Meet Our
Team

Gavin started Moving Mountains in 1991 during a long period of travel which took him to many places around the world.

During many years of travel Gavin was, amongst other jobs, driving overland trucks in southern Africa, teaching in slum schools in Kenya and working ad hoc for a variety of aid agencies. In between extensive trips, mostly to developing countries and mountains, Gavin maintained a base in Ireland and volunteered in Scouting and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, organizing expeditions and adventure camps for many different groups.

On the back of considerable time spent in the slums Gavin set up Moving Mountains using funds raised from his mountain climbs to help put children through school. The charity became registered in 2001 and is now a large concern with a number of related NGO’s and a large staff managing multiple developmental projects.

In 2000 Gavin celebrated the Millennium by attempting to climb the Seven Summits in one year, in the process raising money for Comic Relief by wearing a red nose on each summit! He also ran with the Olympic torch during the London 2012 Olympics in recognition for his charitable work.

Gavin now lectures widely on development education and sustainable development financing, volunteering ethics and running meaningful school trips combining adventure, travel and international community service. He also is a Fellow of Oxford Brookes university and lectures on social development in tourism. He is always involved with the day to day running of Moving Mountains and continually attempting to get funding for the annual programmes we run.

Gavin has climbed Mount Everest six times and trekked to the magnetic North Pole to raise money and awareness for Moving Mountains, which has resulted in an estimated £2 million of funding going to Kenya and Nepal and Borneo. He plans to climb more of the fourteen 8000m peaks and trek to the South Pole in the future.

Andy MacDonald is a founding Trustee of Moving Mountains and has been closely involved with all of the programmes and projects right from the start. He is currently the Treasurer of the Trust and spends a lot of time managing the accounting and budgets for the charity.

Nowadays Andy lives in Portstewart and is himself a Scout and Venture Scout leader, using his experiences to inspire other young people and take them on the type of trips that shaped his life when he was younger. He is married to Verah and they have two children, Ashley and Mali.

Francis Kioni is the current Treasurer for Moving Mountains in Kenya and sits on the Board.

Kioni originally started working with us back in the mid-nineties when he was living in Kibera, he helped on all our building projects in the Kibera slum and at ‘Rowallan’ Scout Centre on the outskirts of Nairobi, next to Kibera, where our early international development trips built clinics, developed water projects and helped on regeneration projects within the slum.

Quickly becoming a firm favourite, he was and still is our go to ‘wise man’, there will never be a situation or problem that cannot be improved by spending a short time asking Kioni for his advice and as such, he is very much the father figure of Moving Mountains Kenya.

Kioni is also our project manager, he spends a lot of time visiting previous, current and possible future projects with the Moving Mountains Community Action Team (group of former street children who work on all our Moving Mountains projects in Kenya and Tanzania) and is a well known and highly respected figure across East Africa, sitting on the board/committee of a number of school/community groups.

After the post-election violence in Kenya in late 2007/early 2008, Kioni moved his family out of Nairobi and built a new home and life just outside Naro Moru town on the lower slopes of Mount Kenya where he used his knowledge of the building trade to set up a suppliers shop which his wife manages.

Joseph Mungai is the current Secretary for Moving Mountains in Kenya and sits on the Board.

He lives in Nairobi and coordinates all the medical programmes in East Africa, including Medical Elective students, vaccination programmes and our relationships with the clinics and hospitals which are supported by Moving Mountains in Kenya.

Joseph is also active during the school and university trips in Kenya and has built up a strong working relationship with our team in Tanzania where he has led a number of international development trips on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro at Ng’aroni Primary School, the location of our first Moving Mountains project in Tanzania.

Originally from Kibera (Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest slum and home to an estimated 1 million), he is a former beneficiary of Moving Mountains and is now employed by Adventure Alternative which gives him the chance to enjoy his passion for outdoor life. With numerous ascents on Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru now under his belt he is always looking for his next adventure.

Geljun Sherpa is the current Treasurer for Moving Mountains in Nepal and sits on the Board.

He owns and runs a mountain lodge at Bupsa village in the lower Solukhumbu region of Nepal where Moving Mountains has developed and supports the local Primary School and Buddhist Monastery where we run our ‘Mini Monks’ school.

Geljun has a larger than life personality and is a much loved member of the team, leading many of our international development trips to Bupsa and Bumburi villages over the years to improve the local infrastructure in the region.

He has helped to oversee much of the building and development work, including the construction of Bupsa and Bumburi Primary Schools, Bumburi Secondary School, the Health Clinic in Bumburi and the renovation of the Monasteries in both Bupsa and Bumburi, as well as the Hydro-Electric project and the social enterprises which developed as a result and the distribution of water to the rural homes and the installation of much needed eco stoves.

Chris has been Secretary of the charity since 2002. He and Rosie have two children, Kioni and Robyn, and they live in Portstewart near the sea so that Chris can enjoy his passion for surfing and taking his boat out for a days fishing. He has been involved with the charity since it was first formed and has visited many of the projects over the past twenty years. He brings a measured and knowledgeable response to the management of the charity.

Gilbert Njeru is the current Chairperson of Moving Mountains in Kenya.

He lives in Embu at our guesthouse and manages the Moving Mountains programmes there, plus all the volunteers and medical elective students who come to this part of Kenya. He is also active during the school and university trips, often helping to guide on Mount Kenya (over 40 successful summits of Point Lenana to his name). Despite the numerous ascents on Mount Kenya it wasn’t until 2015 that he got the opportunity to climb Mt Kenya’s bigger brother, Kilimanjaro… which he successfully summited with an Adventure Alternative team.

Gilbert is the self-proclaimed ‘King of Embu’ and an enthusiastic member of staff with a great sense of humour and infectious personality. He never fails to leave a big impression on everyone he meets and even before getting involved with Moving Mountains had dedicated his life to making positive changes in the lives of all the street children in Embu and now all the children, communities and projects supported and developed by Moving Mountain across East Africa.

Pasang Tendi Sherpa is the current Vice Chairperson of Moving Mountains Nepal.

He lives in Kathmandu with his wife Saraswoti and their two children Jubilee and Elli Dolma, where he manages Adventure Alternative Nepal and all the operations of both Adventure Alternative and Moving Mountains trips in Nepal.

He has climbed many of the famous peaks in his country (including numerous ascents on Everest) and is a well known personality at the Tourism Association for Nepal (TAAN) where he is a committee member. Pasang is very well travelled and has a lot of experience climbing in other parts of the world, including Aconcagua in Argentina and Denali in Alaska.

His English is excellent and he regularly visits his home village of Kharikhola (located in between Bumburi and Bupsa, the two main villages which have been developed by Moving Mountains Nepal) which is famous for producing a high number of Everest summiteers. As the Vice Chairperson of Moving Mountains Nepal he tends to spend a lot of time working with the communities to develop the projects and programmes that we fund.

Pasang showed his true colours, both as a Sherpa and as a man, when in 2009 he came to the aid of Gavin Bate (Everest summiteer and Moving Mountains founder) during his traverse of Everest without bottled oxygen. Pasang was the only back up for the expedition and carried an emergency supply of oxygen in case anything went wrong. When Gavin took a pulmonary oedema at the Second Step, it was Pasang who came to the rescue and provided the life-saving oxygen and then helped with the difficult descent down the North Face.

Pasang is a popular member of the team in Nepal and despite his achievements in the world of mountaineering remains one of the most grounded and genuine people that you could ever hope to meet.

Ang Chhongba Sherpa is the current Chairperson of Moving Mountains Nepal.

He lives in America with his wife and children but makes regular trips back to Kathmandu and the villages we’ve developed in the Solukhumbu region. His Mum still lives in the village of Bumburi and any visitor or volunteer in Bumburi will more than likely stay in her home.

A chance meeting in the mid-nineties between the founder of Moving Mountains, Gavin Bate and a much younger Chhongba led to a friendship that has resulted in a complete turnaround for this stunningly beautiful part of the Himalayas off the traditional tourist trail.

Chhongba is the driving force behind Moving Mountains Nepal, always making himself available to promote his country and Moving Mountains.