Two Envest insurance businesses, Envest Direct Agencies (EDA) and Aviso Broking, have secured grants for Australian cancer research from their UK-based parent company, The Ardonagh Group.
EDA and Aviso Broking secured the funding for their chosen charities: Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation – Caidan's Reach Project and RUN DIPG, thanks to submissions from team members Con Tsobanpoulos (EDA) and Luke Eagle (Aviso Broking). Each charity will receive £5,000 (approx. A$9,400) as a recipient of the Ardonagh Community Trust (ACT) grants.
ACT is the not-for-profit arm of the Ardonagh Group, of which Envest became a subsidiary in February.
“Working in the insurance business, we're uniquely connected to helping people and communities. The ACT program is a great example of how Ardonagh is supporting us to create positive impact in Australia,” said Envest CEO Gregory Mullins.
Caidan's Reach Project is a project backed by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. It aims to support innovative genomics testing to help patients with sarcoma, an emerging cancer prevalent in adolescents and young adults.
The cause is closely connected to EDA's Con Tsobanpoulos, the uncle of Caidan, who was only 22 when she passed away from a rare form of sarcoma.
The ACT grant will go towards genomics testing to understand how genes change to cause the illness. The information is then used to develop specific, targeted drugs for that cancer.
“Caidan was in her first year of being a primary school teacher when she passed away and wanted to leave a legacy to help other young people who became stricken by this rare cancer. I'm so proud to be raising money to help young people battling this and hopefully one day find a cure,” Tsobanpoulos said.
Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a rare, fast-growing and fatal brain tumour, diagnosed in children. Currently, there are no treatments, but RUN DIPG is on a mission to find one.
The RUN DIPG charity was founded in memory of Josephine, who was diagnosed at just two years old and died two years later. Aviso Broking's Luke Eagle, Josephine's uncle, is a founding member of the charity.
The ACT grant will fund six weeks of vital research at the University of Newcastle. Over the past five years, the research group has discovered and tested two experimental therapies, and continued research is needed to find a treatment.
“Having experienced the devastation this has on a family firsthand; this cause is very close to my heart. My involvement with RUN DIPG remains ongoing, as we have not yet found a therapy that provides kids a chance at better survival or that provides hope to families in such a hopeless situation – but with projects like this, I hope we will get there,” Eagle said.
The ACT grant programme has awarded over £600,000 in funding and supported more than 150 causes nominated by Ardonagh employees since 2017. The two recent grants mark the first awarded to Australian causes since Ardonagh acquired Envest earlier this year.
“Ardonagh has built a culture around the understanding that it's their people that bring success. We're excited to be part of a global team of like-minded, entrepreneurial businesses where shared values and employee opportunity shapes the workplace,” Mullins said.
