MyBnk
Building financial resilience and preventing fuel poverty for vulnerable young people
Our project at a glance
- Priority need group: Young people
- Strategic priority area: Supporting priority vulnerability groups
- Support target: 225 young people per year
- Duration: November 2021 to November 2024
- Investment: £210,000 over three years
- Forecast SROI: £16.45
I’m 18 and live in supported housing, I have disabilities and mental health issues. I’m doing this course so I can learn how to manage my money and prepare for when I get my flat. The Money House is kind of easing me into it, making me confident.
Emily, 18
Money House participant
Why we’re working together
Many young people do not have the essential information, resources or support networks in place to avoid poverty, including fuel poverty.
According to the Child Poverty Action Group, 4.2 million children were living in poverty in the UK in 2021-22. That's 29% of children or nine in a classroom of 30. The relationship between poverty and fuel poverty is clear and with a lack of education surrounding these issues, the opportunity for change in the future seems distant.
Our partnership with financial education expert MyBnk delivers direct financial education to vulnerable young adults aged 16 to 25 to build financial resilience and avoid families becoming fuel poor in future. This includes supporting care leavers going into independent living for the first time.
Project objectives
- Educating young people on money management to maintain a safe and warm home as they live independently
- Expanding the scope of MyBnk’s MoneyCast to include money management advice around energy use, bills and fuel poverty
- Raising awareness of carbon monoxide among vulnerable young people
How we’re working together
The Money House
We’re educating young people on how to manage their money to ensure they can maintain their homes and use energy efficiently when they live independently. The training takes place in a real-life flat – not a classroom setting – known as The Money House, where young people gain practical financial and digital skills to pay their rent, bills and living costs while making informed choices about their future.
Our partnership has enabled the expansion of The Money House from London to Glasgow, which is now home to the first Money House in Scotland.
MyBnk’s MoneyCast
We’ve also widened the scope of MyBnk’s MoneyCast – an interactive stream of MyBnk experts and special guests discussing key areas of finance for young people. The episodes centre on money management related to energy, bills and fuel poverty, and provide the opportunity for young people to ask questions in real time and receive a response from a MyBnk expert.
How to get involved
Accessing The Money House programme
If you support a vulnerable young person leaving care who may benefit from The Money House programme, you can get in touch with MyBnk by email at TheMoneyHouse@mybnk.org.
If you’re a young care leaver and would like support managing your finances, you can find lots of free tips and tools on the MyBnk website.
Becoming a MyBnk partner
You can find out more about working with MyBnk on their website.
MyBnk’s partnership with SGN means that we can reach more vulnerable young people and help them manage their money and energy use safely, efficiently and understand affordability. Together we help more young people leaving care and in other vulnerable circumstances maintain a safe and warm home. SGN puts trust into MyBnk as financial education experts and in turn, we have developed bespoke content highlighting the relationship between money and energy usage.