Father of two handsome twins and husband to my gorgeous wife
I met Efrem many years ago when we were both out with some friends from London Architects Pringle Brandon, namely Charles Vine and David Halpenny.
So, my story... when my father become a Cavaliere (similar to a knighthood in Italy) in the summer of 1988, that was inspirational, it was in recognition for his efforts supporting numerous charitably causes in London, surrounding areas and of course, Italy.
My journey, I was diagnosed with Perthes disorder in my left hip at 13 years old.
I had a very serious car accident in August 1990 which I was very lucky to survive.
I overdosed in 1992.
All this shaped me and my approach.
In 2004 I had my long-awaited hip replacement, which literally gave me a new lease of life, I had a summer of reflection with some decent time away from the office. This was clearly my time to change, to make a difference.
Earlier endeavours were joining the AP Valceno committee in 2004, the main UK charity was Shooting Stars Chase, which I went on to witness close up in 2015/6 when a very close friend spent a long time there with his family, APV also supported numerous charities, both in London and in Italy.
I met the inspirational Peter Caldwell OBE on a flight to Nice in May 2005, Peter was an MS sufferer, we struck up a friendship there and then that only fell apart when he passed away in 2018.
I was a founder member and part of the PTC (Pink Tie Club) from its inception in 2008, until resigning in 2023 (after my 2nd term as chairman) to focus on Franchi Plc and many other business and personal commitments, the PTC lives on and is thriving, donations to charities are over £500k to date, keep up the great work lads.
It was during my 2nd stint as chairman 2022 that I reached out to StrongMen and asked Efrem if they could be one of my chosen charities for the year, of course we did, we cracked on, did a few events and raised some money and awareness in the process.
When Efrem asked me if I would be interested in joining Strongmen in late 2023 naturally, I didn’t hesitate.
I look forward to supporting strongmen and all involved in whatever capacity I can.
Marco Franchi
Trustee
