For the 2nd year running, young people from across London learnt up to date information about the financial costs and benefits of university and how to better manage their money.
Between the 1st and 20th of July, 1500 14 – to 17-year-olds visited prominent London universities over 12 days in a peer-to-peer mentoring scheme pioneered by London Citizens. The aim was to demystify the new tuition fees system which hits in September 2012, and encourage students to manage their money more effectively.
Visiting schools and universities such as King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London, the youngsters were mentored by a team of 18 lively university students. These mentors gave first-hand experience and support to the young people by sharing their university experiences and demystifying the changes to university funding that will come into force in 2012.
Professor Susan Dilly, Vice Principal for Teaching and Learning at Queen Mary, noted how the young people on the scheme “received clear and accurate information about changes to student finances” and said she was “delighted” to be working with Money Mentors.
This year’s scheme was put together in collaboration with MoneySavingExpert.com, Credit Action and MyBnk. It was generously supported by J.P. Morgan, Queen Mary University of London, King’s College London and the City of London Corporation who have funded the project for the second year.
Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert.com and head of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information says “There’s a massive challenge ahead with huge changes to the higher education funding system to ensure that all students starting in 2012 and beyond understand it. London Citizens’ Money Mentors has been at the forefront of financial education for a while now, I’m delighted to have worked with it on projects in the past, and it’s wonderful it’s now taking on this new challenge.”
Carol Lake, Head of EMEA Philanthropy and Sponsorship at J.P. Morgan said “we support London Citizens in their efforts to make financial capability education available to all young people across London. Their work is of crucial importance given recent changes in the financial landscape for young people and students.” Mark Boleat, Deputy Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee at the City of London Corporation added that they “are impressed with London Citizens’ model of peer to peer mentoring and that Money Mentors fits naturally with the City’s corporate responsibility commitment to our neighbouring boroughs and wider London”
The young people learnt that university is accessible whatever their background, and crucially the maximum charge of £9000 is not an upfront fee. This is important as only a third of secondary school children in England and Wales understand the new tuition fees system, according to the Ipsos Mori Young People Omnibus Survey released last month.
The Head of Sixth Form at Cardinal Wiseman School described the scheme as “worthwhile and valuable” and told how her students “were very positive about their experience and felt that the day was very useful”.
Clive Coombes, a teacher from The Maria Fidelis Convent School described the teams as “highly organised and prepared” and said “the delivery of lessons was very good and engaging with well prepared resources. Mentors quickly built good relationships with students and spoke in a way they could relate to.”
The student mentors went through an intensive 4 day teacher training course and spent a challenging yet rewarding 3 weeks teaching young people about credit and debt, consumer choices and budgeting.
The mentoring scheme was born in 2009 after 2500 members of London Citizens democratically voted to prioritise equipping young people with sufficient financial knowledge to deal with the economic downturn.
The aim of the scheme is to create the conditions for people to pass on what they have learnt so more and more people in the capital are better able to manage their money at a time when many are feeling the strain..
We asked students if they want to be Money Mentors themselves and teach others in their schools and communities about money, and 49% responded positively with an extra 8% saying they would consider it (see below). We have kept in contact with those interested and will be following up for next year’s Mission: Money Mentors programme.
For more information about the programme contact Sheilla Patel, Sheilla.Patel@londoncitizens.org.uk or visit the Money Mentors website: www.citizensuk.org/moneymentors
