UK-based charities Get Set Girls, RedSTART Educate, and Crosslight Advice will put their CISI Future Foundation (the Foundation) grant money towards providing financial literacy programmes to disadvantaged people.
- Get Set Girls receives £39,589 for its ‘Empowered and Enriched’ programme
- RedSTART Educate receives £100,000 for its ‘Change the Game’ programme
- Crosslight Advice receives £105,000 for its ‘Money Skills’ programme
Empowered and Enriched
Get Set Girls provides opportunities for personal growth to disadvantaged girls. This includes training, skills and social activities. The organisation also works in collaboration with local colleges to deliver additional training and courses.
Its Empowered and Enriched programme will teach practical financial skills to 90 girls aged between 6 and 19 from low-income families and minority ethnic groups in the London boroughs of Hackney and Haringey.
The programme will empower them to manage their finances responsibly and confidently, helping to prepare them for adulthood by learning about budgeting, debt prevention and investment. They will benefit from seven hours of mentoring per week and participate in monthly workshops focusing on putting theory into practice through fun methods such as group work, displays, skits, reports and speeches.
Rabbi Dunner (pictured right), chair of Get Set Girls, said: “We are thrilled to be able to support young people, regardless of their incomes, into financially successful adulthood by providing them with the skills to ensure they can manage their money effectively. We are so grateful to the CISI Future Foundation for generously giving us this opportunity.”
RedSTART Educate delivers financial education through progressive learning to disadvantaged primary school children aged 4–11 throughout the UK. Its Change the Game programme, delivered by volunteers through workshops in schools and complemented by a Money Management App, provides each student with around ten hours of financial education per academic year. The goal is to help children improve their financial and maths skills, confidence, employability prospects and life chances
RedSTART Educate has also allocated some of the funding received by the Foundation to evaluate the impact of its programme via a longitudinal study conducted in partnership with the Policy Institute at Kings College London. The study will assess the children’s financial knowledge progress yearly throughout their primary schooling, with the aim to provide actionable evidence to policymakers to address the discrepancies in financial literacy in the UK.
Rhodri Mason (pictured left with RedSTART CEO Sarah Marks and CISI Future Foundation manager Jennifer Craddock), chair of RedSTART’s board, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded funding from the Future Foundation for our Change the Game programme. This multi-year agreement will be a huge support to us in delivering and scaling our activity over the next couple of years. In addition, we hope to work with CISI members to facilitate volunteering opportunities at workshops in our schools across the UK.”
Money Skills
Crosslight Advice assists people out of poverty and increases their life chances by providing debt advice and financial skills education and training across London, Swindon and West Kent. This grant marks the Foundation’s initial effort to support adults in developing financial literacy skills.
With the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, financially disadvantaged people face increasingly challenging circumstances, resulting in a growing demand for adult financial education. The Foundation should help support over 1,000 individuals in its first year of funding
Its Money Skills programme will deliver over 100 in-person and virtual workshops offering insights into the impact of finance and mental health, practical steps to save money, budget coaching over six months and training to equip others to deliver money and budgeting skills support.
Bruce Connell, chief executive of Crosslight Advice, said: “We’re delighted to receive the CISI’s support to help us build the financial resilience of those on the economic margins. This generous grant will help us provide advice and assistance to even greater numbers of households who are struggling.”
Nick Swales OBE, DL, Chartered FCSI(Hon), chair of the Foundation, said: “All three organisations demonstrated a robust, sustainable and targeted approach to their work. As a result, the Foundation’s trustees are delighted to be supporting their dedication to furthering financial literacy education.
