Himalayan Trust Gala Dinner – Celebrating Sir Edmund Hillary’s Centenary
Posted on August 05, 2019
On Wednesday 17 July the Himalayan Trust hosted a gala dinner at the Cordis Hotel in Symonds Street in recognition of the centenary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s birth.
There were many eminent guests present including the Governor-General, Dame Patsy Reddy, Sir Ed’s widow, Lady June Hillary, his son and daughter, Peter and Sarah, as well as one of the greatest living explorers, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the actor John Rhys-Davies who played the part of the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings movies. The event was also addressed the former Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, who is the Patron of the Himalayan Trust.
Nine Hillary House students from Macleans College also took part and their roles were to greet guests, show them to their tables and answer guests’ questions about the evening. The students were: Kevin Chen, Yuan Chen, Ranudi Lelwala, Emelia Martin Moses, James Qian, Parambir Singh, Jamie Wu, Yunge Yu and Cynthia Yin.
The Macleans College students also assisted the guests with the running of an online auction which was conducted on iPads. The purpose of the auction was to raise funds for the young people of Nepal by improving the quality of their schooling through better teaching resources and equipment, training for teachers and scholarships for local school children. The funds are also required to improve the health of people in remote mountain villages by helping them to access medical care and by investing in safe, clean drinking water. This is particularly important in regions that have been affected by adverse weather conditions in recent years.
The auction was a remarkable success and the guests succeeded in raising in excess of $500,000. This money will help with continuing Sir Ed’s greatest legacy, his work for the people of Nepal.
