Our inspiration

The David Mather Foundation was established to meet a real need in an impoverished community within a beautiful city in Northern Argentina.

It has originated out of a tragedy. David Mather was killed in a paragliding accident in Salta on 31st December 2008.

David loved life, loved people and loved travelling. He revelled in the amazing sights, sounds and colours of the fantastic places he was able to visit, but it was the people he met that made the greatest impact.

David often talked of families struggling to make a living, of young people forced to scrabble about on rubbish tips, and of the injustice in the world. Shocked by the effects of poverty, he had recently applied to join an organisation to help address these problems saying “I am lucky enough to be in a position where I have both enough time and sufficient resources to travel in the region of Central and South America for around a year. I am very aware of the gulf in resources and living standards in the area and that many people need a bit of help and support. With this in mind, I just want to do a little during my time here to “give a bit back””.

David had visited Salta to see his brother, Gareth, and he had been drawn in by the welcoming people he had met and the beauty of the area. He was also, however, amazed at the third world lifestyles of many of the indigenous people and felt strongly that Gareth’s travel company had done small things in terms of the local economy, but that these had made a huge difference to the lives involved.

It is in Salta, the provincial capital of North West Argentina, that we are focusing our efforts to support latent talent of young people in David’s memory. He believed that making a difference was important and that the potential to make a difference in South America was far greater than in Europe.

It is from these strongly held beliefs of David, as well as through discussion with all those who loved him, including David’s many UK based friends, we have decided to establish The David Mather Foundation.

In David’s words “I am one of the lucky ones. I come from a comfortable background and have never wanted for much in life, never mind the basics such as food, shelter and a loving family. It never fails to amaze me that those people who are really up against it are often those with the biggest smiles on their faces.”

David is greatly missed. We have established the Foundation in his memory to ensure some good comes from this tragic loss. It will ensure that the young people of Salta will be able to reach their potential and go someway to fulfilling David’s.