The Ghar Parau Committee manages an investment fund which was created with the proceeds of a number of successful expeditions to Iran in the 1970s and Borneo in the 1980s. Since then the fund has grown with careful management and the addition of donations from other expeditions. The purpose of the fund is to provide grant aid to assist caving expeditions from Britain to all parts of the world. In particular the Committee look for expeditions whose aims and methods include an element of innovative exploration or scientific study which distinguishes them from the typically sporting caving venture. In this context, scientific research does include systematic exploration backed up by the production of good cave surveys.
In particular the Committee looks favourably on small expeditions to new and distant limestone areas, planned in the spirit of true exploration. The Foundation makes a small number of awards each year (usually two or three) totalling some £1,200.
The Mount Everest Foundation are the UK's premier mountaineering expedition awards committee. This body specialises in funding expeditions to high altitude or very remote objectives: these are primarily climbing and mountaineering expeditions but can include one or two suitable caving ventures each year. The conditions of the MEF's own rules exclude expeditions to Europe and Africa. Caving applications to MEF are now only considered through the GPF procedures. Grants are usually of the order of £500 to £1000 each.
Alex Pitcher was a young caver who became lost on an expedition to the Gouffre Berger in the late 1980s. His memorial fund was established to support young cavers going on their first expedition. It is usually put towards training costs for such individuals, for example in SRT. One or two awards are made each year, of the order of £100 each.
The Foundation is asked to comment upon applications made to the SCW each year. Please note that applications for SCW funding must be made direct to the SCW in Cardfiff, and that the closing date is 31 December. In recent years there has been £12,000 available from this source for all manner of expeditions going abroad.
It is a regrettable fact that the committee only has limited resources at its disposal. In order to make the best and fairest use of funds, we have, over the years, developed a set of criteria which allow us to judge the merits of one expedition against another. Further details of these may be found in the application form and notes; in brief they may be summarised as:
A team which has relatively little experience but has shown a good deal of personal financial commitment allied to considerable preparatory homework will fare much better at the hands of the committee than an experienced group which is not attempting to reach a particularly new or exciting area.
The overall budget and cost to the individual is also taken into account, so that a small trip to Europe will probably receive a lower grant than a large scale trip to the tropics.
The closing dates for submission of the completed application forms are 31 January and 31 August. Trips which are expecting to be in the field in the first quarter of the year are encouraged to apply the previous year if at all possible.
The application process is now on-line and was slimmed-down in 2006 to streamline the process, reflecting the smaller grants available in recent years. To apply, fill in the GPF Application form. Notes explaining the information required are interleaved with the questions.
In order try and divide the available funds up between the January and August sessions effectively an advance notification form is provided to enable expeditions to make the committee aware of their plans without necessarily having to prepare a full application a year or more in advance of the trip. This should be submitted to the same deadlines as the full application to allow the committee to provisionally commit funds at the earliest possible opportunity. Use the GPF Application form (as for normal applications), but indicate that this is currently a preliminary application, and leave out information which you do not yet have.
The Expedition Feedback Form is used to provide brief details of the trip to the committee and to make sure that there is a written record of the activities of every expedition. It must be completed and returned to the GPF committee treasurer within three months of the expedition returning to the UK. 10% of the grant is normally retained until this form is returned, by way of encouragement.
General enquiries about the Foundation, and completed application forms, should be addressed to: Roo Walters, Mill House, Lazonby, PENRITH, CA10 1BL. gpf-enquiries@bcra.org.uk
The committee consists of three permanent Trustees: Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary and 4 appointed members, chosen for their expedition experience. The BCA Treasurer also normally attends in an advisory capacity. The appointed members do 4-year stints. Meetings to decide the awards are held a couple of weeks after the closing deadlines. The Committee members are emailed completed applications, and can also review the collected applications online(Login required).
NJW 21.12.98. New URL for on-line forms 01.03.00. Amended DJ 13.01.06. New contact 5/1/07. Updated W 2008-02-01