UKC

Looking to buy some harnesses, helmets and belay plates for a charity youth group. Any recommendations for shops that do discounts for charities?

V12 might help you out with a bit of a discount.

We (a scout group) have used Up and Under in Cardiff, highly recommended.

Do you have a local shop? They might be willing to offer discounts in return for you crediting them as a charity supporter. Don't worry about them not stocking the exact harness model you want for group use, a quality independent will happily place a special order from their suppliers if they have a guaranteed sale.

Failing that Cotswolds and GoOutdoors always seen to be keen to promote scouting and DofE kind of thing, so might be worth an ask.

I have done this several times for both University and Scout groups.

Work out what you want and then send it to a few shops for a quote, with a covering letter explaining circumstances. Don't try and get into a bidding war.

Jenny C's suggestion to contact Cotswold and GoOutdoors are pretty much your best options, though. Cotswold used to have a contract price list for big orders - not sure if they still do/what minimum order value is these days. Both will almost certainly do 15% off shop prices, managers/head office may have a bit of discretion for a bit more.

I'm sure you're aware, but once you get your gear, make sure you start up a use log for it and make sure it's filled in.

I did have one run-in with a local shop (now long gone!) who took my requirements for a Scout group, said no problem and then tried to supply completely different items, many of which were brands I'd never heard of and weren't suitable for group use!