With roots planted firmly in mountaineering – and the certain knowledge that few of us would have climbed the great Himalayan peaks without the loyal support of the region’s tough, courageous people – The Himalayan Trust UK has been working since 1989 to help the mountain people of Nepal. We strive to improve the health and education in the mountainous regions of Northeastern Nepal, particularly in the Taplejung region. 

We still hold to the guiding principles laid down by Sir Edmund Hillary when he founded the first Himalayan Trust in 1960. 

>  To focus on basic infrastructure – education, health, environment
>  To do only that which is requested by the mountain people 
>  To involve the mountain people themselves in the work – “self help”
>  To minimise all unnecessary cost and to facilitate direct transfer of funds
>  To look for long term sustainability and independence for the mountain people

We need your help to continue and develop our work.

We started our work in 1989 supporting the work of Sir Edmund Hillary and were keen supporters of the teacher training programme initiative which started in 1997 in the Everest region. The success of these early educational programmes prompted requests to expand our reach.

The people from the Kanchenjunga region were keen to work with us to replicate the success of our educational training. The area had been largely ignored by NGOs and the development sector and we enjoyed a special relationship with Taplejung – our then Chairman, George Band, had been the first to ascend Mt Kanchenjunga back in the fifties. We introduced our own Education Programme to the area in 2007 and added a dedicated Health Programme in 2013.