-depth knowledge, insight and experience to ensure that your donations are used effectively to support young people, both today and in the future.
Beginnings with foresight
The Skiers Trust was created in 1966 to be part of the triumvirate of British snowsports alongside the National Ski Federation (now GB Snowsport) and the Ski Club of Great Britain. The Ski Federation as the governing body, the Ski Club as the membership organisation, and the Skiers Trust as the charitable arm.
The Skiers Trust was established by a core group of National Ski Federation and Ski Club members guided by Sir John Hunt and General Sir Roderick McLeod, then chairman of the National Ski Federation.
Sir John Hunt was the first Director of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award which he played a major part in devising and led for its first ten years. He was given a life peerage, as Baron Hunt, for his services to young people in 1966, the same year as founding the Skiers Trust.
Sir John Hunt is internationally renowned for having led the first successful Everest expedition in 1953 that saw Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of the highest mountain in the world.
