Charity spotlight MyBNK

Charity spotlight MyBNK

Welcome back to the second in our Upstream Charity Spotlight series. Today we’re shining a light on MyBnk and their awesome mission to make a lasting impact on children and young people’s lives with independent, expert-led financial education.

MyBNK are an independent foundation set up to promote financial education. They focus on financial literacy, money knowledge and personal banking skills as well as positive mindsets and productive habits. MyBNK courses and content is designed to help kids develop into financially literate adults who can manage their own finances effectively when they’re all grown up and let loose on the world! That is something a few of us at Upstream wish we’d had when we were kids!

MyBNK has supported over 220,000 children and young people globally

MyBNK was founded in 2007 and since its inception they have reached and supported over 220,000 children and young people in over 1,000 schools and youth organisations all over the world. Over the course of the last 12 months alone, MyBNK has helped more than 20,000 children and young adults through over 5,000 hours of learning in 215 different schools. The kids have been provided with educational workshops to teach them how to manage their money independently.

MyBNK has the UK’s strongest collection of evidence on the impact of financial education on children and young people. They employ a range of data-collection methods to evaluate the effect of their workshops and ensure teachers, facilitators and students get the most out the sessions.

Free resources for school age children

The Family Money Twist is a free online resource aimed at children aged from 5 to 7 years old. Families can use the website and activity sheets together at home, and educators can incorporate the content into their adapted curriculums for delivery in schools. The Family Money Twist gets families talking about money together and helps children to develop positive money habits and mind-sets from a young age. The course consists of videos, quizzes and engaging activity sheets covering the following topics:

• Where Money Comes From: Ways of earning money.
• Practical Value: The cost of everyday items and the value of things in a home.
• Needs and Wants: Understanding needs and wants, making choices with money and resisting temptation.
• Keeping Track of Money: Why it is important to keep track of spending and how to do it.
• Saving: Why it is important to save.

Helping young adults

One of MyBNK’s programmes aimed at young adults is their #MoneyHacks initiative. This programme is dedicated to delivering financial workshops to first year University students at a critical time in their adult financial development. The program gives students vital information and teaches them the skills they need to manage their own money for the first time, make the right decisions when those big loan payments come in and ease those Uni money worries. You can find out more about #MoneyHacks on the MyBNK blog here.

Guy Rigden, CEO of MyBNK says on the MyBNK website: “Being a fresher is an exciting but potentially daunting time for new students for the first time, many will live independently, receive more money in a lump sum than they’ve ever seen before and then be offered further credit. #MoneyHacks catches students just in time to de-dramatise personal finance, instil good money habits and help avoid the pitfalls and stress triggers, so students can concentrate on their studies and enjoy university.” Source: mybnk.org.

UK based with global reach

MyBNK offer in person workshops and courses all over the UK. Their main office is in London, but provides localised support through a wide range of programs in Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex. Through regional education officers they also offer support in and around Southampton and Liverpool, reaching out to Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. In Scotland, based out of Livingston they offer courses in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Falkirk and Dundee.

They don’t stop at the UK either, oh no. They have supported young people in France, Italy and Turkey in Europe. Namibia, Uganda and Ghana in Africa. Brunei, USA, Lebanon, Vietnam and Guatemala across the rest of the world. WOW ?

Award winning positive impact

MyBNK has won countless awards through the years, highlighting what a positive impact they are having on young people and their financial well being. Most recently their Money House project won the 2021 London Homelessness award. The Money House project supports young people who are moving into social housing by teaching them the skills they need to manage their rent and bills. This has seen an amazing 64% drop in evictions for members of the programmes that are at risk of becoming homeless.

Filling an obvious hole in modern education

We are really excited by the work MyBNK are doing as this sort of practical financial education is conspicuous by its absence in our children’s education. MyBNK’s work is helping to fill a hole in the knowledge base of young people leaving school and venturing out into the real world for the first time. We think they’re amazing!

I hope you found this article informative and if you’re intrigued and want to learn more about how MyBNK are helping young people take control of their finances then feel free to visit their website or check out their 2020 annual report here.