Society in Southport calls for Schools to register for Money Minds financial education programme

YORKSHIRE Building Society colleagues in Southport are offering to deliver innovative financial education lessons at local Schools as they aim to improve social mobility for young people.  The Society is calling for Schools in Southport to contact them at the start of the new academic year to sign up to benefit from the Society's Money Minds programme.  Money Minds is a free programme consisting of a series of activities and projects designed to promote discussion and learning about money among children and young people aged 5 to 19 of all abilities.  Recent research by the Education Policy Institute suggests the most disadvantaged pupils are more than 2 years behind their classmates when they sit their GCSE's.

Graham Stukley, Yorkshire Building Society's branch manager in Southport, said:- "Learning how to effectively manage finances is a vital life skill. As research has shown that disadvantaged pupils are over 2 years behind their peers by the time they are 16 and we want to use our colleagues' expertise in financial education to help narrow that gap. Our Money Minds sessions are designed to engage pupils and enable them to test and expand their vocabulary and understanding of money through fun activities. We're committed to supporting Schools in Southport in teaching financial education and hope that our Money Minds programme will help to improve financial capability and social mobility across the UK. If you are a teacher who is interested in having a lesson delivered then you can register on our Money Minds website."

In the 2016/17 academic year over 8,000 pupils in the UK benefitted from a Money Minds lesson.  Money Minds comprises a series of activities and projects designed to promote discussion and share learning among children and young people of all ages and abilities.  Topics range from keeping money safe for ages 5 to 7, planning a party to learn budgeting skills for children aged 8 to 11, up to calculating interest and responsibilities to repay loans for older children.  The activities seek to build decision making skills, team working abilities and practical maths knowledge as well as financial literacy.  They are delivered by Yorkshire Building Society colleagues as part of the mutual's award winning corporate volunteering scheme, which allocates each employee 31 hours' paid leave every year to carry out volunteering in local communities. Each Money Minds session is delivered in conjunction with a classroom teacher and each Society colleague completes a Classroom Ethics and Safeguarding Awareness course prior to leading the group. More information and how to register your interest about Money Minds can be found online or by emailing:- moneyminds@ybs.co.uk.