News People & Society
If you have any newsworthy items for these pages please email social@theactuary.com
Inter-esting tournament By Mark Gorman
On a beautiful sunny day in August, the SIAS 2013 five-a-side tournament took place at Goals Wimbledon. With pitches booked, referees in place and an enthusiastic group of the actuarial community kitted up and ready to go, hopes were high for a successful tournament. The event was split into group stages and then a knock-out competition. The group stages kicked off at a frenzied pace, with all teams keen to get a good start. Following this, a gulf began to emerge in class, ability and fitness between the different teams – with the author in particular displaying very few of these much-needed characteristics! The knock-out competition followed after a much-needed rest period. The pace of this competition was notably more pedestrian as the
effects of the sun, fatigue and the previous night’s escapades came to the fore. That did not, however, detract from the quality of some of the football played. The four teams making it through to the semi-finals were PSG (Punter Southall), P-Dubz (PwC), Inter Greats (PwC) and RSA. Inter Greats and P-Dubz prevailed in what were hotly contested games, both winning by a single goal. The all-PWC final saw some skilful football played, with neither team willing to play in a defensive style – pleasing the onlookers. It was a tight game too, but Inter Greats closed out a much deserved 3-2 victory – living up to their team name. Many thanks to all the players and Goals Wimbledon for making the day such a success.
Coasting to victory Walk raises £35,000
GAD donations make a difference By Demot Grenham As well as providing actuarial advice to the Rwandan Social Security Board (RSSB), the staff at the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) have recently donated clothing to the University Central Hospital of Kigali and to an orphanage in Burundi. The children at the orphanage study for UK GSCEs at the King’s School, Burundi, and about a quarter go on to study A-levels. This is particularly impressive given that English is not widely spoken in Burundi. The initiative came from RSSB actuary Laura Llewellyn-Jones (pictured with staff from the hospital), who asked Dermot Grenham and Joanne McDaid from GAD if they could bring an extra suitcase or two of clothes donated by GAD staff on their next trip. Having seen the poverty in Rwanda, and knowing about the situation in Burundi, they were very happy to help out. For details of the King’s School please visit: bit.ly/1atrEHU For details of the Burundi project, see bit.ly/19QLqvV
14
Charles Cowling, master of the Worshipful Company of Actuaries, and a group of friends and fellow actuaries successfully completed a charity walk from Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire to St Bees on the Cumbrian Coast. They finished the coast-to-coast walk made famous by Alfred Wainwright – albeit in the opposite direction to the traditional west-to east route. All in all, 15 walkers, varying in age from 11 to 69, completed the full two weeks with another 62 actuaries and friends joining the walk for one or more stages, all raising money for a number of very deserving charities. In particular, nearly 40 colleagues from JLT joined Charles for two challenging stages – and some excellent team-building – in Yorkshire and Cumbria. In between dramatic cliff walks at both Robin Hood’s Bay and St Bees, the intrepid actuaries enjoyed the delights of the Little Beck Wood Nature Reserve, the wild remoteness of the North York Moors, the demanding Cleveland Hills, the lovely Swaledale valley, the boggy Nine Standards Rigg over the Pennines and the spectacular views offered by a number of Lakeland peaks. Kidsty Pike, Helvellyn (with the precipitous Striding Edge) and Haystacks, as well as the beauty of Haweswater, Ullswater and Ennerdale Water
and the ‘secret valley’ of Nannycatch were also on route. Other delights included the steam trains on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and Settle-Carlisle Line, a chocolate factory, a slate mine, beautiful churches and castles, as well as numerous excellent pubs and hostelries, where many fine pints of ale were consumed. No actuaries were injured or lost (permanently) during the walk, although some were attacked by an aggressive herd of cows and bullocks at one point, and several managed to go astray at various times during the two weeks – the benefits of GPS technology were particularly welcome on one summit as the clouds descended and all visibility was lost. In general, the weather was excellent and the walkers had just one day affected by rain – and a couple of hours of drizzle. After two weeks walking nearly 200 miles, climbing the equivalent height of Everest in the process, the party arrived at its final destination. With a mixture of emotions, pebbles that had been carried faithfully across England from Robin Hood’s Bay were tossed into the sea at St Bees and the party adjourned for champagne celebrations. A great adventure had been completed, friendships made and cemented and, best of all, £35,000 raised for some excellent causes.
THE ACTUARY • November 2013 www.theactuary.com
p14-15_nov_people_news_1•CT.indd 14
28/10/2013 14:03
