Peter Neville has retired as Chair of Guernsey Community Savings after ten years of hands-on involvement with the charity he founded to support islanders unable to access mainstream banking.
He is replaced by James Ellis, a former banker who has held leading roles in several local charities, including Round Table, 41 Club, Maison Saint Pierre, and At Home in Guernsey, where he has supported fundraising, housing development, and projects for people experiencing homelessness.
Peter said: “Demanding regulation, in the form of ‘know your customer’ requirements, and the continuing shift from a cash‑based to a digital economy, have made it more and more essential for people to have access to bank accounts. Without an account, they simply cannot participate fully in society, whether that is by paying bills, receiving wages and benefits or tapping a card in a shop.”
Recognising this growing risk of exclusion, Peter worked for more than five years to set up GCS which first opened its doors in September 2020. Since then, the charity has supported people facing a wide range of challenges, including poor credit histories, family breakdowns, absence of necessary documentation, and troubled pasts.
It has provided around 200 people, who would otherwise have been excluded from the financial system, with access to accounts and linked debit cards and offered money‑management guidance to many more.
“Those numbers represent real people who have gained stability, dignity, and a fair chance,” said Peter.
He expressed particular thanks to Nick England and VFX Financial, which provided the charity’s money‑transmission platform for many years, as well as to the directors, staff, and volunteers who have supported GCS since its inception.
He also welcomed the appointment of James Ellis as the new Chair: “James brings exactly the right blend of financial services experience, charitable involvement, and community understanding. The initiatives now being discussed, together with the additional features offered by the new money‑transmission platform, reassure me that James’s vision aligns perfectly with the aims we set in those early days.
“I wish the Board and GCS staff every success as they take the charity forward.”
James said: “The creation of Guernsey Community Savings in 2020 was only possible because of Peter’s unique set of qualities that enabled him to create a talented team and the structure to tackle the issues facing the financially excluded in our island.
“I was delighted when he asked me to continue with his work and further expand his vision, which I share, to provide help in the form of bank accounts, debit cards and financial education and to realise our ambition to provide grants and soft loans where needed.
“I am very pleased that he has agreed to remain involved as Life President, ensuring continuity of the principles that established GCS.”
Pictured: Guernsey Community Savings founder and Life President Peter Neville (left) with new Chair James Ellis.
