We didn't have to try for any of that sort of thing as the lads in question already had most of the kit needed. Anything out of the ordinary was purchased through the outdoor shop of the Scout association (used to be called Scoutshops Ltd or something) at a decent discount.
You could try getting a local outdoors shop interested in your trip, chatting to the owner / manager. Offer to use their name & logo etc in photo's that you'll be using for all your presentations to the public / other companies that are supporting you. That way you might be able to get trade price for some stuff?
Maria, all you can really do is write and ask. It helps if you're either doing something for a good cause or you can offer them some publicity. You'll find that companies vary in their attitude, some are surprisingly generous, some aren't. The problem is that most will have lots of approaches from people after the same or similar.
I have written to 10 so far, i am going on a trip to Camps international for 5 months, need to raise 5000. So i wrote to local wildlife centres, Rotarys, the lions, charities....I have sent them nearly all off, hopefully hear back from them soon. You need to send them off asap because they can take a long time to write back.
I went back to the first page Panda, and read the lot, it was only when I got to the 2nd page I noticed the date , hope they got away ok, perhaps they got a lift int he Tardis
This might be an old thread but the ideas are still relevant and useful. Our daughter needs to raise £3000 in the next 12 months and I shall be pushing this thread under her nose pronto. (she's 14, trip is a school thing, bit trekking + bit good works, in Laos)
, hope they got away ok, perhaps they got a lift int he Tardis 
