30th July 2008

To Bobby and Ian,

Thank you for the beginning of a wonderful journey, one that is still not finished.

In the year 2000 I only had 10 pounds in my pocket and I was living in a hostel for the homeless. I knew I had to do something to get out of the gutter I was in, so I managed to get a loan off a family member to pay for my course. This is when I met Bobby and had a life changing experience. Bobby took me in under his family’s roof and I will be forever grateful to one of life’s true champions. After I finished my course I went to London where I met Ian. Ian secured me a job on a site in Nottinghill for one of the major players and like father like son; he let me stay at his house until I found some digs. After about two months I packed it all in and went to Austria because I had fallen in love with an Austrian girl. My heart was saddened because I felt I had let Bobby and Ian down by leaving so early, after them helping me so much. However after 6 months the relationship did not work and I was back in Great Britain. For the next 5 years I worked for Select, HTC, Falcon, and City lift cutting my teeth as a Crane driver, working in what I could only describe as one of the most demanding and rewarding construction industries in the world.

After 5 years I returned to my birthplace, Australia. I was fortunate enough to get a job in the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry. Over the last three years I have operated cranes on various vessels such as Cable Layers, Dive Support doing sub sea installations and I am now currently on a FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offtake) called the Front Puffin in the Timor Sea. The cranes varied in size up to 400T.

My name is Rory Cumins; I now live on a Tropical island called Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. I own my house, I own my car, I own a Game fishing boat, I have freedom to go on holidays, I work for only 4 months of the year and get paid for 12, I have financial security and a beautiful wife and 4 children, but most of all I have happiness. What do I do, I am proud to say, A CRANE DRIVER.

Are these some of the things you would like in your life? Well congratulations because you have already taken the step to success by being on the course. Over the coming months you will experience highs and lows. Every crane driver before you, respects you for facing the challenges that lay ahead, there will be times when you want to give up, but like in a rodeo the longer you stay in the saddle, the less the horse will buck. Remember this when you maybe feeling down, WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCIEVE AND BELIEVE, THE MIND CAN ACHIEVE. We all have to start somewhere and it is usually at the bottom working our way up. In no time you will be proficient at driving a crane, Talented Drivers are made not born.

I hope through my life experiences I can inspire at least one of you to achieve the true riches in life, for it would not have been possible without Team Beveridge. So I would like to again take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to Bobby and Ian for helping me achieve success in all aspects of my life. SUCCESS IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION.

Hello Bobby and Ian,

I hope you can put this up on the wall for the trainee’s to read. I know all is going well for you both and keep up the good work.

Kind Regards

Rory J

rorycumins@gmail.com