At 31 years of age, Cornell Fubler is one of Bermuda's youngest recipients of the Queen's Certificate and Badge of Honour Award.

Mr. Fubler received the award for his work with Youth Net and said it was a welcoming and unexpected surprise.

Youth Net is a charitable organisation that he, with the help of four friends, formed in 1995 to aid in mentoring children.

"When I received a call from the Governor's secretary, I thought it was a prank at first,'' he joked.

"I'm really not in it for any acknowledgement, my main concern is the youth...'' Mr. Fubler said the programme is a labour of love and he wanted to give to children the kind of guidance he missed out on as a child.

"I come from back of town, so to speak, and with that back of town upbringing I saw the need to assist the youth.'' Mr. Fubler said the need for children to be heard was something that was lacking in Bermuda's society and noted that children needed to have a strong platform to help them build healthy familial and social relationships.

"When we started the mentoring programme, we found that in these sessions some of these kids would go on for hours talking about any and everything,'' he said.

"We needed a programme that could build one on one relationships.

"I would tell them `I'm your sounding board, talk to me'.'' Mr. Fubler emphasised that he was a crusader for the betterment of Bermuda's youth and pointed out that the community needed to address many of the social ills that were present with Bermuda's youth.

"There are a wealth of problems that we are dealing with,'' he said. "A lot of these kids are considered social misfits.

"It doesn't help that Bermuda is a very materialistic society.

"They see people driving around in the fancy cars and see that every holiday people have to have a new outfit.

"The kids think they have to have it too. They see the image, but are not prepared to make the sacrifices.'' For that reason, Mr. Fubler is an advocate of children receiving a quality education, from the high school level through to the university level.

"If I had my way I would send every student off to college,'' he said.

"It would be good for them to have the exposure and to get away from 21 square miles.

"Education is the key to upward mobility and keeping students focused is our motto at Youth Net. If you can give a kid an education, you can give them the world.'' Mr. Fubler added himself as an example of someone who had faltered in school only to realise that it was the only way out of a life of struggle.

"I come from a severe deficit as far as a solid educational foundation,'' he said. "I was not an A student.

"I was just a menace in the class. I found myself acting out in the class room as an attention getter.

"I ended up being last in my class out of 24 students and that really affected me. That was a turning point for me.'' Mr. Fubler noted that none of his success with the programme would be possible if it were not for the "amazing'' support of his employers, Ernst and Young.

The company is the major sponsor of the programme and have a commitment to its future.

"Starting a charity is very hard when you need backing and support,'' he said. "Ernst and Young have been very committed... Whatever we need they provide. We literally operate out of this building.'' Mr. Fubler maintained that he would be committed for the long haul to this programme and admitted that he was appreciative of the accolades showered upon him by the Queen.

However he added: "The recognition is fine and okay, but my heart is with young people.''