Winners announced at Wales National Final of Money for Life Challenge
From left to right: Sam Schooler, Tom Jackson, Lowri Bailey, Tom Tweedy, Amy Louise Follett, Pete Vers, Ashley O’Sullivan and Tom Booth from DOSH, celebrate winning the Wales National Final of the Money for Life Challenge at the Dr Who Experience in Cardiff.
2 teams from Wales now qualify for the UK Grand Final of the Money for Life Challenge, a money management competition run by Lloyds Banking Group with CollegesWales and Youth Cymru
Two teams of young people are celebrating today having been named winners at the Wales National Final of Lloyds Banking Group’s Money for Life Challenge, a UK-wide competition to inspire better money management skills in communities across the UK.
11 teams of young people from across Wales took part in the Final, held at the Dr Who Experience in Cardiff on Tuesday 28th April 2015, where they presented their projects to a panel of esteemed judges and guests.
DOSH, the Wales National Winners from Acorn Learning Solutions in Newport, will now present their money management project to a panel of high-profile judges at the UK Grand Final, while People’s Prize Winners, Gym Value for Money from Coleg Gwent Crosskeys campus, will showcase their project at the event which will be held at the London Film Museum on 28th May. Both groups will compete against projects from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland at the UK Grand Final.
The teams undertook their projects over a three month period having been awarded a £500 grant from Money for Life to put their ideas into action.
Wales National Final Winner
DOSH (Defining Our Spending Habits) – Acorn Learning Solutions
DOSH aimed their project towards students aged 16-18 who are considering higher education. The group gave a talk on money management at a local sixth form and then hosted an event with guest speakers from different organisations sharing their insights on the importance of money management. They also provided students with a ‘starter pack’ which included budgeting tips and advice which is available on the team’s website.
Wales People’s Prize Winner
Gym Value for Money – Coleg Gwent Crosskeys Campus
Gym Value for Money are a team made up of trainee gym instructors who noticed that they could help their peers save money while also staying healthy. They particularly worked with Independent Living Skills students with physical or learning difficulties to show them that they could save hundreds of pounds by using the college gym instead of a local private alternative.
From left to right: Karl Strangeward-Morgan, Tom Parsons, Ben Johns, Jonathon Brittan, Craig Tiley, Joel Kelly, Jacob Watkins, Josh Corbett and Craig Lawrence celebrate winning the People’s Prize at the Wales National Final of the Money for Life Challenge at the Dr Who Experience in Cardiff.
Radiate Families Project from Charter Housing in Newport were also awarded the Judges’ Prize for working with local tenants to ensure that they were saving money by being energy efficient. By doing so, they also trained their members in fitting reflective panels in people’s homes which has resulted in a member of their team going into full time employment as a result of the project.
Claire Howells, DOSH project sponsor from Acorn Learning Solutions, said: “We are so excited to have won the Money for Life Challenge Wales National Final today. I think its testament to all the hard work and passion of our incredible team who have learned so much from this Challenge. We can’t wait to represent Wales at the Grand Final.”
Josh Corbett, a team member of Gym Value for Money, said: “We are really pleased to be here today and the whole team are incredibly proud to have won the Money for Life Challenge People’s Prize. The Money for Life Challenge has given us the opportunity to do what we love while helping our peers and learning about money management.” The People’s Prize was voted for by the attendees at the Wales National Final.
Kerry Duke, Radiate Families Project sponsor from Charter Housing, said: “To even be here at the Money for Life Challenge is so exciting for the team but to win the Judges’ Prize is particularly pleasing. It’s hard to put into words how much this group, as well as the community we work in, has gained from this entire experience.”
David Rowsell, Head of the Money for Life Programme at Lloyds Banking Group said: “Now in its fourth year, the Money for Life Challenge continues to help young people create a money management project to benefit their local community and enables them to develop the skills they need to manage their own money too.”
“This year’s Challenge has seen teams demonstrate a high standard of innovation and commitment and the judges were hugely impressed by our national finalists. We are thrilled to see that many of them have already had a positive and measurable impact in their communities.”
Money for Life is one of the core programmes at the heart of Lloyds Banking Group’s aim to help Britain prosper. The Money for Life Challenge in Wales is run in partnership with CollegesWales and Youth Cymru.
Rachel Dodge at CollegesWales said: “All of this year’s national finalists have delivered projects across Wales that tackle real financial issues in their local communities. They have raised financial awareness amongst key audiences whilst learning money management skills themselves. They should be very proud of their efforts and the impact they’ve had.”
For more information on the Money for Life Challenge, please go to www.moneyforlifechallenge.org.uk, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/moneyforlifeuk and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/moneyforlifeuk.
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