Virgin Money relaunches innovative finance programme for school kids

Virgin Money has relaunched its innovative financial education programme, Make £5 Grow, with additional tools and resources designed to prepare schoolchildren and provide the skills they need to better manage their finances in the future. 

Delivered in schools, Make £5 Grow is a free scheme which works with and encourages both younger and older children, to develop innovative business ideas and generate a profit for their school. The programme provides pupils, mostly aged 9-11, with an insight into how the world of business and finance works and helps them to build key money management skills, by starting a small business with help from Virgin Money.

Now in its eleventh year, the new, enhanced version of Virgin Money’s Make £5 Grow has a stronger focus on financial education and aims to make young people feel happier about money by building their confidence in budgeting, saving, and spending.

The bank will continue to offer schools a loan of £5 per child to enable the programme to run, as well as access to a Virgin Money Business Ambassador who’ll offer business support to teachers and pupils. The schools get to keep any profit made after repaying the initial loans.

Refreshed modules, lesson plans and tools that incorporate classroom learning, digital assets, fun activities, and resources have been designed to support pupils and teach them about enterprise and the world of work. Each module covers: ‘What is Make £5 Grow’, ‘What is Enterprise?’, ‘The Importance of Teamwork’, ‘Developing Ideas’, ‘Design & Marketing’, ‘Budgeting for Success’ and ‘Celebrate & Evaluate’- all designed to meet the requirements of the national curriculums in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

A new website and a diverse set of videos featuring entrepreneurs speaking about how they created their businesses to inspire the children have also been developed. In addition, Virgin Money has created a series of student assessments, that can be used all year round to further support the delivery of business and finance focused lessons.

James Peirson, General Counsel & Purpose Officer at Virgin Money, said: “For over a decade we’ve supported thousands of school children to develop their entrepreneurial and finance skills and gain insight into how to bring a business idea to life. With a rise in digital technology and the cost of living set to be an important topic for many years to come, people’s approach to money management and business is continuing to change, so there is a need to make sure Make £5 Grow evolves with it.

“We also know that most children’s financial habits begin forming from the age of seven. The new aspects of the programme will aim to nurture those behaviours and provide children with the knowledge required to better manage their money and track incomings and outgoings. We’ve also introduced more digital aspects and tools to the programme allowing teachers access to the programme all year round. By sharing real-life experiences from successful entrepreneurs, we hope to inspire a new generation of business leaders.”

Launched in 2011, Make £5 Grow has supported over 160,000 pupils to generate over £400,000 of profit, which has been invested back into the schools or grass roots organisations and local charities.

Case study: Budding Entrepreneurs

Year Six pupils from The Grammar School at Leeds took part in Virgin Money’s Make £5 Grow programme and used their creative thinking to make a £2,550 profit for charity. 

The budding entrepreneurs came up with a range of ideas, from making their own scented candles and packaging plants, to producing treats like donuts and sweet kebabs. Each group was responsible for producing their own business and marketing plan and the production and sale of their unique item. The pupils made and sold sweet treats and crafts and donated some of these to Cancer Research and four local charities; Candle Lighters, Hope Pastures, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Air Ambulance. 

Emily Wright, Year Six teacher at Grammar School at Leeds said:“The Virgin Money ‘Make £5 Grow’ scheme has been fantastic. It has been wonderful to watch how enthusiastic the children can be when challenged within a real-life context. The progress in their enterprising skills has been phenomenal and I am certain we have some future entrepreneurs among us. The students have risen to the challenge and have demonstrated excellent resilience and determination when tackling problems that arose along the way and the Year 6 teachers are all very proud of their achievements.”

Emily added: “I know that this experience is something the children will remember forever. Their confidence in communication, risk-taking and team-work has grown and I am certain that they will carry these skills forward with them.”

For more information or to find out how your school can take part in Make £5 Grow, visit: https://make-5-grow.co.uk/