REDSTART – HOW?

Posted on Author Jonny Letham

“Really enjoyed it. Students were very excited by the day, we felt very privileged to have had so much input from so many interesting members of your company. I am sure the rest of the programme will be a huge success and look forward to maintaining contact.” Melanie Mortimer, Teacher at Lister Community School
 
RedSTART, the Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship programme for young people, started on 19th December 2012. This ambitious programme aims to, eventually, provide free financial education to all under 25 year olds in the U.K. On this first day, a class of sixteen 12-13 year old students from Lister Community School, Newham, visited our offices at Redington for a full education day.
 

The aim of the education day was to instil the importance of understanding and managing personal finances and also to help them realise their future is in their own hands. Subjects for this introductory session range from Goal Setting and Budgeting to Assets and Liabilities to Entrepreneurship. It’s vital that the students have fun: all teaching is interactive and much of the learning is game-oriented. For example, an activity to show the power of compounding involved the class running to each side of the room! This type of teaching not only means that the students have a good day out and a light-hearted introduction to such an important topic, but also, we believe, this is the best way to make it a memorable experience and encourage students to take away the key learning points.

 
Before the day I had the preconception that the young students aged only 12-13 would be light-hearted and optimistic. But surprisingly to me, when asked: “what do you think you might want to save money for?”, one of the first answers to come back was: “a funeral”! And although they seemed interested in the potential growth and risks when investing in assets, the lesson that really captured their imagination was on personal liability and financial risks. The consequences of not managing personal finances and the potential of losing personal wealth captured their attention more than potential returns from growth assets. In RedSTART, the last thing we want to do is scaremonger; however, we do want to demonstrate the need for sound financial planning for a secure future. Perhaps those who took on sub-prime mortgages would have thought twice if they had been given such education.
 
One successful day with a class from Newham is a drop in the ocean in addressing the dearth in financial literacy in the UK: so what now for RedSTART? Over the next year, we plan to roll out similar education days to other schools in London. Our partners at ELBA, the East London Business Alliance, are liaising with schools in the East London area so that we can do at least one education day each month in 2013. Currently, we have enthusiastic volunteers from the Redington workforce teaching the students. However, as the programme grows and gathers momentum, more educators will be needed.  Using the RedSTART framework and contacts we are currently making, we expect that the education days will be taken on and taught by other organisations so as to scale and grow the scheme. An important aspect of RedSTART is the continuation of learning. We are now building a website where students will be able to access learning materials so that the education days are not just a one-off event.
 
All in all, we have had a great start but there’s still a long way to go to becoming a widespread scheme. We are excited about developing RedSTART and to quote Steve Jobs, we are committed to making “a ding in the universe”. Ready or not, RedSTART is coming!
 

If you like the idea of this scheme, we would love to have you get involved. Spread the word to parents and schools that you know, sign your children’s school up, contact us about volunteering as an educator, or ask us any questions you might have about the scheme. We’d be delighted to hear from you. 

 

Jonathan Letham
Co-Founder of RedSTART
 
For further information or to get on board with RedSTART:
 
Contact:           Jonathan Letham jonathan.letham@redington.co.uk       
                           Freddie Ewer freddie.ewer@redington.co.uk 

Freddie’s Why Blog:
https://blog.redington.co.uk/Articles/Freddie-Ewer/January-2013/REDSTART-A-FINANCIAL-LITERACY-AND-ENTREPRENEURSHIP.aspx
 
Like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/redstart2013
 
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/redstart2013

Please note that all opinions expressed in this blog are the author’s own and do not constitute investment advice. Click here for full disclaimer

 

Author: Jonny Letham

Jonathan is Co-Founder of RedSTART, a Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship Programme for Young People, and works alongside Freddie Ewer in running the programme. Jonathan holds a BA in Physics from Oxford University, and a post-graduate degree in Computer Vision from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Jonathan is originally from Perth, Scotland, and is a keen sportsman enjoying spending his spare time keeping fit and playing football and rugby.