Kirwan visit promises memorable knight

Motivated by the work of a Nelson man in Nepal, former All Black Sir John Kirwan has pledged his support to help build some new Himalayan homes.

Founder of Everest Treks John Gully has been trekking in the Everest region for 29 years and has guided over 1200 people on Youth to Everest and Everest Base Camp treks.

He managed climbing expeditions to Mt Everest in 1988, 1989 and 1990 before concentrating on trekking and conservation work.

More recently, his Volunteer Nepal project has come about as a result of the April 2015 earthquakes, with a community centre already funded and built in the Everest region.

‘‘I’ve been going to Nepal for a million years and since the earthquake it’s really smashed the place up massively,’’ Gully said.

‘‘I went into an area last year which is close to the Tibet border and they just lost everything – the people that we were going to support are refugees that have no legal status in Nepal.

‘‘They’re Tibetans that came across the border, so they don’t get to vote and don’t get any government assistance at all, but the Dalai Lama has bought them land so we’ve got that.’’

Gully undertook a rebuild last year with some builders, which involved a handful of Nelson people.

Last year, he took Kirwan to Nepal as part of a documentary to give him a first-hand overview of the situation.

Thanks to The Rotary Club of Whakatu, and now JK, the project has enough funds to build the first homes in the remote village of Bridim, in the Langtang area.

Gully hoped to begin work on this next stage in October.

To help things along, Kirwan is coming down to Nelson on March 29 to speak at a fundraiser held in the Nelson Intermediate School hall.

Gully said having someone of Kirwan’s standing speak was a huge boost to the project’s profile

‘‘If I had an evening of me talking about it, then whatever, but JK’s going to draw the people in.

‘‘He’s very enthusiastic about the project and hugely generous with his time,’’ he said.

‘‘I only had a couple of weeks with him but he’s just an outstanding man with everything he’s done.’’

Gully said the subjects covered at the fundraiser would be varied, covering Kirwan’s own experiences in Nepal, his sporting life and touching on his work with depression, followed by a Q and A session.

Tickets are $20 from Nelson Intermediate on Tipahi St or Harcourts Nelson office on Hardy St. The event starts at 7pm.

JOHN GULLY All Black great Sir John Kirwan, left, and Nelson man John Gully, in Nepal, where Gully has carried out numerous building projects. Kirwan will speak at a project fundraiser on March 29 at Nelson Intermediate.