Grow and Save in the running for top prize at Money for Life Challenge UK Grand Final
Grow & Save
Young people from Cardiff are travelling to Central London to present their money management projects to a panel of high-profile judges and battle it out to win the UK Grand Final of Lloyds TSB’s Money for Life Challenge.
The team of six from ITEC Training Solutions, whose members are aged between 17 and 19, won at last month’s Wales Final of the prestigious competition, which challenges young people to devise innovative projects to improve the money management skills of their local community.
They beat off stiff competition from around the country by impressing judges with their ‘Grow and Save’ project which they set up after securing a £500 grant from the Money for Life Challenge earlier this year. Their innovative project provided kits to help people save money by growing their own fruit, vegetables and herbs.
Now it’s crunch time for the youngsters as they take on rival teams from England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland at the ceremony at London Film Museum on London’s Southbank on Thursday 23 May. The young people will be asked to step up to the challenge by presenting their project to an influential judging panel made up of Caroline Rookes, Chief Executive of the Money Advice Service; Emma Thomas, Chief Executive of YouthNet; Tracey Bleakley, Chief Executive of the Personal Finance Education Group, or PFEG; Clare Francis, Editor-in-Chief of Moneysupermarket.com; and Graham Lindsay, Group Director for Responsible Business at Lloyds Banking Group.
Farhin Begum, 19, from Grow and Save says: “We’ve all really enjoyed the experience of being involved in the Money for Life Challenge and are so pleased to see how our project has helped the community save money. We’re so excited to be heading to London for the Grand Final and feel really proud to be representing Wales.”
Sarah Willingham, investor and personal finance expert hosting the Grand Final, says: “Money management is such an important skill, so seeing young people learning and teaching others about it is really refreshing. I’m extremely impressed with the level of creativity and passion these youngsters have demonstrated through their Money for Life Challenge projects –they have all made the subject fun and interesting and it’s great to see them sharing their knowledge. I’m really looking forward to seeing them at the Grand Final next week and wish them all the very best of luck!”
The young people have already won £1,000 to donate to charity of their choice and if they are successful next week, Grow and Save will bag a further £2,500 for charity. Each member will also be awarded £100 of shopping vouchers plus the chance to work with a Lloyds Banking Group mentor for a year.
Sarah Porretta, Head of the Money for Life Programme at Lloyds Banking Group, says: “We’re so proud of all of the finalists for successfully making money management fun and inspiring and changing lives in their communities. It’s a delight to be able to harness such creativity and we’ve been so impressed by all the young people’s enthusiasm and energy.
“The Money for Life Programme is all about spreading money management know-how among communities across the UK and equipping young people with the financial understanding they need to fulfil their potential. Grow and Save are playing a huge role in helping us achieve this, so I want to thank them for all their commitment so far, and wish them the very best of luck at our UK Grand Final next week.”
Grow and Save will be competing against other finalists; Act on Money from London, England; Bouncing Babies from County Antrim, Northern Ireland and JWCMoney1 from Kilwinning, Scotland.
Money for Life Challenge is part of the Money for Life programme, a unique partnership between Lloyds Banking Group and further education sector partners in the four nations of the UK, including CollegesWales and National Training Federation for Wales in Wales. The competition aims to find the most successful and innovative ways to improve the money management skills of learners, their friends, families and communities. Team members are between 16 and 24 years old and in further education, work based learning or adult community learning.
For more information on the Money for Life Challenge, please go to moneyforlifechallenge.org.uk, or join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/moneyforlifeuk and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/moneyforlifeuk
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