Barclays Money Skills

A key part of our community investment strategy in the UK is Barclays Money Skills, a programme which helps young people to build the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to manage their money more effectively.

Barclays Money Skills workshop

We believe that we can make the biggest difference to society when we focus on the areas where we can share our core expertise. This will make sure our actions really count. We invest in projects that build financial inclusion, financial capability and support enterprise because that is where we believe we can make the biggest social impact for the communities we serve. Our goal is to help people better access, make and manage their money to help make their lives much easier.

Barclays Money Skills has been developed in partnership with leading UK charities and is delivered by specialist community workers and Barclays employees in a range of settings, including one-to-one sessions and group seminars. The programme tackles topics such as opening a bank account; budgeting, saving and spending; and gives practical guidance on what to do when something goes wrong.

We are investing £15 million in this industry-leading initiative, and have recently announced new partnership projects with three leading youth charities - Action for Children, the National Skills Academy for Financial Services and the National Youth Agency - to help us reach one million people with the programme by 2012.

Find out more about our projects:

  • Action for Children

    We have been working in partnership with Action for Children for more than four years now, delivering a range of programmes focused on improving financial capability and life chances for thousands of vulnerable young people and their families.

    Through Barclays Money Skills we’re extending our partnership to benefit more than 2,500 of the hardest to reach young people. The programme will reach a range of Action for Children young people and families including:

    • young parents in Children’s Centres who are struggling on a tight budget
    • young people in youth clubs and training centres needing general money management advice to prepare them for work
    • young people in hostels and care services who are getting ready to manage their own tenancy for the first time.

    Barclays volunteers support the sessions, bringing their expertise to help young people learn how to get started with topics like budgeting, managing bank accounts and making informed financial decisions.

    We look forward to continuing our work making a positive difference to the lives of thousands of young people across the UK.

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  • Barclays Money Skills ‘weeks’

    Going to college presents new financial challenges for many students, and the learning curve can be steep. Although students should be concentrating on their college work during this exciting time, many are preoccupied by concerns over money.

    Barclays Money Skills ‘weeks’ have been designed to give students an awareness of personal finance issues and to provide them with some tools to control their budget. By strengthening students’ financial skills, confidence and knowledge, we aim to reduce their financial stress and to increase their chances of achieving their education goals. In 2011, 150 colleges and 90,000 students will participate in Barclays Money Skills weeks, through our partnership with the National Skills Academy for Financial Services. The learning weeks will engage young people in money management issues, through events and tutorials at their local college, to develop their financial knowledge and skills.

    Barclays employees play an important role, by helping facilitate the sessions and by sharing their professional expertise in the tutorials and workshops, as well as talking about their experiences with students interested in a career in the finance industry.
     

  • Barclays Money Skills ‘champions’

    Through our newest partnership we are working with a consortium of six leading charities, led by the National Youth Agency, to provide money management training and support for up to 5,000 disadvantaged young people who are not in education, employment or training.

    These young people will be provided with support to build their financial skills and confidence, as well as training to enable them to become Barclays Money Skills ‘champions’ within their own peer group. Through this model we are hoping to be able to reach up to 100,000 young people.

    A group of highly respected youth and information charities are combining their skills and expertise to make this project a success, including The National Youth Agency, Citizens Advice, Rathbone UK, UKYouth, YouthNet and Youth Access. Each charity will bring their own unique experience and perspective which will inform the development of this innovative peer education model.
     

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  • Activity packs

    These resources have been designed to help support and facilitate the delivery of  Barclays Money Skills sessions.

    Downloads

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