When Peter Cook first envisaged the idea for a charity golf day to bring together colleagues, friends and peers from across the insurance marketplace to raise money for cancer support services, he could little have imagined the annual fixture it would become in the diaries of so many. Raising £10,000 in its first year, the Sterling Cup returned in 2022 to raise £12,000 – and on September 14 the team is gearing up to do it all again at Manor of Groves in Hertfordshire.
“We don’t have any intention to stop it here,” said Cook, floor manager at Sterling Insurance (part of the Adrian Flux Group). “As long as the industry is willing to come together and support the event and put their teams forward, we’ll keep going. We started with 13 teams two years ago and we’re up to 21 teams now, which I think is probably our maximum capacity.
“While I don’t think we’ll get to the point where it’s like Glastonbury with the tickets, it has been amazing to see how word-of-mouth conversations have led to so many teams signing up. That’s in addition to all people doing this for the second or even third year in a row, so we’ve been able to find space on the golf course for all of them to come along.”
Cook emphasised the role team captains Paul Copeland and Rod Wellard have played in spreading awareness of the event and helping to get the wider profession involved. Discussing how he first became involved in the inaugural event, Copeland, MD of PKCM Consultancy Limited, noted that he had been friends with Cook for many years and when he first heard about the charity event, he was instantly moved to bring out his “big black book” and get involved.
In addition to raising funds for three UK cancer charities - Maggie’s, Helen Rollason and MacMillan – the event also pledges support to Archie Wilks who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January 2019. The first year raised money to help send him to the US for specialist care while subsequent years have raised funds for treatments to prevent the return of the cancer and to go towards giving him and his family positive experiences while away in the US.
“The event Peter has put together seems to have struck a real chord with the community,” Copeland said. “And last year little Archie – whose dad works with Peter – came along again which really resonated with people. The first year he came, he was obviously not very well but the second year, he looked 100 times better. I think it was very moving for the people who came along to see what their money and support has actually done and where it’s going.
“It’s not just Archie, of course, but with him, they can see that their money has actually directly helped in his fight for a cure, which is lovely to see. And one or two of even the most grizzled old insurance veterans had tears in their eyes when Archie appeared, especially in that second year.”
Bringing Archie Wilks along and having his father Simon Wilks tell the story of everything they’ve been doing in the last year is a wonderful part of the event, Cook said. This year the event has evolved a bit further to include a speaker from Maggie’s cancer charity who will share some of the ways the funds raised are being used to support not just those suffering from cancer but their families as well.
“Again that just brings home that the money we raise goes to these charities and it binds together the real meaning behind why we’re all there,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, the company is great and the day is always well-received. The food is good and while the golf course is not the most challenging, it does serve a great purpose because its facilities really fit with the day.
“But really it’s all about raising those funds for these great causes and doing our bit to support those who need it most. Last year, we raised £12,000 and if we raise that again, or even a little bit more, I’ll be very, very pleased.”
Among the activities of the day is the charity auction which gives attendees an additional opportunity to raise funds. One of the key ways interested parties can get involved is by donating auction prizes to boost that fund, Cook said, and he encouraged anybody who might be able to do so to get in touch.
He paid warm tribute to the event’s four main sponsors – among them gold sponsor, Ageas, which has donated a box at the Royal Albert Hall for Jools Holland to the auction. In addition, Prestige Underwriting Services has taken up its silver sponsorship, with Auxillis again stepping in as the event’s bronze sponsor, while Strategic Insurance Services serves as its headline main sponsor.
Touching on the reaction of the insurance profession to the event, Copeland said he’s been “pleasantly surprised” to see how the sector has taken the Sterling Cup to heart. There’s a lot of golf days in insurance, he said, and so it’s great to see how this one is resonating so clearly with the market, and he can count on one hand the number of people who have declined to have any involvement.
“And to have certain people driving three or four hours to come along to this one-day event without staying over has been really quite humbling,” Cook added. “What’s been really great to see is the commitment of the people who do come along, in fact, last year we had nobody drop out and I hope it’s the same this year. The people who come along also invite other people, which is what tells me that they are really enjoying the day.”
Copeland noted that this also affirms that despite the rapid advancement of digital technology, at its core, insurance is still just as much a people business, where word-of-mouth is king. Long may that continue, he said, because it is those relationships which make the sector so strong. As to what a great Sterling Cup 2023 looks like, Copeland and Cook shared a wish for a “little bit of sunshine” and to “see all the smiles on the face of friends, old and new - along with a little bit of that competitive spirit as well”.
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