| | | | Awareness Week 2019 - A big thank you from The Insurance Charities
This year was our biggest Awareness Week yet thanks to our fantastic network of supporters. We reached over 78,000 insurance employees via the campaign - that’s 2,000 more than last year. We distributed over 500 boxes and 200 bags of giveaways and hope you all enjoyed these with your colleagues if you placed an order.
It was fantastic to see so many of you posting on social media throughout the week and for us to hear about the activities you organised in your offices such as cake sales and fancy-dress days. Your photos were great so thank you for sharing those with us.
All your efforts have helped to raise the profile of the support we can offer, but we ask that you continue to spread the word among your colleagues and HR teams.
Finally, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank Harry Specters for supplying the chocolate for our packs this year. If you’re not familiar with this fantastic social enterprise, we urge you read their story and consider them when ordering any of your corporate giveaways.
We’re looking forward to Awareness Week 2020 and reaching even more industry people in need of our help.
Charities join forces to support those living with dementia
We have joined forces with the Alzheimer’s Society’s Insurance United Against Dementia (IUAD) campaign to create a bespoke support service for people affected by dementia in the insurance industry.
During Awareness Week we held a reception at the historical MCC Museum at Lord’s cricket ground, where guests from across the industry gathered to hear about our work and our recently launched partnership with the UK’s leading dementia charity.
The event, which also took place during The ICC Cricket World Cup, included a speech and tour by Angus Fraser MBE, a former English cricketer and well-known journalist and sports commentator.
Anyone in the industry living with dementia, or who has a loved one diagnosed with the illness, can now contact us directly, where we will refer them to a dedicated adviser at the Alzheimer’s Society to provide help that’s right for them. This could be emotional or legal support on the phone, through to connecting them with a local dementia support worker.
An innovative pilot initiative in the Birmingham region has also been created to provide meaningful volunteering roles, that offer the sector the opportunity to give back to their local communities. Volunteering can take place on weekdays, evenings or during weekends, by phone or face-to-face. If you have offices in the Birmingham area do share details with them about this fantastic opportunity.
The Insurance Charities hits the road
Over the past few months we have enjoyed getting out and about, catching up with familiar faces and forging new contacts across the country.
In May we travelled north for the BIBA Conference in Manchester. It was a great few days and we were privileged to be able to sit in on some of the sessions that included speakers such as Boris Johnson, Professor Green, Freddie Flintoff and the BBC’s, Huw Edwards. Themes such a mental health took centre stage this year – an important topic and something we spoke about recently in Insurance Age.
Next we travelled up to Harrogate for the three-day AIRMIC Conference at the Convention Centre. Once again it was great to meet some new faces and let people know about the work of the charity.
Finally, staying nearer to our home in The City, we were delighted to attend the one-day MGAA Conference at the start of July. Delegates were able to hear about us as part of the Time to talk about….. mental health session and we thank MGAA for this opportunity for us to feed into the agenda. | | | Annual golf day - book your place today
This year’s annual golf day will, for the first time, take place at The Warwickshire Golf & Country Club in Leek Wootton on Wednesday 11 September.
The 18-hole championship course has great views to take in on your round, as well as wide fairways, large undulating greens, and plenty of lakes and water hazards to challenge you!
This is always fantastic day and provides the chance to network with colleagues from across the insurance sector and support your industry’s charity. If you have not yet reserved your place at this popular event you can find out more and book here.
If you are interested in donating a raffle prize or sponsoring an element of the event then please get in touch.
| | | | We're recruiting - could you volunteer for The Insurance Charities?
The role of The Insurance Charities Representative, also known as a Visitor, is to visit applicants requesting help from the the Charity in their local Insurance Institute area in the UK and Ireland.
We are looking for CII member volunteers with a sympathetic and supportive attitude, good organisational skills and the ability to write accurate and concise reports in the following geographical areas: - Swindon
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Mid Kent
- Inverness, the Highlands and Islands
- Chelmsford and South Essex.
A visitor is usually appointed for a year and key responsibilities include: - Carrying out visits annually or as and when required to individuals in their homes.
- Verifying information supplied by the beneficiary or individual applying for support.
- Providing a written and detailed confidential report post meeting to the Charity.
If you would like to discuss these opportunities in more detail, then please call us on 020 7606 3163 for an informal chat.
We're supporting the One Day Changes Lives campaign
We will be participating in the Association of Charitable Organisation’s (ACO) One Day Changes Lives campaign, to publicise the cumulative impact of charitable organisations like ourselves, on a single day.
The day’s aim is to highlight the roles played by the individual member organisations and the impact they make. The individual acts of benevolence may be relatively small in themselves, but they can make big changes to the lives of recipients. On an individual basis they may not attract attention beyond the immediate parties involved.Together, though, they have a real societal impact and will highlight the continuing need for the work of benevolent organisations like The Insurance Charities, and the many ways help is provided.
The outputs and actions from the day will form part of a wider report to be presented to Ministers, MPs and policy groups at a planned launch event in Parliament.
To support this campaign we are now looking for examples which demonstrate the difference we have been able to make. Some of these stories will be from people you know and who have been helped by us so that they can continue to contribute to the industry, even when their home situation is so difficult.
Look out for the campaign in October and help spread the word about how we can support past and present insurance colleagues.
If you yourself have received support from us, and would be happy to share your story then please get in touch to discuss.
| | | | How we support our beneficiaries - the year in numbers
We gave out 836 awards totalling over £1.7 million to insurance employees and their families in the 2018/9 financial year. We’ve created two new infographics to highlight just some of the ways we’ve helped people and show where that money has gone.
We have a UK and Ireland version so please take a look, and of course share with others when you’re explaining to them about the work of The Insurance Charities. | | | | Missed our online supporter toolkit?
We issued an online Supporter Toolkit ahead of Awareness Week, but if you missed it don’t worry. There are still resources you can use throughout they year in your offices and with your membership organisations to help raise awareness. We have an: - an A4 poster to download and print.
- a link to our video to share on your website or social media channels.
- a short article about The Insurance Charities to circulate where appropriate.
| | | | Insurance Endurance - register now for 2020!
On 25 June, the crème de la crème of the insurance industry battled the elements at Insurance Endurance 2019, which saw 15 teams compete in a six hour endurance karting race at Kart PFI Racetrack near Grantham, the UK’s largest outdoor karting circuit. More than a great day out and networking opportunity, Insurance Endurance 2019 helped raise funds for The Insurance Charities, which we are extremely grateful for. In addition to online donations from NCI Insurance and Auto Logistic Solutions Ltd, generous raffle donations on the day raised a combined total of £549.67 for our charity so thank you to all involved. Insurance Endurance will return to Kart PFI Racetrack next year on 23 June 2020 with registration now open. With any companies or individuals working in or around the UK insurance market eligible, anybody who registers their interest by Thursday 18 July will be automatically entered into a prize draw to win a track day for two at Kart PFI Racetrack. You can register your interest for next year’s event, or find out more here. | | | | | | | | | |
