Local students learn to manage their money with Community Savings

Saturday 27 December 2014

Students from five Jersey secondary schools have taken part in Community Savings Ltd’s Money Management programme this year thanks to funding the charity received from the 2013 Barclays Community Awards.

The Money Management programme is designed to encourage students to think about their relationship with money and how they react to consumer advertising, branding and special offers. The programme emphasises the importance of planning (and sticking to) a budget and the need to always have savings.

The charity received £5,000 from the Barclays Community Awards last year to help develop the programme including the purchase of a laptop and funding for the staff member delivering the sessions.

Donna Thompson, from the Barclays community team, recently attended a session run by the charity with some of the year 10 students at Le Rocquier School.

Community Savings currently runs the programme in five island secondary schools, including Le Rocquier, and recently ran courses on the Job Fest programme run by Social Security.  It is also having discussions to expand the programme into other schools and local organisations where students and members might benefit from the training.

Community Savings was established in 2002 to offer account facilities, budgeting and mentoring support to those individuals who, for various reasons, cannot access mainstream banking facilities or gain access to support to manage their finances.

“One of Community Savings’ key objectives is to run awareness-raising campaigns focusing on money management and financial literacy issues so we were honoured to receive a Barclays Community Award last year in support of our Money Management programme,” said Melanie Cavey, development officer at Community Savings.

“The award enabled us to develop the programme further but, importantly, the recognition we received from Barclays and the additional support they have offered to our charity has been of great value to our organisation.”

Paul Declat, Barclays director in Jersey and judge for the Community Awards, said: “Developing the skills young people need to fulfill their potential is extremely important and is a key objective for the Barclays Community Awards in Jersey.

“Community Savings’ Money Management programme offers local students a fun and interactive way to learn basic money management skills. The programme helps ensure they have the confidence and knowledge to manage their finances which is such an important skill to have as they move into the working world or on to university.”