Introduction

Welcome to the UK section of the site. Since the Mountain Trust is registered in both the UK and Nepal, we have split the site between both organisations.

The Mountain Trust is working to improve the lives of people in some of the hardest hit parts of Nepal - the third poorest country on the planet. The Trust builds school classrooms, provides furniture, uniforms, teaching & sports equipment to primary and secondary schools in the more disadvantaged sector of Nepal's educational system. It also provides buildings and other support for adult literacy, family planning, health awareness, clean water supplies and youth clubs. More recently, the Trust has begun broadcasting lessons recorded by the best teachers on FM radio to school children preparing for their SLC (School Leaving Certificate) exams every evening for half an hour in the Kaski region of Nepal. The Trust's activities are geared to supporting the voice of women and low caste villagers in defining the local priorities for support and managing their provision.

The Trust was established by the Digital Bridge Project which has been developing new ways of narrowing the economic gap between Nepal and the outside world for the last six years.

Very roughly, it costs around £500 to build a classroom, around £325 to build a toilet block, around £150 to dig a well, about £25 for a desk and bench (wooden plank in steel frames) which seats 4 - 5 pupils, depending on their age. Uniforms, dictionaries, chess sets and other similar items are obviously less. The Trust purchases all the materials and labour in Nepal so that it's assistance benefits the country twice over (most of the unskilled labour, eg carrying gravel, is done voluntarily by villagers whilst we help fund skilled labour where required). All contracts are selected on the basis of at least three tenders provided by reputable contractors / suppliers. Our administrative costs are below 5% because we are all volunteers.

If you can help for example by raising donations, transferring skills (eg organising trips for nurses or teachers to spend their holiday training people in Nepal etc.) or in any other ways, please get in touch with us. You can find out more by following the links on the left.