Welcome to our action packed celebration of a truly knockout 2014 on the frontline of financial education and enterprise for young people!
This year saw the introduction of compulsory money lessons into the secondary national curriculum for the first time. There were big drops in youth unemployment, unity in the sector with the formation of the Youth Financial Capability Group and yes, MyBnk helped our 100,000th young person learn to manage their money and start their own enterprise.
However, we continue to face challenges and are barely scratching the surface in bringing high quality and impactful financial capability programmes and enterprise experiences to the UK’s 7.4 million 16-24 year olds.
Youth unemployment is still stubbornly high, as are the number of long term jobless youths and Neets. Finally, the limited introduction of financial education to the national curriculum, lack of post GCSE provision, proposals for testing and restrictions on teachers time and training means huge gaps in provision remain.
Here is how we have been tackling these issues in the last 12 months:
- Delivering over 5,000 hours of expert-led programmes to 31,489 young people via 261 host organisations across 59 local authorities. 45% of these hosts were state secondary schools, helped by funders like Prudential and Comic Relief. Delivery out-of-school, like Leaving Care Units, was supported by the City Bridge Trust and enterprise projects by the Big Lottery Fund.
- Helping nearly 1,000 young adults tackle debt and make important financial decisions in 653 hours of 1-2-1 Money Advice Service sessions in community settings, such as housing associations and community centres.
- Accrediting 474 young people with ABC Level 1 Personal Money Management certificates through our debt intervention project, Money Works.
- Mapping our workshops to the new National Curriculum requirements.
- Forming a Teachers Advisory Panel with other members of the Youth Financial Capability Group.
- Spreading awareness of financial literacy to 80,000 young people across the globe during Learn Money Week with workshops, free resources and competitions.
- Piloting new physical financial education programmes with Activate Sport and delivering via the National Citizens Service.
- Winning the Evidence Award and achieving Standard Three validation from Project Oracle – proving the impact of our programmes.
- Launching new youth-led banking schemes at Mount Carmel Catholic College for Girls and Walthamstow School for Girls and receiving ‘WOW’ banker applications.
- Sharing our stories with media like The Guardian, BBC Radio 4 and The Economist and wider civil society via our Twitter and Facebook profiles.
- Contributing to investigations and consultations with the Department for Education and the think tank Centre for Social Justice.
- Running pop-up shops with young people via Peter Jones Enterprise Academy and helping students at Pupil Referral Units make big market day profits.
- Adding, with the help of our Youth Advisory Panel, new social enterprise products to our direct selling workshop, Enterprise-in-a-Box.
- Presenting our programmes, methodology and the amazing achievements of young people at events hosted by the Money Advice Service, JP Morgan, People’s Post Code Lottery, The Economist Retail Banker Summit and Unltd.
What is next?
We cannot wait to get stuck into 2015 and start exciting new delivery projects with the Asfari Foundation and ING Bank and expansion projects via Awards for All and Franklin Templeton. MyBnk will also continue to develop our new Impact Centre which proves and improves the quality and delivery of our programmes.
Stay tuned for January as we circulate our new Annual Report, release the chin stroking findings of the MyBnker Savers Survey and launch a brand new microfinance savings scheme at St Michael’s Catholic College.
We cannot do it alone….
As a growing charity, we rely on the kind donations of our supporters, and every contribution is invaluable to us. MyBnk are working hard to raise funds to continue our vital work with young people and with your help we can do it!
Just £12 will arm a young person with real life money skills that will enable them to take control of their finances and reduce the risk of debt and poverty.
Donating can make a direct and instant impact on the lives of young people across England, to move into independent living, including vulnerable young people not in mainstream education.
Find out how
you can help build a financially literate and enterprise driven generation.
Merry Christmas from everyone at MyBnk and have a super savvy New Year!
