Reuben’s Retreat wins £5,000 at the Aviva Broker Community Awards 2023!
21st November 2023
The Aviva Broker Community Fund Awards were held at the Honourable Artillery Company in London on 17th October. Our chosen charity, Reuben’s Retreat had reached the finals and were travelling down, along with our own Jonathan Green, to find out whether they would be receiving a cash prize.
Our original nomination was submitted back in June, when the competition opened. We recognised it as a fantastic opportunity to try and raise funds for Reuben’s Retreat – a charity which all of us at COHIBL are proud to be associated with.
For those people not already familiar with them, Reuben’s Retreat are a charity based in the Northwest. The charity was started back in 2012 when a little boy called Reuben passed away from an aggressive brain tumour while on a family holiday in Devon. His Mummy didn’t want his life to have been in vain and created a legacy in his name to support other families.
As you learn from the charity website, just two days after losing Reuben, Reuben’s Retreat was set up as a sanctuary, a place of comfort, peace and tranquillity, where memories can be made. Later, when planning Reuben’s memorial, it was decided that the charity would also seek to relieve the distress of families who have suffered the loss of a child.
“After all, each life, no matter how brief, can change a little part of our world.”
The submission was a lengthy process, but we knew that it would be worthwhile if we were able to secure some funding. It felt good to be able to share with Aviva details of how we were already supporting Reuben’s where we could. For example, our Risk Manager, Steve Haines, along with a group of other fantastic volunteers from the Hyde Fundraisers had recently supported the charity in their Disney 100 Year celebration event. They dressed as Disney characters and Steve made a fabulous Mr Incredible!
We found out that Reuben’s Retreat had successfully made it through to the final on 7th August and were so excited to be able to share the news with Nic, Reuben’s Mummy, and Stacy, Senior Fundraiser for the charity.
The day itself was a lovely one, full of warmth and a great energy in the room. Various speakers shared inspirational stories, and information about each of the nominated charities was shared with video presentations to support. Reuben’s Retreat were selected to receive a donation of £5,000 and it was wonderful to be able to share in the obvious delight that both Nic and Stacy were feeling. As Stacy shared in a thank you email to us afterwards,
“The funds donated will make a huge difference to the work we do supporting families of child loss and those who have children living with medical complexities”
We would like to thank Reuben’s Retreat for allowing us to represent their charity and be a small part of the wonderful fundraising effort that is ongoing. We have been lucky enough to see first hand on a few occasions the great work they all do for families in need of support at times when they require it the most, and we will always do anything we can to support this.
Reuben’s Legacy – a place to Relax, Recharge, Remember, Rebuild
