Grant supports wild place adventure and advocacy in 2025

The Des Rubens Bill Wallace Grant gave four more people the opportunity to seek out life-changing experiences in wild places in 2025.

The John Muir Trust administers the Des Rubens Bill Wallace Grant, which commemorates two former presidents of the Scottish Mountaineering Club who each led inspiring and adventurous lives.

This year the grant funded four adventures with a scientific or education focus that will lead to a commitment to practical action to conserve wild places. The recipients of a grant in 2025 were as follows: 

Megan Bellamy

Glasgow based Megan and her partner Miles are training to be mountain leaders. In 2025 they plan to walk the Via Dinarica trail, following the Dinaric Alps, documenting the native forests in an effort to preserve and promote conservation and restoration in the countries they walk through.

Megan is delighted and honoured to have been offered the Des Rubens and Bill Wallace Grant: “This funding will not only support the practical aspects of our expedition, but we hope that being associated with the John Muir Trust will also help amplify the impact of our project. We are excited to get going, to get into nature, and create a body of work dedicated to celebrating the protection and restoration of native forests.”

 

Aleksander Domanski and Yvonne Reddick

In 2025, filmmaker Aleks and writer Yvonne plan to make a film in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains about mountain animals and mountain people affected by climate change. Working alongside rangers and scientists of Sierra Nevada Conservancy, they will tell the story of adaptation by three iconic species dependent on the Sierra’s boreal or sequoia forest habitats – snowshoe hares, Californian condors and black-backed woodpeckers.

Aleks says: “The Des Rubens and Bill Wallace grant will support essential logistics and equipment for our filming expedition and enable us to tell the story of some of the most unique and threatened species on the planet. Climate change, its impact on people, wild places and animals is universal but the polar and mountain ranges of the world are disproportionately affected.

“From Scotland and the Peak DIstrict, now to the mountains of North America's Pacific Seaboard, our film work encourages compassion for wild places dear to John Muir and champions their protection. This award is crucial in helping us do this. In the wake of the recent devastating LA wildfires there has never been a more pressing time for this project and we are deeply grateful to the John Muir Trust for the support."

 

Hannah Mason and ‘Leading Lassies’

Student and keen climber Hannah is keen to give ‘Leading Lassies’ - the women of Stirling University’s climbing community - a positive environment to boost their traditional climbing skills in 2025. ‘Leading Lassies’ will provide members with the opportunity to transition from indoor climbing to outdoor rock climbing by providing affordable access to accredited instructors to teach the required skills for traditional climbing, while also promoting the idea of ethical climbing and ‘leaving no trace’.

Hannah says: “Through running this climbing course, we are delighted to encourage a new generation of female climbers who will hopefully continue on to great things in the mountaineering and global community, while also providing more women with the opportunity to be out in nature and care for our environment."

 

Christina Sinclair

Following two hip replacements and years of chronic pain, Glasgow filmmaker and presenter Christina plans to solo hike around 200 miles across Scotland in 2025. She will document her journey on YouTube, telling a story of nature connection, biodiversity, hope and resilience as she walks the East and West Highland Ways from Milngavie to Fort William to Aviemore.

Christina says: "I'm absolutely delighted to have been awarded the Des Rubens and Bill Wallace grant from the John Muir Trust! After spending the last 10 years struggling with mobility issues I'm really excited to take on this project to reclaim my own health, but also to document the journey and raise awareness for the barriers that people with disabilities face accessing nature and biodiversity loss. When I learned that Bill Wallace himself had also undergone hip replacement surgery it felt like fate! I'm incredibly grateful to the Trust for the funding and can't wait to get going."

• Find out more about the  Des Rubens Bill Wallace Grant and how to apply.