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Garenne Construction Companies

• AFM Channel Islands' Facilities Management Company 
• Camerons Jersey Building Contractor 
• Garenne Shopfitting UK Shopfitting Contractor 
• Garenne Interiors Specialists in business interior refurbishment & fit outs 
• Geomarine Channel Islands' Civil Engineering Contractor 
• Granite Le Pelley Channel Islands' Stone Company 
• Rabeys Channel Islands’ Commercial Vehicles 
• RG Falla Guernsey Building Contractor 
• Sterling Services Ltd Bespoke Architectural Precast Cladding Company 

Garenne - Proud to Bring Inspirational Speakers to Guernsey

SINCE 2003, Garenne Group has been the sponsor of the keynote speaker at Guernsey’s most prestigious awards evening.

 

Each year, it is our job to try and find a speaker who will appeal to an audience which includes people of all ages, working in all industry sectors, with a wide range of interests. This is not an easy task but it is one that we, as a proud local company, relish.

 

This year’s speaker is leading social entrepreneur Mel Young who is recognised by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and will talk about his varied experiences.

 

Mr Young, who previously worked as a journalist, co-founded The Big Issue in Scotland in 1993 which today is one of the UK’s leading social businesses and continues to offer homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income. The Big Issue company, which currently helps nearly 3,000 homeless and vulnerably housed people across the UK, is made up of two parts; a limited company which produces and distributes a magazine to a network of street vendors, and a registered charity which exists to help those vendors gain control of their lives by addressing the issues which have contributed to their homelessness.

 

Mr Young also co-founded Senscot (Social Entrepreneurs Network Scotland), is a former President and Honorary President of INSP (International Network of Street Papers), set up City Lynx magazine and New Consumer Magazine and worked on a community newspaper in Wester Hailes in Edinburgh in the 1990’s. He is a Non-Executive Director on two boards – Sport Scotland and Glasgow Culture and Sport and is a member of the World Economic Forum Sports Agenda Council.                                                                                 

                                                                                                         

Currently Mr Young is President and CEO of the Homeless World Cup, which he co-founded in 2003. The Homeless World Cup is a world-class, annual, international football tournament that uses football as a catalyst to encourage people who are homeless to change their lives and to change the attitudes of governments, media, public and key influencers to create better solutions to homelessness around the world.

 

It has triggered and supports grass-roots football programmes in over 70 nations engaging 30,000 homeless players  and is supported by UEFA, Nike, Vodafone Group Foundation, Global Ambassador Eric Cantona and international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.

 

Mr Young is by no means extraordinary when compared to other speakers we have had over the last nine years.

 

We started with athlete and TV presenter Steve Cram who set world records in 1,500m, 2,000m and the mile in 19 days in 1985 and remains the UK record holder for those distances. He was the first man to run 1,500m in under three minutes and 30 seconds and is a popular athletics commentator.

 

He was followed in 2003 by British sociologist Laurie Taylor with former Royal Marine and British yachtsman Peter Goss MBE taking to the stage the following year. Innovator Richard Seymour who has designed everything from kettles and helicopters to bras and spaceships entertained the audience in 2005 with his tales and the following year four times Olympic medallist Lord Sebastian Coe, a contemporary of our first speaker Steve Cram, talked about his life as an athlete and a politician.

 

Labour politician and former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer talk in 2007 was in complete contrast to the 2008 speaker Tim Smit. The man behind the Lost Gardens of Heligon and the Eden Project used some rather choice words in his speech which had the audience laughing on a number of occasions.

 

Last year saw best selling author Frances Edmond show the audience why she was named by The Times as the most entertaining female after-dinner speaker.

 

 I’m confident that Mr Young will provide the audience with a thought-provoking insight into his life helping those less fortunate. He is a fascinating man who has achieved so much, it is fitting that he address the 25^th Awards for Achievement which recognises some of the island’s most successful companies for their hard work and determination.

 

The Garenne Group wishes everyone who attends on 3^rd February a very enjoyable evening and good luck to all the short-listed companies.

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