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The toast is... “the Insurance Institute of Leicester”....words that have been said for 95 years at the annual dinner but words that we probably never pause to consider.
What does the ‘Insurance Institute of Leicester’ mean... it is certainly an organisation steeped in history and reading down the list of past presidents is like reading a synopsis of the history of the insurance industry in Leicestershire. Many firms have come and gone in this time including my own beloved Eagle Star when it closed its doors in Grey Friars some 12 years ago.
But as the saying goes, as one door closes another one opens and one opened for me with my current employment at the University of Leicester, a leap from one side of the insurance fence to another, from Insurer to client, but a leap that demonstrates that the Insurance Institute can offer industry support in many guises.
The local institutes market themselves as “National strength, local presence” .... local presence meaning that local people are at the heart of the institute and this will be my main focus for the next 12 months, ensuring that we a) sure up the local support for the Leicester Institute and b )meet the demands and needs of our members locally. To achieve this I will be undergoing a listening exercise with as many firms as I can. Please be frank and honest as to where you think the institute should be going, I think the expression is a bit of navel gazing!
We will of course continue to offer a full programme of events both educationally and socially with a few interesting twists, so keep checking your handbook and events diary.
Charity wise I am supporting the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air ambulance, something that many people think and in fact believe is there as a right, in reality it is entirely funded by donations. DLRAA provides life saving treatment and medication on site and en-route to hospital serving in excess of 1.4 million people within a response area of 2,100 square miles of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.
In addition however in financially hard times for us all I will also be spending some time raising the profile of the charity that is there for us as industry employees, Insurance Charities www.theinsurancecharities.co.uk.
I hope you will give me your support wherever you can.
Together we can have an institute to be proud of.
Sue Banbury Dip CII
President
Insurance Institute of Leicester
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