Attitudes to money, budgeting, and dealing with debt were just some of the topics discussed by Kilkenny youngsters who gathered last weekend at the YouthBank Moneysense workshops at the National College of Ireland.
The one-day workshops, organised by YouthBank Ireland and Ulster Bank Group, are part of the Bank’s MoneySense programme — a free, community-led financial education initiative.
A new financial learning fund, worth €150,000, is being provided for YouthBanks as part of Ulster Bank’s MoneySense for young adults programme aimed at helping young people to be more confident about managing money and dealing with financial organisations. In partnership with the Irish Youth Foundation, the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, and The Community Foundation for Ireland, the bank has supported the development of the YouthBank movement in Ireland over the past three years, enabling more than 200 young people North and South to become active citizens as they assess and award grants for youth-led projects in their local communities. This new financial learning fund will be used to develop new financial learning resources for youth groups, and to fund a range of youth-led projects that promote financial literacy throughout the island of Ireland.
The MoneySense workshop sessions were facilitated by the YouthBank Ireland Team and a small number of leading experts in the field of financial education and youth work.
YouthBank has won two major awards in the past year, scooping the prize for “Best New and Innovative CSR Project,” at the fourth Chambers of Commerce Ireland president’s awards for corporate social responsibility and “Award for Innovation” for Ulster Bank’s involvement with YouthBank at the NICVA Link Awards 2008 in Belfast in February.
