The Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) is a Scottish registered charity. It looks after 104 bothies and two emergency mountain shelters (not to be mistaken for or confused with a mountain hut, as the Fords of Avon and Garbh Choire refuges are little more than a heavily weather protected shed). Of these, only two bothies (Over Phawhope and Glen Pean) are owned by the charity. The remainder are maintained with the agreement and encouragement of the owners. The majority are in Scotland with the remainder in Wales and Northern England. These may be stayed in without charge. The object of the charity is to maintain simple shelters in remote country for the use and benefit of all who love wild and lonely places. All maintenance work is financed from the MBA’s own resources, mainly membership subscriptions supplemented by donations from benefactors, some of whom wish to commemorate a relative or friend who was a hillwalker or climber.