The Cumberland has partnered with skills educator FutureJam to deliver a financial literacy programme to primary schools.
Pupils in the building society’s operating areas of Cumbria, Lancashire and South West Scotland will learn the essential life skill of how to manage money.
FutureJam, a community interest company, delivers interactive MoneyJam workshops to pupils aged seven to 11 with the aim of setting young people up for success in their later lives.
Claire Deekes, chief customer officer at The Cumberland, said: “We have been delivering a financial literacy programme in local primary schools for a number of years, and we are delighted to continue this work through our new partnership with FutureJam and their fun interactive MoneyJam workshops.
“Learning about budgeting and saving in real life situations is really important to give youngsters confidence as they grow up.
“By developing these skills, hopefully we can help them to take control and work towards their aims and goals in life.”
Children as young as nine enjoyed a MoneyJam lesson at Alston Primary School recently where they learned how to budget and how to make decisions about what they can afford. They took part in an exercise to plan a school party where they had to decide how to spend a £100 budget.
Teacher Judy Humphrey said the workshop had engaged pupils.
She said: “It is a really good activity to do with children at this age when some of them are starting to get some more freedom. The earlier they can start the better.”
The Cumberland is sponsoring the delivery of 60 workshops in 30-plus primary schools located in and around its branch communities, with each school receiving two sessions.
The aim is to help children build confidence in understanding money, making choices and developing positive financial habits. There will also be six parent financial literacy sessions and 16 teacher training sessions.
Cumberland colleagues will also be involved in delivering the workshops, and leadership engagement events will be hosted in schools.
Eleni Varon, the FutureJam facilitator who led the session at Alston, said teaching children how to think about budgeting and how to have conversations about what you can and can’t afford was an essential life skill.
“Hopefully normalising the topic means a new generation of young people will feel a lot more in control and comfortable with having these conversations and making these kinds of decisions,” she said.
“Transferable life skills which you can bring to different job roles and careers are very important.”
