Arthur Benbow (President)
Arthur Benbow is known locally as the Globe Trotting Pensioner and over the past 10 years has traveled most of the world and much of it on a bicycle see. (www.arthursmemoirs.co.uk)
Since becoming a widower in 1993 Arthur has supported and raised funds for many UK Charities including the British Heart Foundation, Ty Hafan Childrens Hospice and the NSPCC.
It was his 2003 visit to Nepal, one of the World’s smallest and poorest countries, which made him aware of the urgent need to provide an adequate education to the younger generation of this depressed but friendly country.
Jyoti Adhikari (Vice President & Co-ordinator in Nepal)
Team Leader: www.ecotreknepal.com
Team Leader: Hotel Holy Himalaya
Ex Chairman: Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN)
Founder Chairman: School & Children of Nepal
Ex Board Member: Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal
Kevin Wharton (Treasurer)
Kevin is a retired accountant with over 35 years experience in the finance industry. In his long career with a global accountancy practice, he specialized in central and local government, education and health. Kevin joined KASIN as Treasurer and Trustee in October 2015.
Since retiring Kevin has done a range of voluntary work. He has been on the Board of the local College of Further Education for some 10 years, four of which he acted as Chair. For five years he has chaired and Audit Committee. He has been President of his local Rotary Club, and before that chaired the Club’s International Committee for three years. He is on the management committee of a voluntary organization in Skipton which provides support and facilities for the over 50s. Kevin is a keen cyclist and used this to support his fundraising by cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats and through the length of France in aid of a number of charities.
Kevin brings extensive finance and governance expertise to KASIN, coupled with broad knowledge of the fund raising sector.
Pat Wherity (Secretary)
Pat is a retired teacher with 37 years of classroom experience and an ex Head of Geography in a state grammar school. He has also worked for several exam boards and has been responsible for checking and revising A-level question papers and mark schemes for Edexcel. He has been involved in many local charities and is currently a member and treasurer of Kirkby Malham Parish Council. Pat is also a member of Settle Rotary Club.
Pat had been involved with KASIN through his wife Liz but after travelling to Nepal with the trustees in October 2014 started to play a bigger role in the charity. The trip was a life changing experience and he was particularly impressed by the way the charity provides help directly to the local communities with minimal running costs. The charities links with Harihar Timilsina as a teacher trainer, Dinesh as head of one of the local schools as well as Jyoti Adhikari and Ecotrek with his support and links to the local communities were so good that he felt he had to be involved.
Liz Wherity ( Chairperson and Schools’ Coordinator)
Liz Wherity is a retired Assistant Head Teacher with 37 years classroom experience with 4 – 11 year olds. She is also married to Pat an ex-Head of Geography in a grammar school. They have three children and two grandchildren.
Liz joined KASIN as a Trustee in may 2013 after Mark Ashton another Trustee inspired her during a trip to Nepal in April 2013. During the 12 day trip Liz visited a school in the remote village of Mhajkhanda and was immediately struck by the lack of any basic facilities or resources and how relatively simple it would be to make a difference.
Liz feels her experiences in a variety of different schools as a teacher, mentor, monitor and manager would be invaluable to KASIN and hopes to be called upon to contribute in the near future.
Liz also met Hari and Dinesh on their recent visit to England and helped with their presentation and school visits. She felt that she formed an excellent relationship with both men and would love to continue with this role in the coming years.
Mahesh Adhikari
The Trustees are pleased to welcome Mr. Mahesh Adhikari born in – Lamjung, Pokhara, Nepal. Education : Bachelor in commerce from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Further Degree : Advance Diploma in IT from City and Guild 2001-2003, London. Worked in International INGO (Save the Children US 1994-1999) as Program Support Coordinator. Lives in United Kingdom Peterborough since September 1999. Charity Organisation : President- Peterborough Nepalese Society (2010 to date)
Garath Barratt
Gareth is a teacher currently working in Carlisle in the Richard Rose Central Academy in the PE department and as a support for leaders in other departments. he has been fortunate to travel with his work and has spent many years in Asia in particular. Nepal has always been on his hit list but he hasn’t managed it yet – one day! He has become involved with this great charity after meeting Arthur and the other trustees following our attempts to send our pupils to Nepal in 2013 and we hope to create new international links with kids at school in Nepal. I look forward to supporting Arthur and the other trustees in their efforts to improve the quality and standards of education in the schools in Nepal.
Jill Deeley
Jill first visited Nepal on a cycle tour in 2003 and fell in love with this beautiful country and it’s happy but disadvantaged people. She started to sponsor two children at Splendid Valley School and returned with Arthur in 2007 for the inauguration of the new school buildings. During this visit she was able to meet the children and their families; a unique experience for her. On her retirement from work in July 2011 she was pleased to accept an invitation to be a trustee for ‘Kids at School in Nepal’ and has since been instrumental in the production of our first Newsletter. Jill said “I am looking forward to my next visit to Nepal when we hope to visit the schools in the remote area of Phulkharka”.
John Peet
John has been a regular visitor to Nepal since 2008 as a trustee of the Ikudol Forest Trust, supporting a re-forestation project south of the Kathmandu valley.
His involvement in Nepal started in 1999, when John met Alan Iles, a horticulturist from Skipton, who worked in Nepal in the 1980s, setting up a tree nursery in Mahjkhanda, a community heavily reliant on trees for timber, cooking fuel, and animal fodder. Before Alan’s untimely death in 2006, the Ikudol Forest Trust was founded by John and 3 other trustees, inspired by Alan’s legacy of trees to the community. John first heard about KASIN on a trip to Nepal with Pat and Liz Wherity in 2013,
He has since visited a remote part of east Nepal where education is making a vital difference to children of tea estate workers. Many families in this area face subsistence living and children still risk being exploited as tea pickers, so education can give them a real chance of a better life.
John started his career as a project engineer for Westinghouse before gaining an MBA at Cranfield and subsequently holding a senior marketing post in the printing engineering industry. After a change of direction, he spent 18 years as General and Company Secretary of L’Arche, a registered charity supporting people with learning disabilities.
John now runs a landscaping business in the Aire Valley, regularly teaching horticulture to children at St Anne’s Primary school in Keighley, which is twinned with the government school in Mahjkhanda. He is also a practicing BACP registered counsellor.
John has published this blog describing his visits to Nepal each year.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Sofie Wild
Having been enthralled by her dad’s stories of travels in Nepal in the late 1960s, Sophie has always been interested in this fascinating country and its people, and dreams of visiting one day. She has been a primary school governor since 2012 and manages a field centre office for environmental education charity, the Field Studies Council.
Having heard about KASIN through a mutual friend, she was impressed by the charity’s dedication and commitment to making a positive difference to education in Nepal. The Trustees do not claim any expenses so all donations go towards this aim.
In 2016, Sophie and her sister raised over £1,000 by completing the Yorkshire Three Peaks and she hopes to contribute more in the future. Sophie was delighted and honoured to accept an invitation to become a trustee in 2017 and she hopes that her skills in IT, finance and governance are of assistance in supporting KASIN with their excellent work.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Christa Baldwin
Christa is a primary scho
ol teacher, who currently teaches at Sutton CP School. She has been teaching for 14 years and is passionate and committed to making a difference to people’s lives. After hearing about the fabulous work of KASIN through a friend, it was their mission statement which captured Christa’s enthusiasm for the charity.
Over the last few years, Christa has embarked upon many challenges in an effort to raise money for a variety of charities, including cycling from Lands End to John O Groats, running half marathons and marathons and more recently cycling from the South of France back home to Yorkshire.
In her spare time, Christa is nearing the end of the process to become a Special Constable. She also enjoys the outdoors and regularly spends time participating in sports such as rounders and cycling. She is also a keen traveller and would love to visit Nepal sometime soon and see in person the fabulous work which KASIN has already done.
_____________________________________________________________________________ 
Pamela Ingram
Jane Southward
Jane’s connection with Nepal started in 1996 when given the opportunity to travel there as part of an experimental trip with Oxventure. This started a life-long love of a country and its people. during the trip, Jane visited the Kumbeshwar Technical School in Patan and was so struck by the work there that she has been a supporter ever since. In 2014 she returned to Kathmandu to volunteer at the Kumbeshwar Technical School and to carry out teacher training. This led to a connection with KASIN and meeting up with Harihar, who was a huge support in planning the training at the school. Jane has written this blog describing her experiences at Kumbeshwar.
Since returning from Kathmandu, Jane has taken an active role in running the “Kids of Kumbeshwar UK, which has now come under the KASIN umbrella. She has given talks about the school and her time there and is committed to raising funds to support the education of children in Nepal.
Professor Padam Simkhada (Patron)
Padam Simkhada is a Professor of International Public Health at the Centre for Public Health and Associate Dean for Faculty of Education, Health and Community at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. His research focuses on global public health. He is interested in different aspects of international health particularly in public health problems in developing countries. His current research are on maternal health, health promotion, migration, sex trafficking, reproductive and sexual health including HIV/AIDS. He has been involving on capacity building activities in Nepal. He has published a wide range of peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters related to his research field.
Prof. Simkhada was born in Gumdi, the remote village of Dhading Nepal. He studied in Tamang Kharka Secondary School, Gumdi Dhading. He graduated from Tribhuvan University Nepal. He has completed M.Sc. in Public Health and Health Promotion from Brunel University and PhD from Southampton University. Before he moved to Liverpool John Moores, he was Senior Lecturer in International Health at Sheffield University and Programme Co-ordinator and Lecturer in International Health at the University of Aberdeen. Previously, he worked for Save the Children (UK) and Ministry of Health in Nepal. He is also a Visiting Professor in Nepal. Adjunct Faculty at Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences Nagpur, India.