Our approach to Financial Education is centred around three key goals:
Goal 1 : Improve the financial literacy of young people
- St James’s Place financial education programmes, delivered by our advisers and employees to schools, community groups and in areas of deprivation. So far in 2023, we have reached 2,200 young people through face to face and virtual workshops led by SJP volunteers.
- Last year we partnered with RedSTART to support their ‘Change the game programme’. The aim of the programme is to complete a longitudinal research study over five years. Two groups of children will be monitored over this time, a control group participating in the traditional curriculum and a second group participating in ongoing financial education. The hope is that this will create a clear, tangible benefit of financial education which will be presented to the government to influence change in the UK curriculum.
Between April to June (2023), 41 SJP volunteers helped facilitate, 18 RedSTART financial education sessions. Covering schools from London, Bristol, Newcastle to Edinburgh, reaching 607 children.
Goal 2: Help to improve long term financial resilience in society by providing financial education in schools and to charities.
- ‘Centers of Excellence for Financial Education’. In 2022, we committed to sponsoring 21 schools to become accredited ‘Centre’s of Excellence’ for financial education over the next three years in collaboration with Young Money. Our sponsorship will fund one-on-one advice from an expert Education Consultant, financial literacy training for staff, and access to financial education resources for each school. In addition to this funding, each school will benefit from the support of a local SJP office location – including work experience opportunities, mentoring, and volunteering.
- Financial grants. Charities including Young Enterprise, The Money Charity, National Numeracy, the Centre for Financial Capability, Help for Heroes and The Forces Money Plan.
- Engagement. We engage with industry bodies, regulators, and the UK government to influence wider dialogue of financial literacy including The Investing and Savings Alliance (TISA) and The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).
- Alignment with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) strategy. We support the need for increased financial literacy across the UK to enable individuals to make more informed financial choices.
Goal 3: Enhance the long-term financial resilience of employees through education and access to advice.
- Financial Education and Wellbeing for employees. In 2022 we refreshed our support for employees with a new financial education and wellbeing programme launched in November. Collaborating with experts across our business, our financial toolkit helps all our people understand and manage their finances no matter the background they join us from. The toolkit includes a series of seminars, videos and podcasts designed to empower informed decisions.
