April 21st, 2021 | NEWS
The Belfast and US based charity Sport Changes Life has appointed worldwide asset recovery expert Aidan Larkin to its Board of Directors.
Born and raised in Belfast, Aidan is an international consultant and lecturer who founded the global business, Asset Reality, managing and selling seized assets around the world. He ran the world’s first seized Bitcoin auction and is regarded as a subject matter expert helping governments globally deal with complex assets such as cryptocurrency.
He believes in ‘making crime pay for society’ and has a successful track record in delivering many international anti-corruption initiatives and projects returning monies raised from the sale of seized criminal assets to fund good causes as well as consulting on behalf of the United Nations world-wide.
Speaking on his appointment to Sport Changes Life, Aidan said he believed it was a privilege to share with young people today his experience as a young man going to the USA on one of the early outreach projects and the impact that had on his confidence and perspective to see no barriers to his ability to grow a global business.
“Not only do I hope my story will connect with our young people, but I also want to bring my corporate experience to bear in helping the Charity realise the funding it needs to bring bigger and better projects on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Welcoming Aidan to the Board, Chief Executive Gareth Maguire said.
“Helping empower young people from disadvantaged communities to find the path to a brighter future is something that Aidan is extremely passionate about and is one of the reasons why the team at Sport Changes Life are really looking forward to working with him.
“In fact, our eHoops programme was one of the first projects that we implemented in Northern Ireland because of funding we got from the Department of Justice and the PSNI, using the proceeds from seized criminal assets to help change the lives of young people. Therefore, it is fantastic that someone with Aidan’s experience is joining the Board.
“We’ve been established for over a decade now using sporting excellence, academic achievement and personal development to deliver a number of youth engagement programmes across the island. Whilst current lockdown restrictions have been challenging, now, more than ever we see a greater need to improve the lives of young at-risk youth and look forward to rolling out several exciting new initiatives, over the coming year”, said Gareth.
Aidan joins a very distinguished Board of Directors, chaired by medical entrepreneur Dr Suresh Tharma with members from Ireland, Great Britain, and the United States.
