RIAS Employees Give Cancer Research UK Their Vote

(PRWEB UK) 26 May 2011

Employees at specialist over 50s insurance provider RIAS have overwhelmingly voted to support Cancer Research UK as their 2011 Employee Charity of the Year, with an ambitious fundraising target of £20,000.

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research. Through its work, millions of lives have been saved by discovering new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. The charity’s critical work, funded entirely by the public, will help ensure that millions more people survive.

RIAS’ 1200 employees will be taking part in a number of challenges planned for 2011, including a sky dive, football tournament, and Cancer Research UK’s annual Race for Life. The programme also includes a ‘Wellbeing Week’, starting on Monday 30 May, encouraging employees to embrace healthy lifestyles, as well as increasing employee awareness of cancer and the importance of regularly checking for any potential early signs and symptoms.

In 2010 RIAS employees donated £24,000 to Macmillan Cancer Support after taking part in a number of fundraising events such as marathons, bike rides, abseils, a fashion show and numerous cake sales. The funds raised could pay for a Macmillan Cancer Nurse Specialist for just over six months or fund, on average, 75 Macmillan grants for people affected by cancer, helping with everything from heating costs at home, to the costs of travelling to hospital, wigs and clothes.

Janet Connor, Managing Director at RIAS said: “Cancer Research UK clearly is a cause close to the hearts of our employees, and already this year the support for it as the 2011 RIAS Employee Charity of the Year has been phenomenal. Unfortunately some of our million customers, our employees and their family members may at some stage be affected by cancer, so getting behind such a worthwhile charity with our proven commitment and enthusiasm is an important part of what makes our employees proud to work at RIAS, and to make a difference.”

Maria Gomez, Area Volunteer Manager, at Cancer Research UK commented: “We are thrilled that RIAS employees have chosen to support Cancer Research UK this year. As we are funded entirely by the public, partnerships with local companies and their employees are extremely important to us. With more than one in three of us predicted to suffer from cancer during our lifetimes, Cancer Research UK’s vital work will help to ensure that millions more people survive. We’re looking forward to seeing all the wonderful ways RIAS employees will be generously fundraising throughout the year.”

To find out more about RIAS’ 2011 Employee Charity of the Year programme, visit http://www.rias.co.uk, or to make a donation visit http://www.justgiving.com/RIAS-where-insurance-gets-better-with-age. More information about Cancer Research UK can be found at http://www.cancerresearchuk.org.

For further information, please contact: Lucy Pope, Consumer Communications Manager at RIAS on 01202 254445 or email lpope(at)rias(dot)co.uk
Alternatively, contact Blair Catchpole, Consumer Communications Executive on 01202 254489 or email blair.catchpole(at)ageas(dot)co.uk

About RIAS
RIAS was established in 1992 and is a specialist award-winning provider of insurance products for the over 50s age group.

Part of Ageas (Insurance UK) Limited, RIAS has over a million motor, home and travel insurance customers and employs over 1,100 people across two UK sites. RIAS negotiates with a panel of insurers to secure competitive, value for money products.

Ageas (formerly Fortis UK) is a leading provider of award-winning Personal, Commercial and Protection insurance solutions in the UK. Ageas UK distributes both its non-life and life products through a range of channels including brokers, IFAs, intermediaries, affinity partners and the Internet, as well as through its retail strategy via its wholly or partially-owned companies (RIAS, Ageas Insurance Solutions, Kwik-Fit Insurance Services, Text2Insure and InsureTech Systems).

Insuring in the region of 7.6 million customers and working with a range of partners, Ageas is recognised for delivering consistent and high-quality customer experiences. It employs almost 4,000 people with a head office based in Eastleigh and others based in Belfast, Bournemouth, Gloucester, Haywards Heath, London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Redditch, Reigate and Stoke-on-Trent.

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