People
The Helvellyn Foundation is currently funded and managed by Trustees Bill Holmes and his two daughters, Lauren and Becky.
Bill Holmes
Bill is the Chairman of a global business services company that he founded near Crewe in Cheshire over 30 years ago. He has always had a passion for walking and spent nearly every holiday while he was growing up visiting the Lakes whilst staying at an old miners cottage perched on the slopes of Helvellyn. Many bigger treks followed later in his life including Kilimanjaro, Toubkal and Kinabalu and he also enjoys sailing and travelling to new parts of the world. His mother did Botany and Zoology at Durham and always inspired Bill and his two siblings to have a keen interest in the natural world. With the foundation he wants to support Lauren and Becky as they take a more hands on approach to helping projects which they have carefully researched and for which they hold a particular passion.
Lauren Gupta (Holmes)
Lauren’s professional experience started in secondary school Spanish classrooms, moved through Programme Management roles in the youth employability sector, and into the Data & Impact department of a social mobility charity. She has studied an MBA in Barcelona, where she learnt about strategy, marketing, and ethics, and she is increasingly active in the trust-based philanthropy space. On a personal level, she simply loves the beauty and calm of the natural world and believes it deserves to be protected and valued now and for the future.
Becky Holmes
Becky has been passionate about the natural world for as long as she can remember. Alongside running The Helvellyn Foundation, Becky works full time as the Deputy Head of Analysis at Langland Conservation, a charity that provides cutting-edge intelligence support for conservation. She was recently appointed to the Advisory Group for the Environmental Funders Network which aims to increase philanthropic giving to environmental causes. She also holds a BSc in Ecology & Wildlife Conservation, and a BA in Graphic & Communication Design. She is passionate about all aspects of conservation but holds more specific knowledge on the areas of illegal wildlife trafficking, poaching, and rewilding.
