We had the pleasure of returning to BADU, an award-winning youth organisation, to deliver our WYZ Money workshop to their newest cohort of mentees.
The workshop took place on 12 Jan 2022 at BADU's amazing premises in East London.
The mentee group is made up of highly motivated and ambitious young people aged 16 - 18, who are on BADU's mentoring programme. The group was incredibly engaged and asked lots of thoughtful questions. So much so that the workshop overran significantly due to demand!
Educating to empower
WYZ Money is our financial literacy programme, created by qualified Finance professionals. It teaches young people how to be wise with money and financially responsible. We deliver preventative education with the end in mind. To equip young people with the skills to avoid making poor financial decisions and to enjoy healthy financial futures instead.
There is unequal access to financial information, skills development and qualified Finance professionals. This disproportionately affect Ethnic Minority communities.
These inequalities often show themselves later in life, contributing to disparities in income, household savings and debt. 2021 data from the UK Government shows that Black households remain the most likely of all Ethnic groups to earn the lowest income. Statistics also show that Black African households are most likely to be in the lowest wealth brackets. Our WYZ Money programme is changing that.
Whilst our programme is aimed at Ethnic Minority youths, it is open to all.
Never a dull moment
The group asked some brilliant questions. Here's some of our favourite:
"How was the 2008 financial crisis resolved?"
This was a great question, which led us to discuss Government bailouts and financial regulation that was introduced to prevent a repeat.
"If you have a full-time job and a side hustle, do you get taxed on both?" The answer here is, 'yes!'.
"Does the UK Government pay income tax on the taxes it receives?"
Such a creative question. Income tax applies to income that individuals receive (such as income from employment or self-employment). The Government itself does not pay income tax, but Government employees and staff will pay it on their earnings.
Education with impact
At the start of the workshop, only 9% of the group felt very confident about personal finance. The vast majority (90%) felt either fairly confident or unsure.
By the end of the workshop, 100% of the group said they felt very confident about personal finance.
Many of the young people were interested in learning more. Some are now also considering careers in Finance. A great result!
Here's what they said
Watch the video below for feedback from Aziz, a Mentoring Lead at BADU.
"The young people really enjoyed it and I am glad they all learnt something new." - Mariline (Girls Mentoring Lead, BADU)
We were delighted to return to BADU and support their brilliant young people. We look forward to continuing to work with BADU in future.
If you would like to start our free WYZ Money course, you can sign up today here.