Bristol Actuaries' Dining Society

Secretary: Brendan McBride
[Contact details: Tel: 01275 39478; Email: wbmcbride@btinternet.com]

Society Motto: "Auctoritas in rebus pecuniae delenda est!" (translation upon application). Following the relocation of a number of life offices from London to Bristol in the late 70s, the Society was founded by a group of actuaries wishing to set up locally that conviviality of gourmandising with their professional brethren which so enjoyably forms part of the Institute's social and networking scene in the Great Smoke.

Membership is by invitation, readily extended to Faculty and Institute Fellows alike, male or female, from life office and consulting work in Bristol or the surrounding areas. There is no subscription.

The Society has one Rule only, viz. that there are no Rules, in particular (a) no rule banning speeches, which are nevertheless banned: and (b) no rule providing that Founder Members may not be expelled, which is nevertheless sustained. There is however an initiation ceremony, which, depending on gender, involves table dancing or the consumption of the Society Challenge Dessert.

Membership categories are O = ordinary, those in gainful professional employment, and UD = UnDead, referring to retired actuaries who nevertheless retain an interest in the profession. For a distinguished contribution towards the evening's fraternalisation the Society awards the OBS, or Order of the Banana Split; or the OCC (explanation upon application). There are currently four holders of the OBS, one of such calibre as to have two bars already added to his decoration, and one of the OCC.

The Society dines during the months September through May and issues invitations to members of the Bristol Actuarial Society on the occasion of meetings of that Society. The venue heartland is the Crown Inn, tucked away in the badlands south of Bristol, where a roaring log fire welcomes diners in the winter months. Otherwise the venue moves around Bristol, in eating places where informality combines with good food and modest charges – 'The Clifton Sausage' being favoured.

Debtors Club

The Debtors Club is a progressive dining club with an eclectic and occasionally experimental taste in cuisine. It meets nine or ten times a year after Institute Sessional meetings and every summer it holds a social event to which members bring their partners. For the other meetings it visits an interesting variety of restaurants.

The club has an inherited estate and is currently operating a policy of slowly distributing this. As a result, membership fees of £35 per session and dining fees of £30 for members and £35 for guests represent good value for money.

The club currently has vacancies for new members, anyone interested in joining should contact the secretary at the e-mail address set out below.

Chairman: Stuart Hicks BSc FIA
Secretary & Treasurer: John Broome-Saunders BSc FIA
[Contact details: Tel: 020 7893 3441]
Restaurateur: Paul Cook MA FIA

Denarius Club

Chairman: Tim Birse
Honorary Secretary & Treasurer: Simon Jeffery
[Contact details: Tel: 07768-697446; Email: denarius@synseer.co.uk]

The Denarius Dining Club recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. Between 20 and 40 of the 140 members dine four times a year on a Monday evening from 6.15 pm until 9.00 pm at the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, London. Most current members have a Home Services background – though as this is clearly a barrier to growth, new membership is open to all actuaries. [Membership is £1 – yes, just £1 – per year and recent dining fees have varied between £40 and £50.]

Double-Downers Club

Chairman: Raj Mody
Secretary: Andrew Harley
[Contact details: Email: andrew.harley@genworth.com]

The dealer has 6, you have a 4 and a 7. What do you do? The Double-Downers meet every few months to discuss this and other less straightforward decisions over a green baize and, later, some good food. Any FIA or FFA interested in adding to the discussion should contact Andrew Harley. Be lucky!

Faculty of Actuaries (England) Club

This club was founded in 1933, a time when haggis was perhaps not so readily found south of the border as it is today, to promote social and culinary contact among Fellows of the Faculty practising in England.

The club dines twice yearly, normally in November and March. There is also a partners' dinner in February. All the dinners are held on a Monday evening.

The venue is the Caledonian Club in Halkin Street, London SW1, a splendid building with stags' heads and gloomy portraits of Stuart monarchs on the walls, and tartan carpets underfoot. The meal often incorporates a Scottish speciality, with a dram to follow. There are no formal speeches. The Faculty President or Vice-President is, however, an honoured guest at each dinner and members enjoy hearing the latest (inside!) news from Edinburgh.

Membership is on application, with new arrivals in the land of the Sassenach being especially welcome. Should you want more information, contact the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, Bill Sharp at bill.sharp@gissings.co.uk.

Fellowship Club

President: Brian Ridsdale
Honorary Secretary: Jason Hurley
Honorary Treasurer: Jerry Staffurth
[Contact details: Jason Hurley - Tel: 020 7448 8224; Email: jhurley@uk.rgare.com]

As the name would imply, the Fellowship Club tries hard to promote good fellowship between as many of the members of the UK actuarial profession as possible. The Club holds six meetings during each session, which runs from October through to May. The meetings are held after Institute Sessional Meetings on Monday evenings except for the final meeting of the session, to which in recent years partners have been invited, and which may be on a different day. Meetings are held in the Innholders' Hall, College Street, London EC4 and take the form of an excellent meal, followed by an interesting and entertaining speaker, chosen by the President. Subjects for previous talks have been diverse in nature ranging from the author Anthony Trollope through the British Red Cross to the Glyndebourne Opera.

The Club actively promotes an informal air to meetings. The Club currently has a total membership of 212 and is always keen to attract new members. The process for joining is completely painless; new members are simply recommended to the Club Committee by existing members and introduced at one of the Club meetings. Guests are also welcomed at the meetings.

So, if you enjoy good fellowship, in the company of fellow actuaries, this is the Club for you.

59 Club

Chair: Peter Bennett
Treasurer: Nigel Silby
Secretary: Alan Pendleton

The 59 Club was established by Ralph Lane who persuaded a small number of other actuaries (including Henry Cotterell, Tony Lamb, Alan Anderson and Harold Purchase) to join him in establishing a new club for the growing number of actuaries who were not members of the “establishment” clubs. The objective was to create a social dining club which had the objective of building friendships between its members and their families.

The Club has maintained this objective over the past 47 years, with walking weekends, visits to the opera and an annual Croquet Day supplementing the more usual evening dinners. The Outward Bound walking weekends, which started in 1965, are particularly successful in supporting the Club's aims of promoting friendships between the members and their families. Having walked in the Lake District this spring, the next Outward Bound weekend will be in October 2006, when the Club is responding to the Faculty's challenge and will be putting actuaries on at least two Munros.

If you would like more information about the 59 Club please visit our website www.59Club.org.uk or email or telephone the Hon Secretary (Secretary@59Club.org.uk) or 01243 585979.

Gallio Club

Chairman: Mike Kipling
Honorary Secretary: John Jenkins
[Contact details: Tel: 020 7311 6199; Email: john.a.jenkins@kpmg.co.uk]

The Gallio Club meets after all Institute Sessional Meetings held in London, usually at the Butchers' Hall in Smithfield, London. By tradition the Club plays host to the authors of the evening's paper, the opener and closer, and the Institute's official guests. Some of these are invited to speak after dinner. Membership is by invitation; members of the Scottish Actuaries Club have reciprocal dining rights.

The Club celebrated its centenary in 2003.

Lady Actuaries Dining Society

Honorary Treasurer: Kathryn Willis
[Contact details: Tel: 020 7220 1289]

Ornaments Club

Chairman: Graham Lyons
Secretary & Treasurer: Hugh Sutherland
[Contact details: Tel: : 01395 514618; Email: hugh@hughs.plus.com]

Aim: The Club was founded to enable members to enjoy company, good food, beer and wine in relaxed and informal surroundings.
Meetings: Meetings take place after each Sessional Meeting of the Institute of Actuaries, normally held on the last Monday in the months of September to May. The normal venue for meetings is The Old Doctor Butler's Head in Mason's Avenue, off Coleman Street, London, situated quite close to the Bank and Moorgate underground stations.
Membership: Open to Fellows or Affiliates of the Institute of Actuaries, or Fellows and Library Members of the Faculty of Actuaries who:
a) have attained the age of 35 years; or
b) have attained their qualifying professional status (as indicated above) ten years previously.
Current annual subscription is £18 and the dining fee is £25 for members and £35 for a guest. If you are interested in joining the Club, please contact the Secretary.

Phiatus Club

Chairman: Hubert Prescott
Honorary Secretary & Treasurer: Roger Grenville-Jones
[Contact details: Tel: 08707-205080]

The name of the Phiatus Club is believed to be a clever joining of FIA and “hiatus” to indicate that it was a club for Fellows whose actuarial career had been interrupted by the war. From its early days the Club welcomed lady as well as gentlemen members. Nowadays the club is open to all Fellows who wish to be able to meet socially with other actuaries for an informal dinner and conversation up to six times a year at a City restaurant, after Institute Sessional meetings.

The Club normally meets at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street, which was rebuilt in 1667 and offers ale at probably the lowest price in London; the Club's dinner fee is presently £27.50.

The Club also has a Guest Night on a Friday in May in the country – recently in Chenies, Buckinghamshire – where members bring their partners and it is a tradition to have an invited guest speaker, including the Institute President in one of his two years.

The Club welcomes new members.

Scottish Actuaries' Club

Chairman: Harvie Brown
Vice-Chairman: Irene Paterson
Hon Secretary: John Darvell
Hon Treasurer: Alastair Miller

The club was founded in 1932 to promote social contact among actuaries (Faculty or Institute) practising in Scotland (ordinary members). Country membership applies to Faculty Fellows practising furth of Scotland and to non-Faculty ordinary members who move furth of Scotland. The club dines after Faculty Sessional meetings, the usual venue being the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh. Its elegant rooms give a fine night-lit view of Princes Street and the Castle. The evening's emphasis is on being bons vivants, with a minimum of formality.

The meal is followed by the loyal toast and the club toast to the (decimal) Point, the latter given every year since 1936. There is then a short break for members to re-charge their batteries. On re-assembly the Chair introduces the Faculty guests, usually the authors of papers read at the Sessional meetings, on a light-hearted 'this is your life' basis: and invites the club to toast their health. One guest is invited to reply. New members attending their first dinner are next introduced, invited to give a short entertaining account of themselves, and duly toasted. Once a year a member, instead of the Chair, is given the honour of proposing the Club toast to the Point. There is much wit and ingenuity displayed in varying the theme of the address.

Dinners are drawn to a formal close in time for the Glasgow members to catch the last train to the city that claims it's miles better, while granting that Edinburgh is a capital city! The annual subscription includes the cost of one dinner, whether attended or not. Guests of members are welcome. In addition to the dinners, there is an annual golf outing and more recently an autumn weekend away with partners which includes a choice of a visit to a stately home and gardens, playing golf or hillwalking and of course dining and being pampered in a 5 star luxury hotel.  Members have reciprocal dining rights with the Institute's Gallio and Fellowship Clubs. Ordinary membership is by invitation, normally after a number of years post-qualification. Honorary membership is by invitation of the Committee.

For further information, contact Emma Legget on 0131-240 1327 or email: emma.legget@actuaries.org.uk.

Six and Out Club

Secretary: David Prowse
[Contact details: Tel: 020 7951 3352; Email: dprowse@uk.ey.com]

Ultimate Club

Chairman: Peter Dingwall
[Contact details: Tel: 020 7632 2136]

The Ultimate Club is an unusual club, formed from a merger of the Rejects (where membership depended upon having failed to get elected to Council) with a group of Institute Medallists. Other classes of members, subsequently added, include editors of The Actuary and a number of the profession's staff. The result is a small, non-elitist, non-exclusive club that meets two or three times a year at lunchtimes, rather than in the evening as most other clubs do. There is also usually a summer Saturday lunch in an interesting location. New members are always welcome; the annual subscription is currently a very modest £5.

Various Actuaries Club

Chairman: Raj Mody
Secretary & Treasurer: Gareth Derbyshire
[Contact details: Tel: 020 7677 3410; Email: gareth_derbyshire@ml.com]

The club meets three to four times a year. Meetings usually revolve around dinner although alternative events (eg. wine-tasting, chocolate tasting) have tended to be especially popular. There is often (not always) a guest speaker or entertainer, depending on whether the secretary and members have been feeling imaginative. The emphasis is very much on informality - there is no subscription fee and guests are welcome.

Waterloo Club

Chairman: Norman Shuker
Honorary Secretary: Petrea Simmons
[Contact details: Tel: 020 7170 3816; Email: petrea.simmons@towersperrin.com]
Treasurer: Stuart Bell
[Contact details: Tel: 020 7847 6285; Email: stuart.bell@milliman.com]

The Waterloo Club is an informal and friendly dining club with approximately 20 members. Guests are welcome to all events, other than the AGM. The Club visits a variety of interesting restaurants; most dinners follow Institute Sessional Meetings. Other activities enjoyed by Club members and their guests include wine-tastings, trips to France and croquet events (shared with the Fifty-Nine Club).