UK trustees
The Venkat Trust, which was founded in 2004 by Sylvia Holder, is a UK registered charity with three UK trustees and three based in Kovalam.
Sylvia Holder
Bitten by the travel bug in the early years of her career, Sylvia lived and worked in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong and South Africa before putting her roots down in London to set up Holder Swan Public Relations with fellow VMT trustee Lindsay Swan. It was while visiting India for a travel client that she wandered along the beach to the fishing village of Kovalam and met the 12 year old Venkat for the first time. Sylvia retired, or so she thought, in 2000 and moved to Hove, not envisaging that she would soon become as busy as ever running the Venkat Trust.
Lindsay Swan
Lindsay Swan is a London based PR consultant and editor. She met Sylvia Holder in South Africa when they worked for a Johannesburg consultancy and they then went on to run Holder Swan Public Relations in London for more than 20 years.
Sarah da Silva
Sarah is the trustee who knows Kovalam best after Sylvia, having been there four times now. She comes from a background in catering and is now very happily retired with her two dogs. As well as her involvement with the Venkat Trust, Sarah is a volunteer for the WRVS and Brighton and Hove’s Martlets Hospice.