Seven youth hostels in Scotland are due to close this year. I understand that this is not owing to lack of use but to a £2m shortfall in funding for repairs, maintenance and the cost of meeting health and safety legislation in some of the older hostels.

Our Scottish youth hostels are too precious to lose. For generations of Scots and international visitors they have provided holidays, not just for those who can't afford private accommodation, but for people who value the community spirit that the hostels offer and a shared appreciation of our enviable landscape.

Hostels in Armadale, Coldingham, Glendevon, Inverey, Killin, Kyleakin and Loch Lochy are all earmarked for closure this year. It seems a great pity that for £2m, these unique hostels will be sold to private owners and will be lost to a great Scottish tradition of tramping and travelling that so many of us have benefited from and value.

I would like to urge the Scottish Youth Hostel Association to look again at the options for meeting its shortfall, the Scottish Parliament to consider the impact on tourism and facilities for young Scots, and any willing philanthropists to consider the youth-hostelling tradition an exciting cause for any spare cash.

Jenny Marra, 12 Thornwood Road, Glasgow.