MyBnk

A group of young entrepreneurs have been given a taste of running their own business thanks to a week-long summer project

The 17 Chester-Le-Street teenagers have been taking part in an Enterprise and Money Skills Week, designed to give them an insight into the world of work.

During the project the group split into 4 teams with each choosing a product to sell. They then took part in a number of expert workshops covering areas such as planning, budgeting and marketing before selling their products at Chester-Le-Street market on the day that the Test-Match Cricket started – so the market was thriving!

The products chosen by the groups all had an exclusive ethical edge and included handbags made by women in Italian prisons, a CD of songs performed by persecuted African choirs and most popular product, “seedboms”, made from recycled egg boxes which are designed to plant seeds of wild flowers.

The event was organised by social local landlord Cestria Community Housing, Durham County Council’s One Point youth service, award-winning financial education charity MyBnk and Five Lamps. This project was funded by North East Procurement, Future Sparks

Cestria’s financial inclusion manager Suzanne Jobson, who co-ordinated the project, said:

“I was really impressed with how well the groups did – they all completely sold out of their products on the last day which was fantastic and have said that they feel it has been a really valuable experience”

The teenagers, aged from 16 to 18, were allowed to keep any profit they made from selling their products – making £391 between them during the week as well as receiving a £50 high street voucher from One Point as a thank you for attending the week and engaging with every task they were asked. The normal format for the Enterprise project is 3 weeks, but these young people completed in just 1 and excelled beyond their own expectations.

The Enterprise and Money Skills Week was supported by a number of local business including CDC Enterprise Agency, IPB Communications, Five Lamps, Keepmoat and Springs Roofing.

In July 2013, High Tunstall College of Science in Hartlepool worked with Five Lamps’ MyBnk Project to introduce their year 10 business students to Social Enterprise through the Enterprise-in-a-Box programme

Enterprise-in-a-Box is the most popular programme for schools and colleges in the North East. The sessions provide a short sharp shock experience of letting young people run their own companies. It gives them hands-on experience using exclusive ethical tool-kits.

The ethical tool-kits range from seedboms, guerrilla gardening hand-grenade flower bombers, Made-in-Carcere (Italian; Made in prison) are up cycled waste textiles that would otherwise go to landfill and cause environmental problems and an African Prison Project CD by Condemned Choir in an Ugandan prison, the main aim of this CD is to raise money for human rights and legal aid.

As part of the challenge the students learnt about social enterprise and the skills to become a social entrepreneur. They also found about planning and running their own social enterprise including advertising, selling and record keeping. Other key aims of the project are for young people to be able to present back on their social enterprise experiences and also undertake self-reflection of skills learnt.

Tom, 14 said

“I thought it was good, creative and enterprising”

The next part of the challenge was for the teams to go off into the world with their tool-kits and started selling straight away using all the skills from the first session. These skills include negotiation, team work, problem-solving and tackling challenging customers head on.

The challenge was a real success and the 5 teams who took part managed to raise £120.50 by selling the tool-kits to other pupils, teachers and friends and family members.

Hunbal, 14 said

“It was good because you can help change the environment in Ugandan prisons…also you keep the profit”

The sessions had a positive impact on the students: 93% improvement in their understanding of what social enterprise is; 79% improvement in their ability to work out expected profit for a business; 86% improvement in their confidence in taking on responsibility and 100% improvement in their intention to set up their own business in the future.

Five lamps’ MyBnk project offer Enterprise education as well as Financial Inclusion and are all suited to tie in with many areas of the curriculum including Maths, English, Business Studies, PGCE, Work Related Learning and many more such as PSHEE.

In July 2013, Five Lamps delivered MyBnk Project’s financial education workshops to over 150 students in one day

The day consisted of 3 groups of 50 students all receiving a 2 hour workshop in personal finance. The sessions, taken from the award-winning Money Twist programme looked at youth employment, needs vs wants, budgeting and saving for the future.

The day was really successful and the young students who took part really enjoyed the day. Olivia, 14 said

“It was good and interesting to learn so many things about money and how to manage it now and in the future”

MyBnk help 11-25 year olds manage their money effectively and make enterprising choices. Money Twist arms young people with real life money skills through a series of workshops. Aimed at 11-26 year olds, the three session programme can be delivered in one day or over two/three separate sessions.

The content of a full programme includes: My Money: History and features of money, forms of payment, currency and exchange rates; My Choices: Budgeting, youth employment, minimum wage, needs vs. wants and saving; and My Future: Interest, accounts, ethical banking, flow of money and future of money.

Callum, 14 said

“I think the MyBnk workshop was good because I learnt a lot about personal finance”

Abbigail, 14 said

“It was fun and exciting and I learnt how to manage my money more sensibly”

Mr Warren, Head of Maths at Ormesby School said

“Great! Sessions were lively, well presented and engaged all students at an appropriate level”

Five lamps’ MyBnk project offer Enterprise education as well as Financial Inclusion and are all suited to tie in with many areas of the curriculum including Maths, English, Business Studies, PGCE, Work Related Learning and many more such as PSHEE.

During December 2013, eleven Year 10 students from The Hermitage Academy took part in MyBnk’s Enterprise Educational programme, Business Battle

From the drawing board to market place in one week, in teams, students pitched their ideas to secure a 0% loan of up to £40.

MyBnk helps 11-25 year olds manage their money effectively and make enterprising choices. Courtney, 14 said “Business battle is excellent and a great opportunity for young people!”

The content of a full Business Battle programme includes: Ideas generation: an introduction that inspires young people to generate their own ideas, considering the target audience’s wants and needs; Product design, budget and costs: Young people refine their ideas into a final ‘design’, and then research suppliers to create a materials list within their set budget; Logistics and production: utilising each member’s strengths, teams delegate tasks to create their product / service ready for market place; Pricing and marketing: Evaluating the production process, pricing structures are decided, as well as a strategy to attract and sell to customers; Sell, sell, sell!: Teams attend a pre-designated market place to advertise and sell the designed products or services to a real customer audience and finally Reflection: a practical evaluation activity is run. Winners are announced and prizes handed out.

Against the clock, with prizes and profit at stake for those who shine, all participants had to collaborate to make their project a success. The battle encouraged teamwork and rewarded initiative, whilst working under pressure.

All three teams that participated really enjoyed their MyBnk experience:

Team 1 – CCAB
CCAB (A team of 4 girls, Chloe, Courtney, Abbie and Beth) borrowed £13.70 to fund their idea of handmade cards and personalised baubles. They made their items to order as their fellow students from the Hermitage had heard about their new business venture. On Friday 6 December 2013, after selling at Chester-Le-Street market place, they paid their loan back in full after a GROSS profit of £54.70, and had a healthy NET profit of £41.00!

Team 2 – Christmas Stars
Christmas Stars (A team of 1 boy and 2 girls, Michael, Tiff and Khloe) decided they would make cakes, brownies, biscuits, hot chocolate and a free bracelet with every purchase. They borrowed £28.81, they made a GROSS profit £46.00 and after paying their loan back in full they had a NET profit of £17.19!

Team 3 – Snowed In
Snowed In (A team of 4 boys; Ryan, Jack, Aidan and William)) borrowed £11.11 and sold snow shovels, sledges and handmade baubles. The snow shovels SOLD OUT when another Market Trader bought them at cost price towards the end of the day. The boys made a GROSS profit of £31.10 and after paying their loan back in full; their NET profit was £19.99!

Tiffany, 15 said “I had fun whilst making money – it was excellent!”
Five lamps’ MyBnk project offer Enterprise education as well as Financial Inclusion and are all suited to tie in with many areas of the curriculum including Maths, English, Business Studies, PGCE, Work Related Learning and many more such as PSHEE.

In July 2013, Five Lamps delivered six taster sessions of Money Twist to 137 year 7 and year 8 students at Durham Community Business College

Money Twist gets young people excited about money through a series of hands-on workshops. Delivered as stand-alone sessions Mr Mote, Head of Maths at Durham Community Business College chose ‘My Choices’ which looks at budgeting, youth employment, minimum wage, needs vs wants and saving for the future.

Chantelle, 13 said

“The MyBnk workshop was good and I am going to change my spending habits”

Money Twist involves writing, presenting, drawing, maths and problem solving. It uses real life case studies, colourful resources, games and videos drawn from their age group, popular culture, enabling students to explore and form their own opinions regarding their relationship with money. Activities cater for a wide variety of learning styles, with many extensions and variations to suit the needs of the participants.

Jake, 12 said

“I thought it was an excellent. It is the best lesson I have ever been taught and I wish I could be taught this every day”

The sessions had a positive impact on the students: 89% improvement in their understanding of three realistic ways to save money; 89% improvement in their ability to prioritise needs and wants and 86% improvement in their ability to use a budget to help me make effective use of my money.

Five lamps’ MyBnk project offer Enterprise education as well as Financial Inclusion and are all suited to tie in with many areas of the curriculum including Maths, English, Business Studies, PGCE, Work Related Learning and many more such as PSHEE.

In March 2013, Bishopsgarth School invited Five Lamps’ MyBnK Project to deliver a taster session in Money Twist Key Stage 4

The school used the back-to-back Money Twist session to start ‘Learn Money Week’ with year 10 students.The topics included in the sessions were payslips, tax and national insurance; careers and minimum wage and Government spending.

One of the preferred activities of the students was a section where the young people got to be Lord Chancellor of the Exchequer and had a go at the Budget….with only £693bn to spend and being in control of all the purse-strings apart from interest Britain owes out from Borrowing.

The sessions had a positive impact on the students: 75% improvement in their understanding of minimum wage; 64% improvement in their understanding of what deductions are made from a person’s payslip and an 80% improvement in their understanding of how the government spends tax money.

Five lamps’ MyBnk project offer Enterprise education as well as Financial Inclusion and are all suited to tie in with many areas of the curriculum including Maths, English, Business Studies, PGCE, Work Related Learning and many more such as PSHEE.

In March 2013, Cestria Housing Association in Chester-Le-Street was awarded funding by North East Procurement – Future Sparks.

The funding was secured to promote financial and enterprise awareness to young people in County Durham.

Financial Inclusion Manager Suzanne Jobson at Cestria, found an opportunity to get Five Lamps’ MyBnk project involved, allowing schools and community centres working with young people aged 11-25 access to the MyBnk services free of charge.

The first Academy to sign up to the Project was The Hermitage Academy & Sixth Form. Janice Riley, head of Sixth Form at The Hermitage Academy, recognised that some of her sixth formers had not applied to University and she wanted to make sure that everybody knew their options when it came to student finance. Janice agreed that Five Lamps’ MyBnk project would deliver 3 Uni Dosh Programmes to 75 students in the run up to UCAS applications deadlines and applying to the Student Loans Company for tuition fees and living costs.

75 student’s aged 17- 18 all received 2 hours of workshop activity looking at student income and borrowing, student expenditure and managing money as a student. Uni Dosh offers a comprehensive overview of university money matters and structures. Participants are encouraged to consider their personal circumstances, give their own views and critically analyse the various financial situations that students face. The workshop is designed to get young people planning ahead and evaluating the choices they will have to make at university.

Here is how the student’s knowledge, confidence and understanding improved over the session:

• 92% of students reported a good or better understanding of what grants, bursaries and scholarships are
• 92% of students reported a good or better understanding of the positives and negatives of different types of borrowing
• 93% of students reported their intention to budget their money more regularly
• 58% of students reported their intention to change their spending habits
• 96% of students reported a good or better understanding of the cost of the things they will be spending their money on when they are at university
• 97% of students reported their confidence in making money decisions.

This project is supported by Cestria Housing Association and Future Sparks, as well as learning about money the young people have the opportunity to participate in enterprise activities where they can make some real money whilst getting real experience of what it’s like to run a business. Cestria Housing Association will also be providing extra support in the means of site visits, master classes from the professionals and they will also be 2 openings for an apprentice position within the Housing Association.

MyBnk workshops are delivered across the North east by Five Lamps; we offer accredited Enterprise Education as well as Financial Education.

During March 2013 young people at Longfield Academy aged 14-15 received a full-day programme called Money Twist, specifically aimed at Key Stage 4 learners

Money Twist approaches financial capability in a hands-on manner as young people debate, play games, watch video case studies and involve physical activity in their learning. Participants are encouraged to give their own views and critically analyse various financial problems that people are faced with, as well as considering their own financial futures.

The workshops are designed to get young people thinking and caring about their finances, both now and in their short and long-term futures.

Money Twist is based on the Every Child Matters, Ofsted and PSHEE guidelines on financial literacy and maps into aspects of the PSHEE, Citizenship, Maths and English curriculum. It is ideal for financial capability focus days, enterprise weeks or can be built into a lesson plan over a number of weeks.

The Money Twist programme designed for KS4 learners is delivered in 3 sessions…

• My Money: Payslips, tax, national insurance, government spending, minimum wage and careers
• My Choices: Needs and wants, choices and lifestyle, budgeting, shopping deals and saving
• My Future: Interest, current and savings accounts, flow of money, ethical choices and forms of payment.

Feedback from the pupils was excellent….here’s how their confidence and skills improved over the day:

42% increase in pupils understanding of three realistic ways to save money

72% increase in pupils understanding of what deductions are made from a person’s payslip

52% increase in pupils ability to prioritise their needs and wants

The pupils said about Money Twist

“After today I will feel a lot confident because I know how to save money and I know what type of job I need. I also know how much I should expect to get paid” – Wayne, 14

“It was really fun, I learnt a lot thanks, learnt a lot of new skills” – Nathan, 15

“The MyBnk workshop helps us for when we’re older by saving money now and not spending as much; it’s useful” – Ben, 15

“Good programme, well delivered and very informative” – Miss Anna O’Shaughnessy, Curriculum Leader at Longfield Academy, Darlington

In December 2012, North Shore Academy invited Five Lamps’ MyBnk Project to deliver a taster session in personal finance to a handful of Year 9 students.

The group was selected by Assistant Head of KS4, Clare Marshall, as she recognised that the group was sure to benefit from money management education.

24 students received an hour’s stand-alone session of My Choices taken from the full programme Money Twist designed specifically for KS3 and KS4 learners. Topics which were covered in this module included needs, wants and budgeting, Youth Employment Laws and Minimum Wage and Saving.

Interactive activities were the favourite by the learners and feedback received after each session showed that the workshops had really engaged with every student.

Percentage of participants reporting good or better, After the programme:

• Understanding of three realistic ways to save money: 71%
  Ability to prioritise needs and wants: 75%
  Ability to use a budget to help me make effective use of my money: 92%

As well as measuring the academic outcomes of the workshops we also thought it was important to capture the soft outcomes and see how the young people really felt about what they had learnt in an hour. Here’s what some of the students told us:

“It has helped me and I am thinking of new ways to get money like jobs and good ways to save money”

“I think this is an excellent way to help us save money”

“Good because it helps people make options on how to spend and save their money”

Assistant Head of KS4 Claire Marshall commented on the Money Twist session:

“We felt the level was pitched right for the students, as money handling can be a difficult topic to grasp. The resources were really good, bright and user friendly. The course certainly made the students begin to think about how they were spending their pocket money and decide between what items were needed and which were just wants. We will definitely recommend MyBnk and look forward to working with Jenny and Five Lamps in the future”

In December 2012, The Education Village Darlington brought in Five Lamps’ MyBnk Project to deliver sessions in personal finance to all year 8 students.

The mission was simple; provide every year 8 student with real functional life skills and enhanced confidence with money that they could carry on into their future careers and lives.

127 students all received an hour’s stand-alone session of My Choices taken from the full programme Money Twist designed specifically for KS3 and KS4 learners. Topics which were covered in this module included needs, wants and budgeting, Youth Employment Laws, Minimum Wage and Saving.

Interactive activities were the favourite by the learners and feedback received after each session showed that the workshops had really engaged with every student.

Percentage of participants reporting good or better: (127 Students Surveyed) After the programme:

• Understanding of three realistic ways to save money: 83%
• Ability to prioritise needs and wants: 74%
• Ability to use a budget to help me make effective use of my money: 76%

As well as measuring the academic outcomes of the workshops we also thought it was important to capture the soft outcomes and see how the young people really felt about what they had learnt in an hour. Here’s what some of the students told us…

“It was a fun and easy way to learn about money”

“It’s very informative and helps me understand the difference between my needs and wants, now I can budget”
“It was very good and made me think about my money and my future”

“It helped me to know how to spend my money and what on to save some money for some treats every now and then.”

“I think it was good because it actually taught us something about money but also the future of money.”

“I think they were very good because they involved everyone”

“Helps you learn things and stop spending, start saving and get a job”

Katherine Humpleby, Assistant Head and Student Aspirations Leader said:

“Excellent – Students gained key knowledge, skills and understanding of financial management”