Scouts launch first-ever financial education badge for Beaver Scouts and Cub Scouts aged 6 to 10 years old
• Scouts can take part in 20 activities to earn their Money Skills Activity Badge, building confidence and understanding of money
The Scout Association is today launching its new Money Skills Activity Badge, developed with HSBC UK to help Beaver and Cub Scouts – that’s over 200,000 girls and boys aged 6 to 10 – build important financial literacy skills for a changing world.
Contactless, digital and mobile banking are increasing the invisibility of money, making it even harder to build young people’s financial confidence; indeed, research finds that more than half of children ages 6 to 10 say they don’t understand money.1
The new Badge was developed in consultation with young people as well as parents and Scouts volunteers, and is aligned with age-appropriate financial skills outlined in Young Money’s planning framework research.2
Amy Butterworth, Programme Design Manager at The Scout Association, said:
“The new Money Skills Activity Badge will help young people in developing life-long financial skills in a way that only Scouts can – with Beaver and Cub Scouts building confidence and understanding of money in a fun, hands-on and supportive environment. With HSBC UK’s support, we’ve been able to create a programme that is truly the first of its kind, bringing an important new dimension to the Scouting experience.”
Research by Money Advice Service3 tells us that we develop financial habits by the age of 7, so we need to start helping young people develop these skills early. The badge aims to build on the decision-making abilities young people already have to increase their confidence in choices around money.
With a focus in inclusive learning, the new Badge will also help Scouts understand how their financial choices affect others as well as support those who struggle with numeracy, using practical activities to get young people ‘learning by doing’. This means that those young people who are still grappling with maths can still enjoy and benefit from earning the Money Skills Activity Badge.
Scouts can take part in 20 new activities to earn the new Badge, including:
- Value menus: To achieve this element of the Badge Beaver Scouts participate in a series of activities designed to help them budget for a camp meal. In doing that they consider where your money might make a positive impact when they buy their food e.g. they learning about fair trade items or locally sourced food. Learn more:
https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/value-menu/ - Pack your bags: To achieve this element of the Badge Beaver Scouts plan to take a bag on a hike and what items they need to take with them. Young people choose a list of things to put in their bag. Once they have undertaken the activity they are asked to explain why they choose particular things to take with them and they can then get into a discussion about the difference between needs and wants, and how that relates the decisions between needs and wants when they spend their money. Learn more:
https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/pack-your-bags/
The Money Skills Activity Badge has been developed as part of a three-year philanthropic partnership with HSBC UK.
Stuart Haire, Head of Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC UK, said: “The Covid-19 crisis has tested the financial resilience of many families as well as disrupted in-classroom learning, elevating the need for more flexible and effective financial education resources to help young people build financial capabilities for a changing world. Creating new and interesting ways for young people to engage with financial literacy is key, and we’re thrilled to be working with the Scouts to launch their Money Skills Activity Badge – the first financial skill-building programme of its kind.”
Krystle McGilvery a leading educationalist working in the field of financial education for young people said: “Financial literacy skills are crucial for developing the financial dexterity required as we enter adulthood. The Scouts Money Skills Badge provides a range of exciting activities that allows young people to explore how the financial decisions they make impacts them and the world around them.”
Media enquiries to:
Aurora Bonin, HSBC UK aurora.f.bonin@hsbc.com / 0743 8850833
Simon Carter, The Scout Association simon.carter@scouts.org.uk | 07889130812
For the latest news and updates, visit the HSBC UK newsroom:
https://www.about.hsbc.co.uk/news-and-media
Notes to editors:
- May 2021 Survey commissioned by HSBC UK by YouGov.
- Young Money is a leading financial education charity, supporting schools, colleges and universities across the UK
- Money advice service Habit Formation and Learning in Young Children Dr. David Whitebread and Dr. Sue Bingham University of Cambridge 2013
https://mascdn.azureedge.net/cms/the-money-advice-service-habit-formation-and-learning-in-young-children-may2013.pdf page 18
About Scouts:
All genders, races and backgrounds are welcome at Scouts. Every week, it gives almost half a million people aged 6-25 the skills they need for school, college, university, the job interview, the important speech, the tricky challenge and the big dreams: the skills they need for life.
Scouts helps members gain these skills by encouraging them to ask the big questions and listen with wide open minds. It helps them to take a deep breath and speak up, think on their feet, ignore the butterflies and go for it. With Scouts, young people don’t give up – they get back up and try again, often with the support of the friends they’ve made there.
Our volunteers contribute more than 50 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities.
About HSBC UK:
HSBC UK serves around 14.5 million customers across the UK, supported by 32,000 colleagues. HSBC UK offers a complete range of retail banking and wealth management to personal and private banking customers, as well as commercial banking for small to medium businesses and large corporates
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 64 countries and territories in its geographical regions: Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Middle East and North Africa. With assets of US$2,984bn at 31 December 2020, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.
About Krystle McGilvery:
Krystle McGilvery commits her time to improve financial capability both personally and in business, bettering health, wealth, and well-being.
Krystle is the co-founder and Managing Director of Edtech start-up MyBFD, a Finance Specialist, Coach, and Business Consultant. Krystle is a Chartered Accountant and spent over ten years working as an Accountant for companies in the creative spaces of PR, advertising, marketing, and technology being responsible for managing the finances of million-pound businesses.
Krystle is known for connecting money to the mind as the starting point for improving financial dexterity. She is deeply passionate about the psychology of financial decision-making, financial education, and the opportunities it grants.