Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland Celebrates Milestone of €250m Given to Good Causes with Charity & Business Partners
Event at the Royal Irish Academy of Music highlights the impact of Ecclesiastical and Benefact Group’s charity-owned business model.
Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland brought together charity and business partners at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin to celebrate a major milestone – €250 million given to good causes across Ireland and the UK.
The event celebrated the customers, brokers and business partners who have helped make the milestone possible, while providing an opportunity to hear first-hand from Irish charities about the impact the giving is having in communities across the country.
Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland is a specialist insurer working across the charity, faith, education, heritage, arts and culture sectors. It is part of the Benefact Group, a charity-owned international family of financial services companies that gives all its available profits to good causes.
Speaking at the event, David Lane, Managing Director of Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland, said:
“Reaching €250 million in giving to good causes is something we are incredibly proud of, but it is an achievement that has only been possible because of the people and organisations we work with every day.
“Our customers, brokers and business partners all play a part in enabling us to give back. Bringing everyone together was an opportunity to say thank you, but also to hear directly from some of the organisations doing incredible work and see what that support can mean in practice.”
A panel discussion brought that impact to life through the experiences of three organisations supported by Ecclesiastical and Benefact Group – RIAM, Children’s Books Ireland and Tiglin.
Deborah Kelleher, Director of the RIAM, spoke about how Ecclesiastical’s support is helping remove barriers to music education. Through its support of RIAM’s access programme, funding has helped cover music lessons and instruments, as well as practical support for young musicians who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to pursue their talent.
Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland. highlighted how its work with Ecclesiastical has helped bring books and inclusive libraries into schools, giving more children access to contemporary books in which they can see themselves and their experiences represented. Ecclesiastical was an early supporter of its Junior Juries programme and subsequently supported the charity in bringing inclusive libraries to more schools.
The event also heard from Senator Aubrey McCarthy, founder of Tiglin, whose Lighthouse homeless hub in Dublin can support between 200 and 500 people a day, providing hot food alongside access to services and, importantly, human connection. Funding from Ecclesiastical and the Benefact Group has helped resource the Lighthouse and its work with people experiencing homelessness and addiction.
David Lane added:
“€250 million is a significant number, but what really matters is what sits behind it – a young person getting the chance to learn an instrument, a child discovering a book that speaks to them, or someone experiencing homelessness getting the support they need to move forward.
“That’s what makes our business model different. The more we grow, the more we can give, and ultimately the more we can help our charity partners achieve.”
Benefact Group has supported more than 10,000 charities in recent years, with Group Chief Executive Mark Hews thanking customers, brokers and supporters for enabling that giving and the charities delivering its impact on the ground. He said:
“Reaching €250 million in giving is a fantastic milestone, but the number only tells part of the story. What really stays with you is meeting the charities we support and seeing first-hand the difference that funding can make to people’s lives.