Young people who want to take on the challenge of helping their communities learn how to manage money better are encouraged to apply for a grant to put their ideas into action as part of a UK-wide competition.

Up to 80 “Money for Life Challenge” grants worth £500 each are up for grabs in Wales for groups of young people between 16 and 24 years old who are in a further education, training or a community organisation.

The grants are to help groups of young people identify a money management issue in their local community and come up with a plan to address it. Along the way, they will improve their own money skills with the help of ‘Teach Me’, an online course, and then go on to use their skills to help their friends, families and local community.

The Challenge is part of Lloyds Banking Group’s award-winning personal money management programme and runs across the whole of the UK, with ColegauCymru / CollegesWales coordinating the programme in Wales.

The Challenge is now in its fourth year and has grown each year, with Wales really getting to grips with the Challenge and attracting proportionately more grants than the other UK nations. From an initial 40 grants that were available in 2011 in Wales, the Challenge is set to double this year, with 80 grants up for grabs.

The Money for Life Challenge is having a big impact on young people and their communities, with legacy grants available to winning teams across the UK to further develop their projects for lasting impact. Key to success in the Challenge will be coming up with new and creative ideas that are based on the experiences of team members, and which address the money management needs of their community.

Helping the Challenge reach new audiences, Youth Cymru will be partnering ColegauCymru this year.

Chief Executive of Youth Cymru, Helen Mary Jones, said: “Given a little helping hand, young people demonstrate to us time and time again that they have the enthusiasm, ideas and capacity to take on community-wide issues and the Challenge is a great opportunity to help them prove their worth.

“Youth Cymru works with youth clubs across the whole of Wales and we are very much looking forward to working with ColegauCymru to open the Money for Life Challenge to new audiences.”

Project Manager for Wales, ColegauCymru’s Rachel Dodge, said: “Over the last three years, the Money for Life Challenge has seen a great variety of ideas and new approaches to communities’ money management needs.  This year, with the involvement of Youth Cymru, we are hoping to reach out to new audiences in the youth sector whilst continuing to work with groups from housing associations, Communities First, further education and work-based training settings.

“With a little money and empowerment, young people are showing the way, and I hope that the Challenge will again this year help bring about lasting change in the money management skills of communities around Wales.”

All applications for Money for Life Challenge grants must be made by 21 November 2014. The teams who are successful in being awarded a grant will then develop their ideas and put them into practice in their communities by 6 March 2015, with the best projects being selected to attend the Wales Final on 28 April 2015. The winners of the Wales Final will represent Wales at the UK Grand Final on 28 May 2015. More information is available on http://www.moneyforlifechallenge.org.uk

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Contact: Sylvia Davies on 029 2052 8384 or 07968 771913.
Notes to editors:

1. ColegauCymru / CollegesWales is a national educational charity that represents all 15 further education (FE) colleges and institutions in Wales. Its mission is to raise the profile of further education with key decision-makers to improve opportunities for learners in Wales. For further information about ColegauCymru / CollegesWales, and the colleges it represents, visit www.colegaucymru.ac.uk or www.collegeswales.ac.uk

2. Youth Cymru is a charity that works with youth groups, youth workers and young people throughout the whole of Wales. It works with youth clubs, service providers, charities, individuals and many companies in the corporate sector to help provide services and amenities for young people in Wales. More information is available at https://youthcymru.org.uk/

3. Money for Life is Lloyds Banking Group’s award-winning personal money management programme, targeted at young people and adults in further education, training and community organisations. Lloyds has invested £8 million in the programme from 2010 to 2014.

The Money for Life Qualifications provide accredited, fully-funded training to enable community support workers across the UK to embed personal money management skills at a local level.
The Money for Life Challenge is a national competition that provides £500 grants to empower teams of 16-24 year olds to run a money management in their area.

Money for Life was awarded a Big Tick and was shortlisted in Business in the Community’s Building Stronger Communities Award 2014