Endurance Specialty marked ten years in business this year as its stepped up its efforts to give something back to the community in the same spirit of integrity, teamwork and top service with which the company was founded.A member of the class of 2001, Endurance felt it would be fitting to acknowledge its important milestone by helping out in localities where employees live and work.More than 20 volunteer projects were carried out as part of a global ‘Employee Day of Service’.Working with the Ministry of Education, Endurance’s Bermuda office identified several public schools in need of improvements and yesterday employees completed various volunteer painting, planting and clean-up projects at four local public schools.In addition to these four schools, employees toured the Dame Majorie Bean Academy and committed to sponsoring the school on an ongoing basis, providing funding for a number of small renovation projects such as new fencing and a wheelchair ramp to serve the school’s population of special needs children of all ages.With more than 70 of the 100-plus employees in the Bermuda office taking part despite the busy year-end business schedule, Endurance volunteered at the following schools to create lasting improvements that will provide a better learning environment for their students.l Heron Bay Primary Employees prepped, planted and pruned fields, the front entrance and the garden as well as various other areas on the school campus. In addition, the volunteers assisted with several painting projects and helped staff prepare for their annual Christmas show.l Dellwood Primary Employees cleaned out storage rooms beneath the administration building in preparation for renovation.l Whitney Institute Employees helped with various painting projects around the school grounds.l Sandys Secondary Middle School Endurance employees helped paint the exterior of one of the school’s buildings.Endurance CEO David Cash said: “Our 10-year anniversary is an important milestone for Endurance Specialty and we couldn’t imagine a better way to mark the occasion than by giving back to our fellow Bermudians.“In addition to contributing to our community, working together on these projects is a fun and rewarding experience for our employees.”In the 10 years since it was founded, Endurance has rapidly expanded beyond its flagship Bermuda operation, which focuses on catastrophe reinsurance and excess coverage for large commercial insurance accounts.During its first decade, the company added US and London operations as well as reinsurance branches in Zurich and Singapore, and expanded its range of specialty re/insurance and products. In 2007, Endurance entered the US specialty crop insurance business with the acquisition of ARMtech Insurance Services.With the overwhelming response from both employees and the charitable organisations, Mr Cash has committed to making the Employee Day of Service an annual event.Education Minister of Education, Dame Jennifer Smith noted her excitement that 'the adopt-a-school programme' continues to reap dividends for our students."It is encouraging to see how the business community has embraced this concept of assisting in our focus on teaching and learning by enhancing the learning environments of our schools. Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd. has taken the concept and added a new twist."I commend the management and staff for their willingness to work with us in this way. I am certain that our students appreciate all that was done and I am extremely thankful to Shirley Nosakhere-Fountain Vice President, HR Shared Services Manager for her leadership on this initiative.”