Welcome to our series, ‘Meet the charity’, where we meet charities from the Channel Islands. We find out what they are doing, how they are helping others and how we can help them succeed.
Today, we meet Jersey’s Community Savings.
Community Savings is a charity that helps those who are experiencing financial difficulties, for whatever reason. Our aim is to promote financial inclusion in Jersey by providing free and confidential services, guidance and practical assistance to those most in need.
How do you make peoples lives better?
Our customers come to us from all walks of life, often following a distressing change in circumstances. There may be a variety of reasons why a person may need our help, including ill-health (both physical and mental), bereavement, redundancy, or the breakdown of a relationship.
We will open a basic account for any local resident, particularly if they have been excluded from having an ordinary bank account. This allows them access to deposit and withdraw funds and apply for a pre-paid debit card but does not provide cheque books or overdraft facilities.
Tell us about the charity’s ‘journey’
Community Savings was established as a charity in 1997 and since commencing operations, we have helped over 2,500 individuals.
We currently have around 550 customers and our overriding aim is to support the growing number of financially or disadvantaged Jersey residents, providing access to basic financial services that most of us take for granted but from which many are excluded.
Tell us about your team
The charity is run by a small number of paid employees and is heavily supported by volunteers who give up their valuable free time to come in and work with our customers.
Covid-19 has had a significant impact on our day-to-day activities as much of the support that we give is done face to face which was impossible during lockdown. We have been able to get back to some level of normality.
The primary attributes required of a volunteer are patience and understanding but we are also in need of those with specific skills and experience including banking or customer service.
Can you talk us through a typical working day for the team?
It is very difficult for people to admit when they are having money problems
Our office in St Helier is open Tuesday to Friday, from 9.30am to 12.30pm and a typical day will see us having a daily team meeting before opening our doors, which usually will already have a queue of members waiting to check their general accounts or to arrange for any payments to be made. It is very difficult for people to admit when they are having money problems, so we make sure that anyone who comes into our offices feels that they are in a safe and non-judgmental environment.
Our staff provide a sympathetic ear to anyone who needs it. The simple act of listening to our members or giving advice delivers a unique and compassionate financial service that is not offered to the community anywhere else on the Island.
As well as the customer facing staff, we also have a back-office team who keep on top of emails, answer telephones, manage rental and bill payments and track account activities so that we can help our customers manage their finances and avoid further problems.
A huge part of our service also involves us offering individual and practical debt advice and budget planning which we do through pre-planned meetings.
How has Covid-19 impacted your charity?
Before Covid-19 we also worked with the Island’s schools and colleges to deliver a financial education programme to students aged 11 to 18 as well as young adults who are no longer in full-time education. We plan to reintroduce this programme as soon as it is practically and safely possible as early intervention is designed to help today’s young people avoid financial difficulties in the future, and to improve their social development.
Where is your funding from?
Community Savings receives no government funding, so we rely on the generosity of business and private donations.
We are lucky enough and extremely grateful to have received financial support from Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds International, NatWest International and Santander International which covers around 50% of our core costs. However, we still need to raise the funds to cover our remaining core costs as well as our ancillary activities such as the educational program and the work we carry out with the prison to help support the rehabilitation of inmates by providing financial guidance.
Can you share any pleasant experiences?
The work we do is incredibly rewarding and necessary. Supporting people when they are having real difficulties and helping them to regain financial inclusion is so important. This not only helps the individual but also benefits the whole of society. We would love to work in more depth with the Government of Jersey and other charities on the Island to ensure that anyone who needs help knows where to come.
If anyone feels that they could benefit from our services, or would like to find out more about volunteering, please contact us today.
- Website
- Telephone: 01534 737555
- Address: Community Savings Commercial House, 2 Commercial Street, St Helier, Jersey JE2 3RU
- Opening hours? Tuesday to Friday, from 9.30am to 12.30pm
Main image shows Brian Curtis, Executive Chairman.
Are you a Channel Islands charity who would like to be featured in Channel Eye? If so, please drop an email to [email protected]
