Gill Spilsbury, a teacher in UK for over 30 years, has been working alongside Pradip since they founded Access-Himalaya together in 1998. She first visited Nepal in 1997, and met Pradip on a trek where he was a guide, when they discovered that they had many interests in common, such as Ornithology, Natural History, and a desire to improve the lives of Nepalese people, particularly via children and through education. Gill writes the long-winded descriptions of trekking itineraries, handles most correspondence, and usually manages to be in Kathmandu to welcome our clients and help them to cope with the initial culture shock that a first visit to Nepal sometimes causes. She and Pradip are deeply involved with charity work in Kathmandu and beyond, and they spend a great deal of their time on this, both when in UK and Nepal. Gill has a broad understanding of Nepalese culture, including a keen interest in handicrafts and textiles – not to mention shopping for jewellery in Kathmandu! She is Education Adviser to our charity project in Kathmandu and also organizes its Sponsorship programme. Gill speaks fluent French, and also Nepali, and enjoys listening to Classical music and Jazz when she doesn’t have her nose in a book. Widely travelled in Europe, USA, India and, of course, Nepal and Tibet, she admits to feeling culturally drawn to, and fascinated by, the Old World rather than the New.