Eddie the Eagle (centre) with Co-founders of Good Oaks Home Care, Ben Ashton (left) and Darius Mitkus.
Published: August 6, 2021 | Updated: 25th September 2021
Eddie the Eagle swoops in for Good Oaks Home Care conference
A Poole-based home care company held its first conference with a little help from infamous ski jumper Eddie the Eagle.
The Winter Olympian, who shot to fame in 1988, was the keynote speaker at the event.
Held to celebrate the hard work and achievements of the Good Oaks Home Care teams, it was the first time many of the franchisee directors had met face to face.
The team heard about the history of the company, as well as future plans.
Thery also took part in the inaugural Good Oaks Home Care Awards.
Eddie the Eagle delivered the keynote speech and had everyone laughing with his stories, advice and inspiration.
He said: “The best piece of advice I was given was by my dad.
“He said: ‘If you ever go travelling, always make friends with a chef because you’ll never go hungry. And that’s what I did.”
As for the advice he’d give others, Eddie said: “Never, give up.
“If they have seen the film that they made about my life, it really shows the resilience and tenacity and never giving up spirit that I used in order to achieve my dream of going to the Olympic Games.
“It was a dream since I was about eight years old, and I finally made that come true.”
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Dorset Community Foundation appoints Tom as Chair-Elect
Former charity Chief Executive and businessman Tom Flood is the Chair-Elect of Dorset Community Foundation.
Tom, who took over at the helm of The Conservation Volunteers during a 26-year career there, became involved with the community foundation when he set up a fund supporting young people in memory of his late partner Paul Cornes.
He will take over the role from Jeremy Mills in December and is one of four new trustees to join the community foundation since the end of last year.
Tom said: “I am enormously proud and honoured to be asked to be the Chair-Elect because my personal interest means I would like this organisation to be a real shining light of Dorset.
“With the new trustees coming in we have a great opportunity, with the calibre and the background of these people, to do that.”
Tom, pictured right with Paul, who also had a sales career with 3M, moved to Dorset in 2012 with his partner, who was a passionate advocate for young peoples’ education.
Paul Cornes was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017 and died last year.
Tom said: “Paul always told me to aim high and go for it.
“He’s the reason I’m involved and he’s the reason I will approach this with total passion and professionalism, because I couldn’t possibly let him down.”
Other changes include:
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Graduate talent trio join poultry specialist draperGROUP in Dorset
Poultry specialist draperGROUP has attacted three new graduate starters to its expanding team of staff.
Two are Bournemouth University graduates and include Charlotte Draper who joins as Marketing Manager and Fergus Kaye as IT Manager.
Harper Adams University agricultural graduate Bethany Walford is appointed as Poultry Mentor.
Charlotte Draper, Bethany Walford and Fergus Kaye.
Matt West, Managing Director, said: “As a business we are keen to continue to build and strengthen our existing team in key areas and we are delighted to welcome on board Charlotte, Fergus and Bethany.”
draperGROUP, and its eight component businesses, was founded in 1995 by Paul Draper to sell and install ventilation systems in poultry broiler and free-range layer houses throughout the country.
The company now designs, develops and installs its own unique de-humidification, heating and ventilation systems for bespoke buildings used in poultry farming.
It is based at Dorset Innovation Park near Wool.