A volunteer project that helps local people develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to make the right financial choices.
What is Financial Capability? | Get involved | Working in schools | Working in communities
What is financial capability?
Being financially capable means knowing how to manage your money sensibly, plan for the future, choose financial products and understand financial matters.
Building people’s confidence in dealing with personal finance allows them to budget more effectively. If we can help low income families and young people become more informed about tackling and avoiding debt, they can, in the longer term, fulfil their potential in society.
Government and policy makers have made financial education a priority through investment in financial education in schools, money guidance for adults and enhancing the status of economic education. This leaves the door open for businesses and organisations to support this agenda. The ICAEW is extremely well placed to respond to these developments by building on our current work and success already achieved - we are now in a position to maximise our involvement.
ICAEW Real life solutions
The ICAEW works in the public interest with schools and local communities to utilise its members’ expertise to help people manage personal finances and achieve their potential in society.
The ICAEW’s financial capability work aims to establish programmes that are responsive to the specific needs of individuals and communities. The ICAEW brings its members and expertise to schools and communities, working to provide the skills, knowledge and confidence to make the financial choices that are right for them, to improve lives.
Get involved
Taking part is a great way to put something back and add value to your local community. You will also be able to develop a positive company image and fulfill a range of corporate social responsibility objectives.
Individual volunteers will have the opportunity to develop and extend a range of personal and professional skills.
Working in schools
FSA surveys have discovered that 29% of 16-24 year olds admit to not knowing how to prepare and manage a weekly budget. Only 39% of late teens have a savings account.
ICAEW is trying to address this problem by creating a volunteer network of members dedicated to raising the level of financial capability in schools.
‘By volunteering you get to see the world through your customers’ eyes and understand the challenges facing tomorrow’s consumers. I’d urge anyone in finance to get involved in getting much-needed money skills into young people’s lives.’
Jeremy Cox ACA, Coventry Building Society
The schools initiative is run in partnership with pfeg (the Personal Finance Education Group). ICAEW members receive training to enable them to go into the schools to support teachers in incorporating personal finance education into their lesson plans.
The project is structured flexibly to allow members to participate in a way that best suits them. Apart from working closely with teachers, members are also involved in supporting a host of financial capability events and challenges throughout the UK.
Each year, the project also holds ‘My Money Week’, which seeks to provide a nationwide focus on financial capability for young people in primary and secondary schools. This year, My Money Week took place from 28 June to 4 July.
Feedback from the schools indicates that the project has been very well received. Research shows that the majority of teachers would like to teach financial literacy but do not feel that they have the skills and confidence to do so. ICAEW member volunteers are going some way to remedying this gap.
Working in communities
In the UK’s most deprived areas, people are trapped in poverty by disengagement from education and a low level of financial literacy.
In the wider community, the ICAEW is collaborating with Grant Thornton LLP and the National Skills Academy for Financial Services (NSAFS) to develop a financial capability programme with Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association (Poplar HARCA) in Tower Hamlets.
The four organisations, including young local residents, are working to create an online resource offering money-management skills and guidance to vulnerable residents, community leaders and housing association staff.
In its final form, the tool will give both residents and community organisations an easy-to-use, bespoke resource to underpin their understanding of money management, as well as point to further avenues of training and volunteer support. Uniquely, the programme will not only help individuals, but will also empower community leaders and practitioners to promote the benefits of long-term financial capability within their neighbourhood.
We hope to use this resource to launch a nationwide money management programme in 2011 for other disadvantaged communities, vulnerable community groups and schools in the UK which in turn will require the support of member volunteers.
Further information
Contact us
To get involved and to find local opportunities or to learn more about the work in communities and how you can support other communities in 2011, please contact Sarah Barber on Sarah.Barber@icaew.com or call 020 7920 8543.