Fast-moving, entertaining, funny and inspiring, Accidental Lives is a book about tragedy turned to triumph, ‘sliding door’ life changers, chance encounters and a glorious friendship. It tells the extraordinary story of how a young man’s tragic death in a poor South Indian fishing village led to the setting up of a charity which has transformed thousands of young lives.
Sylvia Holder is the founder trustee of the Venkat Trust, the education charity she set up in memory of Venkat, a fisherman’s son she met when on an Indian beach. She is a previous winner of The Times Sternberg Active Life Award and was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2019 New Year’s Honours. She lives in Hove and travels frequently to the Trust’s operation in Kovalam, South India.
Born and educated in Scotland, Lindsay Swan is a trustee of the Venkat Trust and a frequent visitor to Kovalam. For more than twenty years, she was Sylvia Holder’s partner in their eponymous London public relations consultancy. She is involved in a number of therapeutic gardening projects and, as a member of the Independent Monitoring Boards, helps ensure the humane and just treatment of those held in custody. She lives with her husband in west London.
Could you both give us an overview of Accidental Lives? What is it about and what can readers expect?
It’s a story about tragedy turned to triumph, ‘sliding door’ life changers, chance encounters and our glorious friendship. It tells how a young man’s tragic death in a poor South Indian fishing village led to the setting up of the Venkat Trust which has transformed thousands of young lives. We met in South Africa nearly 50 years ago at the Johannesburg company where we both worked. Sylvia was organising the SA launch of the Wombles and initially Lindsay was a Womble. We then went on to organise the first South African Celebrity Tennis Tournament, headlined by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton no less. Back in the UK, our Camden PR company wasn’t cast in the usual PR mould and was the finest of fun as a result. Sylvia set up the Venkat Trust in 2004 in memory of Venkat, whom she’d met on an Indian beach when he was 12 and who was killed aged 27 in a road accident. Lindsay is a trustee. We’re still rolling along. We hope people will find Accidental Lives fast-moving, entertaining and funny and that they will also get a sense that anything’s possible, however unlikely it might seem. Life can be a blast.
Do many of the children who attend the schools in Kovalam stay in touch after finishing? Could you tell us about a few stories in particular?
They certainly do stay in touch and we see many of them when we’re in Kovalam, now successfully established in their careers and in some cases, married men or women. We are particularly proud of Sulayka Banu who came with her sister to our school as a small girl after their parents had been killed in the tsunami. The headmaster spotted how clever they were and Lindsay was lucky to sponsor Sulayka. She did very well at school, went on to study law and is now a lawyer and soon-to-be qualified barrister.
The offices of your PR company in Camden were previously art studios used by the infamous painter Walter Sickert, whom some believed to have been Jack the Ripper (although some experts reject this idea). Did you ever feel a presence there or something spooky?
We’d have loved that but I don’t think we were racy enough for Sickert, although we tried. Our office was approached through a courtyard that couldn’t been seen from the main road and, lit by a single light, could be gloomy in the winter months but the Empire’s Jack Russell Terrier Jessie would have dealt efficiently with any spectres.
Your memoir gives a hilarious account of working with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton when they visited South Africa. Are there any other fascinating details you could share with us about this?
After Celebrity Tennis, we took them on what should have been a three country safari. They were very uncooperative in Botswana and flatly refused to go to Rhodesia, as it then was, after a great deal of planning and money by the respective countries had gone into arranging wonderful excursions. There was an overnight stop in a remote part of the Kruger with very few facilities and definitely no electricity. It didn’t stop Elizabeth’s maid asking me for an iron and ironing board! She was unlucky!
Who has been your favourite celebrity to work with and why?
We really enjoyed working with the Chichester Festival Theatre stars, who were always very friendly and down to earth and happy to give time to talking things through. We think warmly of Patricia Hodge, who made a point of thanking us for some nice feature coverage – they didn’t always. We both loved the Daily Mail drama critic Jack Tinker, who wasn’t exactly a star but was completely immersed in stardust and used to have us weeping with mirth on the return journey from Chichester first nights with his tales, many of which involved Princess Margaret. Cliff Richard was another favourite. He came to Hampton Court Flower Show every year, always with his fan club in tow and was so sweet and helpful. Sylvia used to organise a celebrity lunch and Cliff would make sure everyone was happy and getting on and also that Sylvia was fine – he even shared a dining chair with her one year when there was a seating drama. Helen Mirren was in the film Greenfingers, which was shot in part at the flower show and in which Lindsay played a part. She was very jolly and friendly whenever they were filming together.
You have such a brilliant friendship and have worked together so wonderfully. What are the characteristics you like most about each other?
SH: Lindsay is extraordinary, a one-off, clever, very funny, silly and fiercely loyal. You could never be bored in her company. She is always there for me in any bleak times. We share a quirky sense of humour which delights us both, as does our vocabulary built up over the years which leaves others mystified. She is hugely important in my life which has been greatly enhanced by knowing her. People refer to us as a double act such is the unsaid communication between us. How lucky I am to know her. LS: Sylvia is fearless, a great quality which means things happen. She sees only what’s possible; impossible isn’t a word in her vocabulary and she’s very smart. She’s also totally dependable, silly, funny and fun. Clever and daring too. Super generous and extraordinarily kind. Good days or bad days, she’s always there with a listening ear and a good idea. Very importantly, a secret shared with Sylvia is a secret safe. The day I met her was a supremely lucky day but was a total twist of fate.
Are there any highlights in particular that stand out from your visits to the schools?
Every Sunday morning most of the 400 sponsored children gather together in our large Janakiraman Community Hall for a variety of activities under the leadership of our undergraduates. These happy, motivated children are from the poorest homes in the village. Under the wing of the Venkat Trust they will progress to further education and brilliant careers marking the end of poverty which has blighted their families for generations.
What would your advice be today for anyone thinking of setting up a PR agency?
PR has changed massively since our day. We were so lucky to be doing it at the time we were and free to do what we wanted in our way. PR people can take themselves seriously and be rather self-important nowadays, or so it seems. We didn’t fit into that box. Our rule was to do a good job but have a great deal of fun doing it and we made sure we didn’t work with awful clients.
As very successful, resourceful and adventurous women, could you tell us what have been the main feelings/ thoughts/ intentions that have driven you the most? What has been behind your choices and inspired you?
We both believe that life is for living and not a moment is to be wasted. Many of our very important life choices have been made on impulse (Sylvia is very guilty of this) or chance. In our professional lives we set out to do the very best possible job for our clients, work hard, be straight talking and not take things too seriously. The Venkat Trust was never part of the plan but Sylvia’s decision to set it up to bring education to an Indian village 5000 miles away was both extraordinary and at the same time, bonkers. Pure Sylvia, another example of her impulsive nature! Very few, if any, other people could have made it work. It has been the joy of her life which she has shared with hundreds of people (including Lindsay of course). Many of these have actually visited the village and have seen for themselves the difference they’ve been able to make personally.
