THE South West Coast Path Appeal has just passed the £10,000 mark, due to a massive boost from Thurlestone Hotel. Esther Pearson, business development manager for the South West Coast Path, said: 'We have just passed the £10k mark and the Thurlestone Hotel donated £5k and have been encouraging their clients and guests to do the same. 'We aim to raise £40k which will be matched by Devon County Council, making every £1 into £2 and with the Thurlestone Hotel matching guests' donations, their £1 turns into £4.' The SWCPA was launched to raise a minimum of £40,000 – to be matched by DCC – for urgent repair works to sections of coast path mainly between Dartmouth and Bantham, and to establish a Fund for future path improvement projects in the South Hams. Julie Baugh, hotel director, said: 'We have added the appeal to our literature that we send out to all our guests and since we have had the board up, people have been really passionate about it. 'The coast path is part of the Thurlestone experience. The gaps and closures in the coast path have affected locals, the pub and the hotel. Long-term guests have not been coming because they can't walk the coast paths and that is affecting our business.' Esther continued: 'We have had fantastic local support from businesses, the South Sands Hotel are holding a summer solstice event for us and are making a donation per customer. 'Thurlestone Golf Club are holding a golf day, and are looking for sponsors for the event which will have all the proceeds going to the SWCPA, and the Kingsbridge and Salcombe Chamber of Commerce are raising awareness with local business owners.' Devon County Council are aiming to have a permissive pathway open in the next two weeks near to Beacon Cottage, Hope Cove, which has been closed for more than 18months, affecting local people and businesses. Esther added: 'The fund is not being used for permissive paths, we are only funding permanent solutions and we are now worried about the weather this winter causing more damage. 'If the appeal manages to raise more than the £40k, then we can use it as a Future-Proofing Fund for any more improvements and repairs needed in the future. 'The path at Hope Cove is planned to be moved back from the cliff edge to make it last longer, as we will never stop coastal erosion, but we can make our coast paths more durable.' The coastal change report – Shifting Shores – is available on the National Trust website, http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk">www.nationaltrust.org.uk, and outlines the threats to our coastline in future years. 169 of the trust's properties could lose land in the next century, with 5 per cent of those losses being more than 200m inland and 500 archaeological monuments and historic structures are at risk. For more information on the South West Coast Path Appeal, visit the webpage at: http://www.southwestcoastpath.com/newsapp/article/143">www.southwestcoastpath.com/newsapp/article/143, and to donate to the appeal, visit the JustGiving page: http://www.ustgiving.com/SouthHamsAppeal">www.ustgiving.com/SouthHamsAppeal. To become a business sponsor for the Thurlestone Golf Club's Golf Day in aid of the SWCPA on October 3, call 01548 560405 for more information.