French energy company EDF were given 71 places on the Olympic torch relay – including the group’s former director of HR and communications, Yann Laroche.
As part of our process of trying to identify how spaces were allocated by sponsors, we’re looking to list them all. Of those nomination stories made public, we can find 19 who mention the company or have been identified elsewhere – listed below.
Most have inspiring tales of volunteering, fundraising, sporting achievement – or all three. They include John Saunders, who publishes a blog about life with motor neurone disease, and Anshul Sharma, who was nominated twice. Do you know who the other 52 are?
name | Name | story | Hometown | Age | Location | Date | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yann Laroche | Yann Laroche | Yann Laroche, HR and Communications Director of the EDF Group until 2008, has been a major contributor to EDF’s partnership with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He initiated the spread of the Olympic values within the company as a tool to building of the EDF Group. Yann pushed for EDF to become a Sustainability Partner and therefore inspired many of the Sustainability projects linked to the Games for EDF. Yann has a particularly generous personality that embodies the values of the Group and the Olympics and has worked to develop the human dimension of EDF. He is also an avid runner… who would make a perfect torchbearer! | Paris | 67 | The London Borough of Croydon | 23-07 | |
Gerard Masson Masson | Gerard Masson Masson | In 1966, Gerard was the victim of a car accident that left him paraplegic for life. As a former world Paralympic table tennis medallist, he has been involved in paralympic sports for over 30 years. Gerard is the current President of the French Federation of Disability Sport (FFH) and of the French Paralympic Comity (NPC). He was also an adviser to the EDF President on the issue of accessibility to buildings and improving working conditions for individuals with disabilities. He leads a daily struggle to ensure equality for disabled and able-bodied individuals in terms of living and sports conditions. | Jonzac | 64 | The London Borough of Croydon | 23-07 | |
Mustafa Javadi | Mustafa Javadi | Dr Mustafa Javadi is an inspiration to everyone who knows him. Mustafa grew up in pre-revolutionary Iran and was forced to flee the country in 1979 when the Ayatollah came to power. Mustafa took this in his stride and studied Physics at Birmingham University, eventually obtaining a Doctorate. This is pretty amazing in itself, however Mustafa also had to simultaneously learn English, often recording lectures so he could translate them before commencing his studies. Now a fully fledged Doctor and armed with his new acquired British citizenship, Mustafa joined the UK nuclear industry in the 1980s and worked his way up the ladder, via various power stations across the country, to his current position as the head of Nuclear Safety at Sizewell B Power Station. This alone shows how driven Mustafa is, but there`s more! He also undertakes various challenges for charity and over the past 3-4 years alone (bearing in mind he is 61 now!) has completed four marathons for charity, cycled from Suffolk to Cardiff, ran umpteen shorter local half-marathons. He also completed John-o-Groats to Lands End cycle ride, 950 miles in 9 days collecting more than £5000 sponsorship for EDF Paralympics GB. Mustafa has been doing charity work since he was 22. I`ve known Mustafa for nearly 20 years now and he has always encouraged me to further myself, both in the nuclear industry and in everyday life. I have only scraped the surface as far as Mustafa`s achievements; however, I truly believe that Mustafa would make a fine candidate to be an Olympic torchbearer. | Hacheston | 62 | Woodbridge | 05-07 | |
Francoise “Derouineau, Ép.valle” | Francoise “Derouineau, Ép.valle” | Francoise volunteers with the “”Women Force”” ? a national association that has been battling for more than 45 years against the discrimination of women in the workplace. She runs workshops and provides information on job offers in the Aquitaine region. Francoise helps women who create jobs to set up their website in order to facilitate communications. In addition to her job in procurement, she has recently been entrusted with mentoring Damien Tokatlian ( EDF Group employee, member of the Team EDF and world champion in disabled fencing), This mission will allow her to build a system of individual assistance with Damien, increase his knowledge of purchases and optimise his training / competition constraints. Francoise is an important contact for Damien within the division and she strongly believes that this could help him to avoid feeling isolated and provide him with the confidence of a winner during his participation in the 2012 Paralympic Games. | Merignac | 56 | Maidenhead | 10-07 | |
Andy Lloyd | Andy Lloyd | Andy Lloyd is the inspirational organiser of the Edf Energy Plymouth Charity Golf Day, held each May in memory of Chris White, a Plymouth employee who tragically died from cancer at a young age in 2005. Andy’s hard work, determination and infectious personality encourages participation and generous contributions from many business partners and colleagues. In fact, the event has raised the incredible sum of over £96,000 over the seven years in which it has taken place, and Andy is already planning the next one. Months of hard work go on behind the scenes to make the day run smoothly. All the money goes to support St Lukes Hospice, where Chris had been cared for so well during his illness. Without Andy’s desire to make it work, and his ability to enlist support, this wonderful success story simply would not have happened. | Plymouth | 55 | Saltash | 19-05 | |
Lebon Patrick | Lebon Patrick | LEBON means the good in French. Indeed, Patrick is fundamentally a good person. At 54 years old Patrick has been involved in the EDF Partnership during most of his professional career. The objective of his work is to provide customers with energy saving initiatives through projects set up in collaboration with EDF’s partners. Patrick is passionate about sport, especially football |