In the end though, the prospect of being away from home for long periods at such a young age proved insurmountable and set the path, almost 30 years ago, to where he is today.

Along the way, he had a stint in banking before joining Colliers Commercial Real Estate around 27 years ago. As well as being Colliers state chief executive, he is also the president of the Australian Property Institute.

It is seen by many as a given when you work in a commercial enterprise, such as real estate, that you are involved in the community, but Paul goes well beyond those expectations.

He says he is prepared to listen to any good idea when it comes to helping out.

In fact, Paul has emerged as one of Canberra’s “go-to” people when charities need help. He has the ability to tap into almost any sphere of our community with little pretension and enormous success.

He is also heading into his fourth year on the board of the Raiders. With Paul, Terry Weber, Dennis Richardson, John Mackay and Alan Hawke, the board has developed into one of the most formidable in Canberra.

He says with a stable dynamic board the hope is that Ricky Stuart will be a long-term coach of the Raiders.

Given his passion for sport, growing up in Young and then in Canberra, it comes as no surprise that his next challenge is the Olympics.

As the newly appointed chair of the ACT Olympic Council’s fundraising committee Paul has set himself a lofty target as part of the campaign to send the Australian team to Rio.

The Australian Olympic Committee needs to raise $20 million to send the team of 500-plus athletes to Rio; $12 million through sponsors and $8 million through fund-raising.

As the chair of the Canberra fund-raising effort, Paul has set himself a goal of raising between $500,000 and $1 million between now and August next year.

He says the Sydney Olympics gave him an insight into what the Olympics means to the community, the high involvement of volunteers and the sense of positivity created by the Games.

To raise $1 million in less than 12 months in Canberra is not an easy task.

He wants to be a conduit between the Olympic movement and the business community, but it’s not just about big business.

To engage the human element, he is seeking to involve Olympians past and present in his fund raising.

If anybody is capable of uniting the Canberra community in raising such a large amount of money, it’s Paul Powderly.