The North Wales Bolt Fund (NWBF) started in 1992 as North Wales Slate with all the profit from the 1992 not-for-profit Slate: A Climbers Guide. This money kick started the fund and the significant promotion of sustainable bolting. Many slate routes got much needed upgrades. The funding continued following the publication of the not-for-profit Climbers Guide to Llanberis Slate Quarries in 1998. In 2007, the name changed to the North Wales Bolt Fund to reflect the wider range of areas where bolting is taking place. The bolts used on the limestone sea cliffs in North Wales were rapidly becoming dangerous due to the impact of being in a marine environment.
The fund has supported upgrading the bolts in many areas, not just in the Llanberis quarries and on the Ormes, but also at Dinbren, Llanymynech, Llŷn Peninsula, Mid Wales and other areas in Wales, and even some beyond the Welsh borders.