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On May 29th 1953 in the British Expedition led by John Hunt, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Sherpa became the first men to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest. In the years that followed, Sir Edmund returned repeatedly to Nepal, and to his friends the Sherpas,
The Sherpas are some of the most friendly, generous and tough people on earth, but their lot is a hard one, living at high altitude, without most resources that we take for granted in the west.
Inspired by his admiration and respect for these people Sir Edmund created The Himalayan Trust in 1960. Since creation the work of the Trust has been based on a few simple but profound principles
- provide basic infrastructure needs that the Sherpas really want (education, health, forests, monastery repairs and response to natural disasters)
- the Sherpas themselves to eagerly contribute time and effort to the projects- this "self help" confirming the importance and relevence of the work
- the Trust to rely on voluntary workers and virtually eliminate overheads:
- the donations to be transfered direct to the projects in Nepal; no money paid to middlemen or agents.
The results of his extraordinary efforts have been both moving and immensely beneficial, and resulted in the creation of many schools, hospitals, health centres and new forest plantations.
This website is focussed on The Himalayan Trust UK which was created in 1989 to support Sir Edmund's work for the sherpas together with some additional projects for the hills people of Nepal where the need may be even greater
The whole world was saddened by the passing of Sir Edmund Hillary who died in Auckland on 11th January 2008 at the age of 88. Our Chairman of the the Himalyan Trust UK ,George Band, has conveyed his deep sympathy on behalf of all our trustees to Lady Hillary and the members of their family. We pledge our continued commitment and support to the work of Sir Edmund's Himalayan Trust, which he created to help improve the lives of the Sherpas and hill people of Nepal. Even more than Everest, this will remain a perpetual memorial to his life and achievements.
As recently as 13th December 2007, our past Chairman and Honorary Secretary, George and Mary Lowe, visited Sir Edmund at his home in Auckland and found him in good spirits. They told him that over the years donations to the Himalayan Trust UK had now exceeded £500,000. He was delighted with this news and asked that his special thanks be conveyed to all trustees and donors.
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 "(Click to enlarge)")
 "(Click to enlarge)")