Nathan Farrugia, who has become the face of Inspire Foundation, will be stepping down from his role as chief executive after dedicating 14 years to strengthening the services offered to disabled people.

Today Mr Farrugia, who is also a renowned athlete, will be passing the baton to Antonello Gauci, chief operations’ officer of the foundation, which offers education and therapy to people with disabilities.

“The cause is very dear to me and I want to continue to give to it,” Mr Farrugia said adding that he will remain involved as the president of the Board of Trustees.

The cause is very dear to me

“There is still a lot to be done to ensure that people with different abilities are given their deserved standing within an inclusive society, and this must continue through Inspire’s dedicated trus-tees and competent management team, dedicated tutors, therapists and support team,” he said as he reflected on the way his journey started 16 years ago – in his physiotherapy clinic.

One of his patients was one of the trustees of Ir-Razzett tal-Ħbiberija, a leisure centre for disabled people, who was often stressed because he had problems raising funds.

One day Mr Farrugia went over to see the place and was blown away by the set-up – but it was empty. He put forward some ideas, which included changing it into a rehabilitation centre and drawing up a business plan. He was then asked to implement his ideas. So he quit his job and took the plunge.

Some years later, as he was speaking to someone from the Eden Foundation, also a leisure centre, it became clear to him that there would be much more value added if the two organisations teamed up.

In 2009 Ir-Razzett tal-Ħbiberija and Eden Foundation merged and Inspire Foundation was born. It is now a leading non-profit provider of health, education and leisure services to over 1,000 families and requires an annual fundraising effort of €3 million to keep its services free of charge or greatly subsidised.

“Over these years my role changed and it needs solid management and leadership in running the organisation which is not my forte. I am better at the creative side of things. The dreamer,” he said adding that, after 14 years, he also felt the need for a change.

He plans to start his own consultancy in business and personal development – but nothing is mapped out yet. What is sure is that he will keep supporting Inspire and his successor.

Mr Gauci, 43, joined the team six years ago – after giving up an 18-year corporate career to follow his passion for helping others.

It was that same passion that prompted him to get involved in the organisation of various philanthropic and sportive events. He is a trustee of The Alfred Mizzi Foundation, a founding member of The Ladybird Foundation and he has also chaired the Voices committee for the past eight years.

As the head of Inspire he says he will strive to achieve continuity, sustainability and contin-uous improvement.

“Our mission statement is that we believe that everyone has the right to equality and inclusion and this is what we need to achieve together with our team,” he said.

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