The 19th century church of St Columba's at Inverdruie between Aviemore and Cairngorm was purchased in January 2000. Work to refurbish the fabric and to convert the internals started in March and the Team moved in on 9th December 2000. Externally the base is as it was before; it could not be altered in any way being a Grade B listed building, inside, is a different story, the building was gutted. The ground floor is heated by the latest under-floor technology. There is a sophisticated control and communications room, changing room, lecture / sitting room with adjacent kitchen, store and drying rooms. Upstairs are bunk rooms, a common room and toilets and showers. The Team is proud of its efforts; externally there is no change, except for the lights and aerials, from the old church, but internally it is a fully operational base. Total project cost has been £250,000. This has been sourced from grants from the Sport Scotland Lottery, Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise and the Scottish Mountaineering Trust. The Association provided over £100,000 from its own funds.
2004 saw the advent of direct funding from the Scottish Government for Scottish Mountain Rescue Teams and while it may not meet all our running costs it does give us a degree of financial stability that never existed before. There will remain though the need to raise funds for specific one off costs-chiefly the replacement of vehicles. Our last replacement vehicle in 2003 cost £37,000. Also running costs for the year are very much dependant on the number of call-outs.  Will climate change effect our number of call-outs? We will wait and see...

So if you are planning a trip to the Cairngorms, enjoy the hills but ca’ canny (take care)
Registered Charity Number SCO10737

Please send donations to:-

The Treasurer,
Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team,
St Columba's, Inverdruie,
Aviemore PH22 1QH

Thank You,

Donnie Williamson, Chairman CMRA