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Nathan Farrugia started 2009 with two tough challenges: giving direction to the new foundation, created after Razzett tal-Hbiberija and the Eden Foundation joined forces, and training for the gruelling Ironman race. He tells Ariadne Massa that if your focus is clear, the goals are in sight.

When Nathan Farrugia was two years old, he suffered his first severe asthma attack. As his father held him and blew into his mouth, his mother got behind the wheel without a licence and made a mad dash to hospital.

Medics gave his parents two alternatives: either move out of Malta, because dust was the main trigger, or enrol their son in sports activities to strengthen his lungs.

Luckily, his parents were both keen on sport - his mother, in her 60s, still goes to the gym six times a week - and they were always outdoors with their four children, who all suffer from asthma, playing Frisbee, kicking a ball or climbing trees.

They instilled in their eldest son the value of believing in himself for the right reasons; to move beyond the 'disability' to achieve his goals. That spirit has been the driving force behind the way he tackles challenges and lives his life.

The little boy who suffered an asthma attack going up the stairs, went on to become one of Malta's top basketball players, earning medals on the international court, and top scorer titles... with a little help from his faithful inhaler.

Four years ago, he disposed of his inhaler, a mental and physical challenge he embarked upon before he took on the Malta half-marathon. He went from relying on his Ventolin before any sport, to adopting particular training techniques that helped him abolish the inhaler from his life.

Settling back in a chair in the bare boardroom of Eden's premises in Bulebel, it is not hard to grasp how Mr Farrugia has transferred the techniques and team spirit from the pitch to the boardroom.

At 35, he has been entrusted with the delicate mission of leading two of Malta's most established charities - Eden Foundation and Razzett tal-Hbiberija - towards a unified foundation that provides its users with a more holistic service.

The initial idea was to merge and an agreement was signed at the beginning of December. Finally, it was decided that the two entities create a new foundation, which started operating on January 1, with Mr Farrugia appointed as CEO and one of the trustees.

Razzett and Eden will only continue to exist on paper in a folder in an office. They will be holding companies, not operational.

The new foundation, which to date remains nameless until they agree on a name, is made up of four members from either side who form the board of trustees.

"Our aim is to forget we are four and four, and become one - it's crucial for the success of the organisation. Let's forget we are separate and focus on becoming one," he stresses.

Dressed in a striped, cuffed shirt paired with jeans and brown suede loafers, Mr Farrugia is keen to transmit the hands-on managerial style. He shuttles between Bulebel and his office at Razzett, in Marsascala.

"The idea is to go where the people are. I encourage my management team to do the same," he adds.

The idea for the two charities to join forces stemmed from an informal chat between Mr Farrugia and Philip Rizzo, Eden's board of trustees executive secretary, last summer.

They were discussing ways of strengthening the partnership between the two, and "I think we both realised some of the things we were doing - the way we were competing - were silly."

He points out that Razzett had built a strong case for government funding and this money would only have had to come out of what was given to Eden.

"We had slowly built a case. Razzett needed the funds, but not at anybody's expense, but it looked like that's what would have happened. So we thought, how could we make the best use of this money and use of the goodwill of the two charities, so that rather than asking donors to choose between us, they could give it to one, with the assurance that it would be used well."

So this seedling began to take root and despite tough opposition from Eden's founder Josie Muscat, a parents' association and the split within Eden's board of trustees, an agreement was finally reached.

"I think the feedback has been positive so far. The ups and downs Eden faced in getting this through is water under the bridge and everyone is looking forward to what this move means, in particular the therapists and tutors," Mr Farrugia says.

The resistance to change from parents, who feared the new foundation would jeopardise their children's therapy, seems to have abated.

"I think if you had to look into it, they were not really against the move; it was insecurity. Introspectively, I feel it was our fault for not communicating more clearly to the parents on how this would work to enhance the service their children received. Had we done that properly we would not have faced that problem," he says.

The new foundation has written to all the parents - Eden and Razzett have 350 common users - explaining exactly how the process would work. Special forums are being setting up for parents to discuss with therapists and air their views on how services can be improved.

Mr Farrugia has drawn up a 100-day plan for the trustees and everybody is on board.

With no downsizing on the cards, the team is hoping to allay anyone's fear of change through a transparent strategy with clear objectives and regular communication.

An online forum has already been set up allowing staff to log on and follow any decision that has been taken after board meetings.

Once the plan becomes fully operational, clients will have access to a wider range of services that are being provided in a synchronised, rather than disjointed, way, while parents will have one reference point.

"I think what's important is that the people from both organisations forget where they came from and look forward. Parents, beneficiaries, corporate sponsors and the public should not look at the baggage of this organisation, but what it's looking forward to achieve."

In the past, the two charities were competitive when it came to fundraising, so the first thing Mr Farrugia did was bring the teams of both sides together to establish a common front, working within the same office.

"We bring different strengths to the table. There are economic reasons behind this venture and we will pass this on to the end user," he points out.

Mr Farrugia is tapping into the experience he has gained through a two-year stint working with Aspire, a UK-based charity for spinal injuries, which roped him in to help invest a substantial windfall it received from a benefactor. He was also entrusted with fund-raising and marketing.

He feels the attitude of public donations in the UK as better, especially with the culture of monthly donations, even though Malta surpassed the amount raised per capita.

In Malta, voluntary organisations raised funds on an ad hoc basis, and Mr Farrugia believes this had to change and people needed to feel their money was being used well.

Organisations need to up their ante, in the way they pitch their campaigns and project plans, manage funding and report back, so as to separate the good from the bad charities.

While he believes the setting up of the Commission for Voluntary Organisations will help to achieve this in principle, in practice it is harder, and the focus should be on self-regulation.

"Let's face it. Once you have a registered charity, all you have to do is show your statute and then produce audited accounts at the end of the year to raise funds. If I want to spend money on a fancy office, it will not show up on the audit. It's impossible for the commission to regulate this and it's not its job. Self-regulation is crucial and people who are giving need to be more demanding," he adds.

Mr Farrugia lives by the gruelling demands he expects from others and in between important meetings and quality time with his family - wife Deidre, who was one of Malta's top sprinters, and two girls, Robin, 4, and Kyra, 2 - he slots in his daily training sessions for his quest to raise funds by taking part in Austria's punishing Ironman race in July.

Renowned for being the toughest event in the world, the race consists of a 3.8km swim, a 180km cycle and a full marathon. He has to train for 20 hours a week, but he has never shied away from challenges.

"I looked for the toughest thing out there because I need to be challenged. You can't mess with an Ironman. You really have to prepare yourself. For me the challenge is not the race, but fitting in so many hours of training hours a week."

When his body is about to falter he keeps going - he's not a quitter. He refuses to let the people who sponsored him, or the charity he is raising money for, down.

He points out that there are nine other Maltese seasoned triathletes taking part in the same race. His challenge is to do Ironman within a year.

"Triathlon is very inspiring and it combines the physical and mental elements of most sports, and forces you to use every single muscle in your body. You have to study and learn three separate techniques and you have to be very clever in balancing out your weaknesses."

So what are his weaknesses?

"All of them," he says, throwing his head back in laughter.

"The bad thing is that when you train with triathletes who have been doing this for a long time, everything looks bad. At times, I worry about how I am going to manage if these people are struggling."

He admits it was purely coincidence that he started 2009 with two tough challenges - giving direction to a new foundation and training for Ironman.

He is using the long hours of training to dwell on his strategies: "When you're cycling for five hours you have a lot of time to think. There's no phone, nobody to disturb you and it's nice and quiet and you can think about the organisational structure."

He downloads inspirational, philosophical podcasts, sticks them in his iPod and lets his mind roam, while his body works. His goals are clear for both his work and sport challenges.

"When you get to the point where if you're running your legs stop working, if you're swimming your arms feel like lead, and where you're trying to get an organisation to sign a new statute and face obstacles, if you remember the 'why' behind it all, then you can sail through anything."

Sport has always been Mr Farrugia's means of holding on to sanity and personal growth. He believes he has acquired more in terms of leadership skills than physical prowess.

So who inspires him in all this?

"I think it has to be the parents of people with a disability. In such adversity they have a choice: either to moan or cope. And that's what they do, they cope and get on with it," he says, reflecting on the people who have touched his life.

"I'm inspired by people who accept their fate and get on with it; people who have fought against adversity and managed. I don't have role models, except for my parents who have taught me the right values - respect for others and believing in myself for the right reasons."