Skills4Bills ready to return for 2023

Skills4Bills ready to return for 2023

Our mission is to create pathways to economic freedom.

Our Skills 4 Bills® programme gives Key Stage 2 (age 9-11) students an awareness of the financial commitments and decisions they will face during their lives. Skills 4 Bills® is a highly engaging game that aims to provide young children with an insight into the consequences of poor financial choices and subsequent indebtedness. It is professionally designed and replicates life’s over spending temptations, before helping children reflect on how their parents' and own future financial lives could pan out. It aims at helping them understand their own economic freedom and is about to start again in 2023.

After playing Skills 4 Bills® , Key Stage 2 students will:

• Begin to understand the concept of credit
• Recognise household expenses and financial commitments
• Understand keeping money safe by using an account
• Know to save if there isn’t enough money for what they want to buy
• Begin to be able to plan and think ahead
• Learn how to prioritise when there is a limited supply of money
• Understand the difference between good and bad debt
• Learn that their decisions can have individual,
• social and environmental consequences
• Understand saving by learning how to look after money
• Appreciate that financial circumstances and standards of living
• can vary across time and place
• Add to their numeracy skills
• Learn how to negotiate

Programme Coordinators Katy Camp and Cliff Ellis gave us their feelings about what’s been created through Skills 4 Bills® . Katy said:

“Better educating the children of today to make better choices is a real privilege. We invest a couple of hours with a class or group but the impact of that couple of hours can last a lifetime. That’s a wonderful opportunity to be involved in.”

Cliff recalled a really powerful moment with a child from a local school near Cabot’s Kings Hill office.

“He told me it was ok because every time money was needed, Daddy went to the wall.  After a moment it dawned on me, he was talking about a cash machine. The whole hall watched intently as he and I had a discussion about how the money got there, what Daddy did to get money into the wall and by the end, he understood it wasn’t as simple as it appeared.  Those are the real moments why we do what we do.”

After playing the game today, President and Chief Executive Officer of Encore Capital Group Ashish Masih told us:

“We are living in a period of real economic uncertainty. Young people will deal with a lot of ups and downs in their lives and Skills 4 Bills® really helps prepare them to understand and deal with that. It’s a great concept and helps bring our Mission and Vision to life by helping the next generation be more financially aware and make better decisions as a result.”

Cabot Chief Executive Officer Craig Buick added:

“I and everyone at Cabot have a genuine pride in Skills 4 Bills®. Supporting people to have economic freedom is our purpose for existing and at the core of what we do.  We serve consumers in difficult situations everyday and the learning Skills 4 Bills® provides young people, looks to ensure they become a healthy consumer of the future by helping them understand the impact of their financial decisions.”

Managing Director of Cabot UK Paul Jenkins told us:

“I’m really excited about this. Skills 4 Bills® gives us an educational tool we can take across the UK. It means we can get out into our communities and have a real impact. Teaching young people Financial Literacy means we are making a difference and giving back to our communities with a genuine purpose. I’m proud of what the team have created.”

Schools have really benefitted from the experience. The Headteacher of Shipton Primary School, Warwickshire shared their thoughts:

“Students learning about real things and responsibility are two cornerstones of our curriculum. The Skills 4 Bills® game fits this philosophy perfectly and is a wonderful opportunity for students to gain hands on experience and a greater awareness about financial planning, a skill they will need for the rest of their lives”.

CSA - The Credit Services Association (CSA) is the only national trade association in the UK for businesses specialising in debt recovery, tracing and related services. The CSA is delighted to support and endorse Skills 4 Bills®.

"The key to any great initiative is simplicity – and Skills 4 Bills® is simple, yet highly effective. The school children we saw playing the game, very quickly understood what they had to achieve and made some very rational and also entertaining decisions. At the same time they drew sobering parallels to their own lives and instances that they were aware their parents had dealt with which they hadn’t previously put into context.

When a Trade Association considers endorsing an initiative like this it has to be straightforward enough for other member firms to adopt and deliver in their own region, with minimum resource from either the originator, the Trade Association, or a third party. Skills 4 Bills® materials are simple yet efficient - seeing the game run once is enough to understand how it needs to be delivered.”

Contact us through our Skills 4 Bills® website ( https://www.skills-4-bills.co.uk/) to arrange a school visit from one of our community teams.