Pupils in Huddersfield have received a lesson in financial wellbeing after staff from Yorkshire Building Society swapped the counter for the classroom to deliver innovative Money Minds lessons at a local out of school club.
Children who attend Lindley Out of School Club learned how to prioritise spending through the society’s Money Minds ‘Wants and Needs’ activity and learned how to budget through ‘Project Party’, a fun party planning exercise.
Money Minds is a free programme consisting of a series of age-appropriate activities and projects designed to promote discussion and learning among children and young people aged five to 19 of all abilities.
Sarah Graham, retail area manager from Yorkshire Building Society, said: “Learning how to effectively manage money is a vital life skill.
“It was great to see how engaged the pupils from Lindley Out of School Club were during our Money Minds lessons. The sessions enabled them to test and expand their vocabulary and understanding of money through fun activities.
“We’re committed to supporting schools and clubs such as Lindley Out of School Club in teaching financial education and hope that our Money Minds programme will help to improve financial wellbeing in the UK in the long term.”
Elaine Nixon, business support manager at Lindley Out of School Club, said: “All the pupils really enjoyed the visit from the team from Yorkshire Building Society. They were engaged by the course materials and interacted well with the subject matter.
“It is wonderful to be able to give the children in our club more understanding of how to look after money and give them a good introduction to financial wellbeing.”
Money Minds lessons are delivered by Yorkshire Building Society colleagues as part of its award-winning corporate volunteering scheme, which allocates each employee 31 hours paid leave every year to carry out volunteering in local communities.
Topics range from keeping money safe for ages five to seven, planning a party to learn budgeting skills for children aged eight to 11, up to calculating interest and responsibilities to repay loans for older children.
Since the society launched Money Minds in 2015 more than 35,000 children in the UK have benefitted from a lesson. Last year staff delivered over 1,000 sessions.
More information about Money Minds including details on how to sign up a school for a lesson can be found at www.ybs.co.uk/your-society/money-minds.
