Carolyn Sims

Banking Director

Carolyn began her banking career with National Westminster Bank before moving on to MLA Bank Limited where she had responsibility for property investment and development lending.

After Dexia Public Finance acquired MLA Bank in the early 1990’s, Carolyn went on to become responsible for the bank’s social housing activities. She arranged finance for the first housing PFI scheme and also worked on project finance and limited recourse financing deals.

Carolyn is a trustee of a number of charities and also sits on a regeneration advisory board.

Peter Kelly

Business Development Director

Peter joined Charity Bank in October 2015 as Business Development Director bringing with him over thirty years’ experience across banking and community finance. Peter joined from Unity Trust Bank where he spent three years as Business Development and Marketing Director.

In 2000 Peter set up the first financial inclusion unit in the UK banking sector, positioning Barclays as a thought leader and raising awareness of the challenges faced by underserved communities and consumers within the bank. In 2005 in Ghana he launched an innovative and sustainable financial inclusion proposition to link Susu, an indigenous financial services system, to mainstream banking. This extended microfinance to some of the least affluent in Ghana such as the small market trader.

Peter is passionate about the role of community finance in tackling financial exclusion. He was actively involved in supporting the launch and development of several community development finance institutions and was a director of the Aston Reinvestment Trust in Birmingham. Peter has worked with the Association of British Credit Unions and was previously a volunteer for the Credit Union Foundation. He was also an advisory board member for the University of Birmingham, Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM).

Julie Evans

Lending Assistant

Julie joined Charity Bank in June 2014, working with charities and social enterprises to secure loans. She works with organisations in London and the South.

Lisa Gilbert

Loans Administration Officer

Lisa is responsible for the administration of Charity Bank’s portfolio of loans after they are approved. She helps guide and assist the bank’s charitable borrowers through the loan process and assumes responsibility for the team in the absence of the Head of Loans Administration.

Lisa has over twenty five years of banking experience. She spent most of her career in management positions for the Woolwich and Barclays.

Prior to joining the Charity Bank in 2010, Lisa was Woolwich Operations Manager for Barclays responsible for all Woolwich account back office processing and a team of over 200 playing an integral role in the migration of Woolwich customers into Barclays the Woolwich.

Sharon Gooch

Deal Manager

Sharon joined Charity Bank in June 2015 after taking a short career break to spend time with her children.

Prior to joining Charity Bank, she worked for Barclays. She has spent the last 15 years working in corporate finance risk, specialising in structured project finance and managing real estate, PFI/PPP and renewable energy assets.

Sharon’s role at Charity Bank is to assist borrowers to draw down their loan, following its approval, as seamlessly as possible.

“ It is fantastic to have found an opportunity at Charity Bank to draw on my experience in finance to help others make a difference in our communities.” Sharon Gooch, deal manager, Charity Bank.

Debbie Harmsworth

Loans Administration Manager

Debbie joined Charity Bank after 23 years with a high street bank.

A relocation to Kent prompted her decision to move outside of mainstream banking and she has not looked back on that decision, enjoying the satisfaction which comes from knowing the work she is doing is helping other people.

In her spare time Debbie enjoys sailing and skiing.

Peter Hughes

Regional Manager, East and West Midlands

Peter is our Regional Manager covering the Midlands and East of England with responsibility for the development of the bank’s support to Charities, Civil Society organisations and Social Enterprises in the area.

Peter joined Charity Bank in 2007, he has worked in the banking sector for over 30 years where he has been a relationship manager primarily involved with the organisations who operate in the social economy.

Peter is a trustee of one charity.

In his spare time he enjoys walks with the family’s dogs in the countryside.

Jeremy Ince

Regional Manager, North

Jeremy joined the Charity Bank team in 2008 as Lending Manager, bringing with him over 20 years of business experience after a successful career across a range of senior management roles with one on the major high street banks.

He is passionate about the community and voluntary sector and uses his skills to assist organisations help evaluate the benefits of social finance as part of their funding mix.

In addition to his work with Charity Bank, Jeremy is trustee of a major youth charity in Yorkshire. As such he is acutely aware of the funding challenges and opportunities organisations face in the delivery of their mission.

Andrew Jesson

Regional Manager, London, South East and Eastern

Andrew started his banking career around 40 years ago. After a succession of merchant and foreign bank roles, he worked at Unity Trust for nearly 27 years providing banking and advice services for the charity, voluntary and social economy sectors.

Whilst at Unity Trust, Andrew structured financial solutions for charities and social enterprises as well as providing advice and finance to extend employee share ownership in UK companies. Recently he led the Bank’s strategy in the renewables area.

Andrew is a trustee of several local charities and has lectured on charity finance, employee share ownership and business planning at Cass Business School and South Bank and East London Universities.

He was previously an Alternate Director on the Government’s Futurebuilders Fund and sat on the London Community Resource Network investment committee.

Although his playing days are well over, Andrew is a qualified Rugby Union Coach and Referee.

Patrick Minne

Manager, Northern Ireland

Patrick heads up the bank’s operations in Northern Ireland.

His qualifications include an MBA and an Advanced Diploma in Social Investment for the Third Sector.

His private sector experience includes senior management roles in finance IT project management, media monitoring, website management and software customer services.

Prior to his appointment to Charity Bank, he was Chief Executive of a non-profit, social welfare NGO.

He provides consultancy and trusteeship to a number of Northern Ireland social sector organisations.

Adam Ruffinato

National Lending Manager

Adam is our Senior Lending Manager covering the whole of the UK, with a particular interest in helping our customers with more complex or specialist borrowing needs.

Prior to joining Charity Bank in 2015, Adam worked at Unity Trust Bank for 7 years specialising in banking provision and lending to charities and social enterprises. His most recent role was Head of Social Economy.

In his spare time he enjoys cooking, going to the gym, and spending time with his wife and two daughters.

Simon Thorrington

Regional Manager, North West and Scotland

Simon is our Regional Director in the North, with a portfolio of relationships primarily in the North West, having been with the bank since 2006.

His working life began with a 15 year career in lending with Midland Bank, followed by a further 15 years in the charity sector, working for a large faith charity and then establishing two new charities in the region involved in regeneration, and in the provision of support and accommodation for homeless people.

Simon is a trustee of three charities and has a passion for helping charities to realise their full potential.

Chris Tweedie

Regional Manager

Chris has been in banking for 30 years.

Before moving to Charity Bank, she managed a customer portfolio of small and medium sized businesses, providing support, guidance and a range of funding options. In addition, she specialises in RSL financing.

In her spare time, Chris enjoys travelling and walking in the beautiful Welsh countryside.

Jessica Gibbons

Savings Manager

Jessica joined Charity Bank in 2003 and was promoted to Savings Manager in 2012. She is involved in various projects and initiatives within the bank and works closely with other teams.

She recently attended the Institute of Social Banking Summer School in Lyon, to further develop her role and interests.

In her spare time Jessica enjoys taking her two dogs for long walks.

Philippa Calver

Savings Officer

Since 1979 Philippa has been employed in financial and customer services roles, ranging from city banks to international banking in HK.

return to the UK in 1993 Philippa began a career in the charitable sector when she joined CAF working for CafCash which later became CAF Bank. After 13 years service Philippa joined Charity Bank in the role of Deposits Administrator in 2005.

Coming to work is a pleasure, says Philippa as I have the best of all worlds; enjoying the personal contact with clients, working with figures and knowing that Charity Bank is making a difference.

Nikki Goodrich

Savings Support

Nikki joined Charity Bank in January 2015 after working for the high street bank Santander for eight years. Within Santander she did various roles which ranged from cashiering and personal banking to service and control manager which focussed on customer service and risk and controls.

She decided to leave mainstream banking as she felt that it was more about sales and targets rather than doing what was right for the customer. She is passionate about providing good customer service and is happy to now be working for a company that puts savers at the heart of its mission.

Claire Springett

Savings Officer

Claire joined Charity Bank in 2013 following nine years in a small family run financial services firm. In this time she gained the key skills for a role in the Savings Team.

An ambition to further her career in alternative financial services brought her to Charity Bank. Claire is passionate about supporting people who save with the bank and keeping their best interests at heart.

Patrick Crawford CB

Chief Executive

Patrick joined the Bank as Chief Executive in November 2012 and was appointed a Board Executive Director in January 2014.

Between 2004 and November 2012 Patrick was Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of UK Export Finance, the operating name of the Export Credits Guarantee Department, the UK Government’s export credit agency that provides credit insurance and financial guarantees in support of British exporters. He was awarded a CB for services to exports in 2013.

Patrick was Managing Director of Emerging Africa Advisers at Standard Bank London between 2002 and 2004, which acted as the adviser to the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (an innovative debt fund established to provide loans to private sector infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa with funding in the form of equity from the governments of the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and the Switzerland, subordinated debt from three European development finance institutions and senior debt from Barclays Bank and Standard Bank).

These roles followed a twenty-six year career in international advisory services and lending in export finance and limited recourse project finance at Morgan Grenfell & Co. Limited/Deutsche Bank AG London where Patrick was a managing director and global head of project finance between 1998 and 2002 in New York and London.

Patrick became a director of The Caxton Trust in June 2014, a UK charity, which, operating under the working name of Catch Up, provides interventions to improve the literacy and numeracy of struggling learners, predominantly in the UK.

Malcolm Elliott

Deputy Chief Executive

Malcolm has spent most of his career in risk and regulatory roles, initially in banking (RBS, Chase Manhattan Bank) and then, following a period at the FSA, in the insurance sector (Legal & General, Just Retirement).

At the FSA he was one of the managers who worked with Charity Bank when it first received authorisation in 2002 and from December 2003 to May 2009 was a co-opted member of the bank’s Audit and Compliance Committee.

Gillian Howell

Finance Director

Gillian worked closely with Charity Bank in 2009, covering a number of line and project roles. In February 2016 Gillian was appointed Acting Finance Director.

A Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants body, Gillian has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services sector. She has covered a diverse range of roles from Management, Financial and Strategic accounting through to large scale Programme Management for a range of banks and financial institutions including Deutche Bank, Bankers Trust, Mitsubishi Finance Dean Witter and GT Asset Management.

Since moving into ethical finance, she has used her skills to support Charity Bank’s banking for good model, using finance to support charities and social enterprises across the UK.

Peter Kelly

Business Development Director

Peter joined Charity Bank in October 2015 as Business Development Director bringing with him over thirty years’ experience across banking and community finance. Peter joined from Unity Trust Bank where he spent three years as Business Development and Marketing Director.

In 2000 Peter set up the first financial inclusion unit in the UK banking sector, positioning Barclays as a thought leader and raising awareness of the challenges faced by underserved communities and consumers within the bank. In 2005 in Ghana he launched an innovative and sustainable financial inclusion proposition to link Susu, an indigenous financial services system, to mainstream banking. This extended microfinance to some of the least affluent in Ghana such as the small market trader.

Peter is passionate about the role of community finance in tackling financial exclusion. He was actively involved in supporting the launch and development of several community development finance institutions and was a director of the Aston Reinvestment Trust in Birmingham. Peter has worked with the Association of British Credit Unions and was previously a volunteer for the Credit Union Foundation. He was also an advisory board member for the University of Birmingham, Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM).

Caspar Mackay

Head of Credit

Caspar started his career at HSBC as an International Manager, working for seven years in a variety of commercial and retail banking roles in Asia and the Middle East.

After graduating from INSEAD with distinction, he founded and managed a retail business which he sold in late 2009.

Caspar worked for over four years for Big Issue Invest Limited, before joining Charity Bank in June 2014.

Caspar was made Head of Credit and became an Executive Director of Charity Bank in January 2015.

Carolyn Sims

Banking Director

Carolyn began her banking career with National Westminster Bank before moving on to MLA Bank Limited where she had responsibility for property investment and development lending.

After Dexia Public Finance acquired MLA Bank in the early 1990’s, Carolyn went on to become responsible for the bank’s social housing activities. She arranged finance for the first housing PFI scheme and also worked on project finance and limited recourse financing deals.

Carolyn is a trustee of a number of charities and also sits on a regeneration advisory board.

George Blunden

Chairman

George joined Charity Bank as Chairman in May 2010. His full-time career has ranged from adventure playgrounds to investment banking and fund management. He retired as senior vice president and director from AllianceBernstein Ltd in December 2009. He had previously been chief executive of Union plc; a director of SG Warburg Securities, Seccombe, Marshall and Campion plc; and a non-executive director of Meridian Investment Performance Services.

George is the senior independent director of the insurer, Beazley Plc. In addition, he has always been involved in charitable activities, social housing in particular. He was the chair of Southern Housing Group from 1993 to 2006 and is now Chair of Raglan Housing Association.

Robin Budenberg CBE

Non-Executive Director

Robin joined Charity Bank in February 2015 as a Non-Executive Director. Robin is London Chairman of Centerview Partners, a US based corporate advisory firm and is also a Non-Executive Director of The Big Society Trust.

Robin was previously Chief Executive and subsequently Chairman of UK Financial Investments, the body responsible for managing the Government's investments in the UK banking industry.

Before that, Robin spent 25 years with S G Warburg/UBS advising major UK companies on strategy and corporate transactions. He also advised the UK Government on a number of issues, including the 2008 bailout of the banks.

Robin holds a degree in Law from Exeter University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse.

Mike Crabb

Non-Executive Director

Mike was appointed as a non-executive director in January 2017. He has been an advisor to the Charity Bank board credit committee since June 2014.

Mike recently retired from Standard Bank where he served as Chief Executive of Standard Merchant Bank (Asia) Ltd., based in Singapore, and also managed the bank's principal investment management portfolio.

He has a wide experience of corporate and investment banking having previously been the head of origination in Europe for CIBC World Markets, and of coverage for Standard Bank globally. As well as the business development side, he has also sat on risk committees for both institutions and managed several large recoveries. Mike has worked in the Middle East, Asia and UK.

Patrick Crawford CB

Executive Director

Patrick joined the Bank as Chief Executive in November 2012 and was appointed a Board Executive Director in January 2014.

Between 2004 and November 2012 Patrick was Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of UK Export Finance, the operating name of the Export Credits Guarantee Department, the UK Government’s export credit agency that provides credit insurance and financial guarantees in support of British exporters. He was awarded a CB for services to exports in 2013.

Patrick was Managing Director of Emerging Africa Advisers at Standard Bank London between 2002 and 2004, which acted as the adviser to the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (an innovative debt fund established to provide loans to private sector infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa with funding in the form of equity from the governments of the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and the Switzerland, subordinated debt from three European development finance institutions and senior debt from Barclays Bank and Standard Bank).

These roles followed a twenty-six year career in international advisory services and lending in export finance and limited recourse project finance at Morgan Grenfell & Co. Limited/Deutsche Bank AG London where Patrick was a managing director and global head of project finance between 1998 and 2002 in New York and London.

Patrick became a director of The Caxton Trust in June 2014, a UK charity, which, operating under the working name of Catch Up, provides interventions to improve the literacy and numeracy of struggling learners, predominantly in the UK.

Malcolm Elliott

Executive Director

Malcolm became an Executive Director of Charity Bank in January 2014. Before joining the Bank he spent most of his career in risk and regulatory roles, initially in banking (RBS, Chase Manhattan Bank) and then, following a period at the FSA, in the insurance sector (Legal & General, Just Retirement). At the FSA he was one of the managers who worked with the Bank when it first received authorisation in 2002, and from December 2003 to May 2009 was a co-opted member of the Bank’s Audit and Compliance Committee.

David Godfrey

Non-Executive Director

David Godfrey was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Charity Bank in August 2013.

David recently retired from his position as Chief Executive of UK Export Finance (ECGD). Prior to taking up the role of CEO, David had been Chief Risk Officer at Pension Insurance Corporation, a speciality insurer of defined benefit pension schemes.

He has extensive experience of corporate banking and insurance, having held posts as Head of Risk for the Wholesale Banking Division at Lloyds Banking Group from 2009 to 2011 and as a member of the Executive Board of Swiss Re. At Swiss Re he was also Chief Risk Officer for the Financial Services Group.

David has also held positions with JP Morgan in London and New York and prior to that, with Bankers Trust Company.

John Low CBE

Non-Executive Director

John is Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and became a Non-Executive Director of Charity Bank in February 2011.

Before joining CAF, John was Chief Executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), the national charity for deaf and hard of hearing people. John is also an Independent Member of Council at City University London and a Director of the Euclid Network of European Third Sector Leaders.

John moved to the voluntary sector after pursuing a twenty year career in the technology industry.

He holds a PhD in Bio-Medical Physics, is a Chartered Engineer, a Companion of the Institute of Management and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. John was awarded a CBE for services to the voluntary sector and to deaf people in 2008. He was previously an Independent Member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission and Chair of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO).

Sara Llewellin

Non-Executive Director

Sara became a Non-Executive Director of Charity Bank in August 2010.

She is Chief Executive of the Barrow Cadbury Trust, a philanthropic grant making foundation working in the fields of public policy and social justice and one of the charitable trusts pioneering social investments. She is on the Governing Council of the European Foundation Centre, the membership body of European Foundations, and is Vice-Chair of the Association of Charitable Foundations.

Sara has had a 35 year career in the not-for-profit sector.

She was previously at the City of London’s City Bridge Trust and before that was Chief Executive of St Giles Trust in South London. She has served on Futurebuilders England’s investment committee and on several lottery boards.

Sara’s roots are in social justice activism. She is a Freeman of the City of London and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Mary O'Connor

Non-Executive Director

Mary O’Connor was appointed a Non-Executive Director in August 2014.

She is currently the Global Head of Financial Institutions at the Willis Group, with responsibility for Willis’ world-wide practice in relation to all financial services clients. Her role encompasses the development of Willis’ strategy and value proposition, and the delivery of innovative risk management and broking services through Willis’ global network. As a leading expert on risk and regulation, Mary has advised clients on all aspects of risk, regulation and financial crime.

Mary’s work at Willis on capital market issues addresses the interplay of capital markets and insurance. This includes the role of capital market products such as derivatives in replacing insurance (and vice versa), the role of credit insurance solutions in obtaining capital relief, the use of insurance derivatives and other related products, and alternative finance areas such as crowd-funding.

Mary is a former Executive member of the Board of Directors of Willis Limited and a member of the world Economic Forum Project in Accelerating Capital markets development, and C5’s European Anti-Corruption Board.

Mary has held senior positions in government in the UK and the US. She joined Willis from the UK Financial Services Authority where she was Group Head of Risk and Compliance. She also served as Head of Approved Persons there, with responsibility for overseeing regulation of executives and client-facing staff working in financial services in the UK. Mary was also a manager in the Enforcement and Financial Crime Division, where she successfully led high-profile investigations into LIBOR-rigging and obtained record-breaking fines against firms and individuals.

Prior to her time at the FSA, Mary was a partner at a major US law firm in London, and an Assistant US Attorney in Washington, DC, where she reported to the current Attorney General, Eric Holder. As a securities litigator she prosecuted numerous market abuse and insider trading cases.

Mary is a dual-qualified U.S. and U.K. Lawyer. She speaks regularly on diversity issues and is active in the International Women’s Federation, Senior Women in Insurance and the Association of Professional Working Parents.

Anna Shiel

Non-Executive Director

Anna Shiel was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Charity Bank in April 2014.

Anna is currently Senior Investment Director at Big Society Capital. Big Society Capital is an independent financial institution with a social mission, set up to help grow the social investment market, so that charities and social enterprises who want to borrow money, or take on investment, can access the finance they need to do more.

Before joining Big Society Capital in 2012, Anna was a Director in Merrill Lynch’s Financial Institutions Group with responsibility for UK financial sector coverage. She spent twelve years at Merrill Lynch, providing strategic advice to banks, insurers and asset managers and working on an extensive range of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions and IPOs.

Kate Sayer

Non-Executive Director

Kate became a Non-Executive Director of Charity Bank in January 2015.

She says: “When I started to work with charities and not-for-profits it was like coming home. I love working in a sector where I share the values of my clients and I can truly commit myself.”

Kate is a Chartered Accountant, with a Diploma in Charity Accounting awarded by the ICAEW and Cass Business School. She is also a visiting lecturer at Cass Business School for courses in charity finance. Kate has extensive knowledge and experience of governance, law, VAT and tax law relating to charities, risk issues and implementing strategies. She is a regular expert speaker at conferences and helps not-for-profit organisations improve their performance.

As a member of the Charity Commission SORP Review Committee, Kate works to develop the standards for charity accounting, and she is an active member of the Charity Tax Group, helping the campaign for fairer taxation of charities. Kate has written several popular books on charity finance, including A Practical Guide to Financial Management for Charities.

Kate is a non-executive director of Development Initiatives Poverty Research, a not-for-profit company that conducts research into global funding and effectiveness of international aid. She is also a governor and Chairman of the Audit Committee at Cheltenham College.

Toby Walter

Non-Executive Director

Toby became a Non-Executive Director of Charity Bank in December 2016.

Toby is currently Home Insurance Director at Lloyds Banking Group (‘LBG’), where he has led a transformation of the Home Insurance business across LBG’s multiple brands and distribution channels increasing market share and improving customer service.

Prior to this, Toby was Director of LBG’s Chief Executive Office where he provided support and counsel to the CEO during a period of significant restructuring and turnaround of the bank to profitability, dividends and selling government owned shares.

Toby is a Chartered Accountant and has extensive banking experience, having held leadership positions across private equity, leveraged finance, portfolio management, corporate banking, digital, treasury and trading. Toby is an active fund raiser, enjoys mentoring social entrepreneurs and is a keen participant in his local community through managing and coaching rugby teams.