At the back Society news
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 17 DEC 2019, 5.30PM
Come all ye faithful The WCA Carol service this year will take place on 17 December, in St Bartholomew the Great Church in West Smithfield EC1A 7QJ. Carollers will be joining a number of other livery companies, and Christmas dinner will be available afterwards at the Butchers’ Hall (please pre-book for the dinner). The Butchers’ Hall has just re-opened after a refurbishment and is a short walk from the church. This is a great opportunity to meet in this historic church and celebrate Christmas. The service will start at 6pm, but we are all asked to be in our (reserved) seats by 5.40pm. After that, seats are offered to the public. The Christmas dinner is £75 per head; attendance at the service only is free.
10 DEC 2019, 6.30PM
IMAGE: ISTOCK
A brush with bubbly SIAS has arranged a night of painting and Prosecco at the Arty Club, 129 Shirland Rd, London, W9 2EP. You will have the opportunity to paint a piece of pottery of your choice, from a bowl to something Christmas-themed or even animal shaped! You will be sure to have fun and get the chance to meet new people. Your mission will be to finish painting in three hours and enjoy yourself. At the end of the night you will be able to take what you have painted home or collect it a week later after it has been fired and glazed. It could be ideal as a personal Christmas gift. Bubbles will be in the form of limited Prosecco and fizzy juice on the night. Refreshments will be provided. Tickets for members are £20 and non-members £22.
WCA
Sipping wine in Slovenia BY KEITH JONES
In September, Worshipful Company of Actuaries Master Fiona Morrison organised an escorted wine tour of Slovenia for 40 actuaries and their partners, based in the capital city Ljubljana. We were expertly guided by Tim Syrad, who organises wine tours around the world – often with Fiona and friends in the group. Once part of Yugoslavia, Slovenia was the first country to secure independence. Ljubljana today is a vibrant cosmopolitan city, packed with bars and restaurants along the river running through it and overlooked by the historic castle atop the hill. Slovenia borders many countries, and during our trip we crossed into Austria and brushed against Italy; the background in the group photo is Croatia. I’m sure that many of us recall ‘delicious’ Slovenian wine from our student days, but those days of communal production are long gone, replaced by today’s small independent model – 28,000 wineries producing 80m
litres per year. Sadly, we ‘only’ managed to visit six during our stay. The wine proved so good that some of us have imported our favourites. The country’s so-called ‘orange’ wine – not made from oranges, but left on the lees and made using natural methods – proved more divisive, with opinions mixed. In fact, the trip proved to be both a wine tour and a gastronomic delight. Some of the tastings provided lunch with additional wine options, while our dinners included a multitude of delicious dishes, accompanied by further wine exploration. Many guests arrived the day before or stayed the day after the tour to explore Ljubljana more fully, as with markets and more restaurants to be sampled, three days was just not long enough. Overall it was an interesting, informative, often hilarious and always enjoyable trip to somewhere that is unlikely to be top of the holiday list for many, but is definitely deserving of a visit.
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Note: You have to be a SIAS member. For your first parkrun with SIAS, a SIAS water bottle will be sent out. For your second and third parkruns with SIAS, a £10 donation will be made each time to your chosen charity. You can fundraise a maximum of £20 with parkrun for your chosen charity. *You can also run a marathon, half marathon or any other race; all you have to do is post about it with #IrunwithSIAS and send us an email with your details.
36 | THE ACTUARY | DECEMBER 2019
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