Eleven teams of young people from Wales selected as National

Finalists of UK-wide money management competition

Teams reach National Final of the Money for Life Challenge, a money management competition run by Lloyds Banking Group, with Colleges Wales and Youth Cymru.

Eleven teams of young people from Wales are celebrating today after reaching the Wales National Final of Lloyds Banking Group’s Money for Life Challenge, a national competition to inspire better money management skills in local communities across the UK supported by CollegesWales and Youth Cymru.

The teams have been selected from 80 entries from across Wales to reach the final of the Money for Life Challenge at the Doctor Who Experience at Porth Teigr, Cardiff on 28 April 2015.

Five of the teams will present their money management projects to a panel of high-profile judges, hoping to be crowned the Money for Life Challenge: Wales Winner 2015.

The five teams are:

D.O.S.H – (Defining Our Spending Habits)
Acorn Learning Solutions
Team addressed issues experienced by students going on to attend university, and supplied knowledge to offer new students moving from further to higher education information to build the foundation to make informed decisions on their spending habits.

Be In Th’ Know With Ya Dough
Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone
Project addressed the need for young people in Blaenau Gwent to save money. Team highlighted saving money is particularly important where young people have to live on a very low income. They looked into this by teaching money saving tips to help their peers and also persuaded several local businesses to offer discounts, special offers or freebies to local youngsters.

Radiate – Families Project
Charter Housing, Newport
Team worked to design and build a mobile app themed around energy efficiency to help young families see how they can save money by adopting more energy efficient lifestyle habits. The team conducted four face to face sessions with an app developer to bring their ideas to life and worked with local families to measure its impact.

C-Bank
Bridgend College
C-Bank looked at how to help young people in Bridgend save money by encouraging them to shop in local charity shops. The team worked with the Tenovus Cancer Care charity in Bridgend to conduct a donation drive to inspire more young people to donate to charity shops and conducted promotions in the local area to encourage more teenagers and young adults to shop in them.

Gym Value for Money
Coleg Gwent, Crosskeys
Project looked into the cost of using gyms and sought to compare the price of college gyms to private and local authority alternatives. They produced leaflets and posters, which were handed out across the college campus and used email and intranet to promote information on the differences in cost. The team aimed to both promote ways to save money and the importance of keeping fit.

Alongside the five teams that will present their projects on stage, six further teams will be in the running for the People’s Prize, which is voted for by attendees at the National Final. They are:

• Beauty Therapy Community from Coleg Gwent
• Upcycling Splott from Global Love Trust
• Sassy Savings from Youth Cymru
• Saving before Leaving from NPTC Group
• Young Carers from YMCA
• Young Pension Payers from ISA Training

The groups undertook their projects over a three month period having been awarded a £500 grant from Money for Life to put their ideas into action.

The winner of the Wales national final will win £1,000 to donate to the charity of their choice.

Rachel Dodge, Project Manager for Money for Life in Wales, said: “Money management skills are vital to our everyday lives and we are delighted that so many teams from Wales have taken part in the Money for Life Challenge this year. We are pleased to announce the eleven national finalists who will be at this year’s Wales National Final. Each team has devised a truly innovative project to help their community. I wish them the very best of luck.”

David Rowsell, Head of the Money for Life Programme at Lloyds Banking Group said: “The Money for Life Challenge helps young people create a money management project to benefit their local community and enables them to develop the skills they need to manage their own money more effectively too. Money for Life is one of the core programmes at the heart of Lloyds Banking Group’s aim to help Britain prosper.

“I have been hugely impressed by the innovation and enthusiasm of all the teams who have taken part in the Challenge this year. It has been a tricky decision for our judges to decide which groups will make it to our national finals. I wish all teams the very best of luck.”

The winner of the Wales final will head to the Money for Life Challenge UK Grand Final at the London Film Museum in London’s Covent Garden on 28 May, where they’ll compete against teams from England, Northern Ireland and Scotland to claim the title of UK Winners of the Money for Life Challenge 2015. The teams have the chance to win £3,000 to donate to a charity of their choice.

For more information on the Money for Life Challenge, please go to www.moneyforlifechallenge.org.uk, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/moneyforlifeuk and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/moneyforlifeuk.

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For more information contact: Donna McGrory / Joe Ogden at Four Communications on 020 3697 4307 / moneyforlife@fourcommunications.com

Or, James Birch, Lloyds Banking Group, james.birch@lloydsbanking.com / 02073562239

Notes to Editors

About Money for Life

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 Banking Group has invested £10 million in the programme from 2010 to 2015.

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. This train-the-trainer approach ensures a sustainable impact in local communities and organisations

The Money for Life Challenge is a national competition that provides £500 grants to empower teams of 16 to 24 year olds in further education, training and community organisations to run a money management project in their community.

The 2014/15 Money for Life Challenge will be delivered with our partners CollegesWales, Youth Cymru, National Skills Academy for Financial Services, UK Youth, Young Scot and NOW Group. Our partners are instrumental in the delivery and co-ordination of the Challenge.

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