Jay Goss, co-founder of Bank Aston, launched in Guernsey in the last month, plans to swim from Ireland to Scotland to raise money for Safer LBG, a domestic abuse charity.
In July this year Bank Aston Co-Founder, Jay Goss, will swim from Donaghadee in Northern Ireland to Rhins of Galloway in Scotland for charity.
It’s a 21-mile journey known as the ‘Everest of Swims’. Jay will have to tackle and overcome the cold-water temperatures, ruinous tides and even the odd jellyfish during his anticipated 16 hours across the Irish Sea.
Jay has an eight-day window, opening on July 1st, during which he and his support team will assess weather conditions to decide which day he begins the swim.
Jay is hoping to raise up to £100,000 for charity Safer LBG, which supports, empowers and provides shelter to children and adults who have and are experiencing domestic abuse. To date he has received more than £21,000 in pledges.
Jay said: “When I speak to the women who have inspired me to do this, who’ve lived through horrors most of us can’t imagine; they all speak of hope. And that hope is provided by charities like Safer LBG. I’m incredibly proud to be supporting them – a local Guernsey charity. I hope all of the donations raised make a positive impact on victims’ lives.”
A proud Guernsey resident and former Royal Marine, Jay has taken on several daunting athletic challenges in recent years including being the 7th person in the world to complete the Arch to Arc, a solo continuous event including running 90 miles from London to Dover, swimming the English Channel and cycling 190 miles to Paris. Along with ultras in the Sahara, Amazon and Arctic. But he considers this upcoming swim his greatest challenge yet. He’s been training for the past two years in air temperatures of minus 13 centigrade and has been stung and scarred by jellyfish along the way.
Jay has also had to put 20kg of ‘blubber’ weight on to protect himself against the real risk of hypothermia and successfully completed a 6-hour qualification swim in 12 degrees which involved 8,763 strokes of ‘front crawl’.
Jay was doing all of this while preparing to launch Bank Aston, a new offshore bank headquartered in Guernsey and sister company, payments firm Aston CM. On June 11th, Bank Aston was granted a banking licence the Guernsey financial Services Commission, ahead of an expected full authorisation in 2026.
Jay said: “We have had to be laser focused on preparing for the swim and building Bank Aston; from training up to 6 hours in 12 degrees centigrade in open water, to 15 km swims in 25m swimming pools, it’s been a challenge. But we’re ready. Both have been equally meaningful endeavours personally and professionally.
“Community really is Guernsey’s superpower, and everyone associated with the Aston brand is proud of our legacy of local support. Just recently Aston CM erected another of Guernsey’s famous dolphin landmarks – Splash Gordon – in support of Guernsey GSCPA, an animal support charity, and Autism Guernsey.”
Naomi Wright, CEO at Safer LBG, commented: “We are incredibly grateful to Jay for choosing to support Safer through this extraordinary challenge. From the moment we met him, it was clear he was deeply passionate about making a difference in the lives of domestic abuse survivors. His determination and commitment – both in launching Bank Aston and in preparing for the gruelling North Channel swim – are truly inspiring. Jay spent time meeting with the team here at Safer to truly understand the issues that our clients face and all the work we are doing to support those affected by domestic abuse – he really is a Safer Champion The funds raised will help us continue our vital work supporting adults and children affected by domestic abuse in the bailiwick. We’ll be cheering Jay on every stroke of the way.”
