Darlington Building Society has been praised for taking a “proactive” approach to financial education by launching a series of workshops in North-East schools.
The Society has teamed up with specialist charity, WizeUp Financial Education, to deliver the programme, which was officially launched at Hummersknott Academy, in Darlington.
Around 250 youngsters took part in five one-hour workshops during a ‘Life Skills Day’ for Year 10 students.
WizeUp presenter, Imran Chowdhury covered areas including budgeting, tax, crypto currency, the history of money, saving, and investments.
Although WizeUp has delivered school workshops in other parts of the country, the partnership with Darlington Building Society is its first venture in the North-East.
Imran, 22, was able to draw on personal experience, saying: “I wish I’d been taught this kind of stuff when I was at school because, when I got my first bank card, I got carried away and ran into trouble.”
James Keating, Executive Principal at HummersknottAcademy, said: “We are always trying to expand our provision of life skills because it’s vital to educate our children for the world of work.
“To have the opportunity to educate students on all aspects of finance, in partnership with such a respected local building society, strengthens what is already an excellent provision. It takes away the fear factor of moving into the adult world where personal finance is crucial to everyday life.”
Assistant Principal Judith Bailey, who leads on personal development at the school, added: “It’s really important that our young people know about finance, money and budgeting, and it’s particularly relevant during the current cost of living crisis.
“It’s brilliant having Darlington Building Society on board in supporting financial education in schools because it makes it easy to access expertise. The Society also gives us brilliant support through our careers conventions.”
Cody Godfrey was one of the Year 10 students to benefit from the workshops. He said: “I know about Darlington Building Society because I have an account with them, and so does all my family. It was really useful to have financial matters explained to us because it’s so important in everyday life. I’d definitely recommend it to other schools.”
Louise Thorpe, Distribution Director for the Society, said: “It was such a pleasure to be at Hummersknott Academy to see the impact our financial education programme is having on young people. This is a real priority for us because we want to use our expertise for the benefit of the local community, and helping young people to manage their finances is more important than ever.”