Money Skills for Scouts…..
We’re working with HSBC UK to create new, interesting ways for young people to engage with money from an early age, to help them build money skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.
As Scouts, we’re used to dealing with money. We fundraise for charities, budget for camps, and raise money for jamborees as part of everything we do to build skills for life.Now, we’ve developed badges and activities that focus on fun, active ways for young people to build their money skills.
This isn’t a new idea. Between 1916 and 1925, Scouts could earn the Thriftyman Proficiency Badge, which was all about the importance of practising saving from a young age. Today, we’re taking it a little further. We’re exploring how our money choices can benefit our community, learning about how different people use their money, and having plenty of fun with hands-on activities.
In this Blog, Sea Scout Leader Lenny reviews a recent money skills sessions run for Sea Scouts….
The badge work in our #SkillsForLife programme covers a huge range of topics. All the things you would expect from scouts like hiking, camping, kayaking. And some things that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with scouts, like financial literacy and budgeting. But of course, as scouts, all our programmes are delivered with a sense of adventure. So when we came to deliver our financial literacy programme. We developed an immersive scenario where scouts and cubs had jobs, had a wage and got to make a whole host of financial decisions around where they lived and what they did in their free time. The room was literally a buz as people made each decision and then counted how much money they had left. Some with excitement as they had more left than their friends, some were getting a little worried as money was running out. In fact, we had one scout who I think was genuinely close to tears when the realisation hit that the only way to make it to the end of the month on their salary was to move back home with their parents. And it was the scouts who chose to still live with parents rather than getting their own house that made me laugh out loud. Even though they chose to live with their parents, we still charged them £45 a week rent. And there was uproar! “But I’m living with my parents” “why would I pay to live in my parents house?” It reminded me of my year out before going to uni. I worked for a year and lived at home and thought my mum was robbing me blind by charging me £30 a month. In any case, the reason I’m writing this blog is just as a little warning for you. If you’re likely to charge your scout rent of they still live with you whilst they are earning, you might just want to start managing expectations now!
