St James’s Place is joining forces with the charity Young Enterprise to support schools looking to become centres of excellence for financial education.
The firm will sponsor 21 education providers - seven each year over the next three years - mainly in deprived areas across the UK.
The providers will be helped to become accredited centres of excellence for financial education via a consultant from Young Enterprise, sponsored by SJP to work one to one with the school.
The first education providers to be confirmed are Tonge Moor Primary Academy in Bolton, Whitefield Primary School in Liverpool; and Moor House School & College in Oxted, a special education school in Surrey.
Vicki Foster, division director, responsible business at SJP, said the firm is committed to being a “leading responsible business”.
“This means creating a positive impact through committing to help improve financial education for young people,” she said.
“By creating lesson plans and facilitating financial education training sessions for teachers, we are taking practical steps that are fundamental to developing and expanding financial literacy across the UK.”
Foster said with the backing of Young Enterprise, SJP is helping to build an accessible financial education programme within schools.
“The community-based programme is supported by local SJP partners and employees from our wider business, and we hope that as the programme develops, each of the centres of excellence will share their learnings with others and improve access to financial education across the board,” she said.
In addition, SJP will be forming four further partnerships in its first year with schools in Swindon, London, Solihull, and Leeds.
SJP said its partnership with Young Enterprise aims to support education providers – including primary and secondary schools - on their accreditation journey, providing academic staff with the tools and resources needed to teach financial literacy and help build the financial confidence of students across the UK.
Sharon Davies, chief executive officer at Young Enterprise, said: “Financial education has the power to transform lives. Managing and understanding your finances is a skill that stays with you throughout your life.
“We look forward to working alongside their regional teams to foster long-term and sustainable relationships with local schools; and empowering young people to discover, develop and celebrate their skills and potential, while also positively impacting the communities they live in.”
SJP employees and advisers will play a key role in this partnership, supporting Young Enterprise consultants with the delivery of financial education workshops, work experience opportunities, teacher training and mentoring.
sonia.rach@ft.com
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