Consistent with Columbia Threadneedle Foundation’s mission to invest actively in social change, we are excited to embark on a new three year partnership with SEO London. SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity) prepares talented students from ethnic minority or low socioeconomic backgrounds for career success.

The Foundation will provide £10,000 a year for the next three years to support SEO Advance, a programme that identifies, inspires and trains talented students in years 11-13, broadening their horizons through access to academic, professional and enrichment opportunities. The SEO Advance programme organises events and activities to inspire students, giving them the chance to explore options and make informed choices about their future. Activities include insight days and work experience placements; comprehensive skills sessions to develop commercial awareness and technical skills; bespoke open days at the UK’s top universities and mentoring from experienced SEO alumni and industry professionals.

Columbia Threadneedle Director and Foundation Trustee Nicolas Janvier said: “The team at SEO are doing great work at the grass roots level providing the needed exposures and helping students further develop the self-confidence, belief and skills necessary for future career success. I am proud to work for a firm that has decided to walk the walk on workplace diversity by partnering with SEO and investing in the development of diverse talent.”

Columbia Threadneedle Foundation is proud to support KickStart Money, a ground-breaking collaborative project that aims to initially invest £1 million to take financial education to nearly 18,000 primary school children, in a movement to build a national savings culture for the future.

The project has also been awarded £80,000 by the Money Advice Service (MAS) as part of MAS’s What Works Fund. KickStart Money was one of the 58 projects chosen by MAS to help deepen the knowledge of the most effective financial capability interventions.

KickStart Money is a serious statement of intent by the sector in response to calls for money lessons to become a compulsory element of the Primary National Curriculum. MAS research has found many fiscal habits are developed between the ages of 7-11 and that teachers and parents lack the confidence to equip young people with money skills.

Independently evaluated by Substance (a research and technology company that helps organisations that do good, think smarter) and delivered by the award winning financial education charity MyBnk, the project will reach circa 18,000 7-11 year olds in 100 schools.

Recent MAS findings:

• Early intervention - There is increasing evidence that key behavioural attitudes to money are formed by the age of seven.
• Only 40% of 7-17 year olds say they’ve received financial education in school. Just 7% of 7-17 year olds have talked to their teachers about money. Only one third of parents talk to their children about money. Less than half (43%) of young people (aged 12 to 17) feel confident in managing their money. Furthermore, 44% of parents say they do not feel confident managing money. 9/10 of young people who learned about money at school said it was useful.
• There is a significant lack of financial education provision for children in the UK during the critical formative early years.
• Existing interventions are not operating at sufficient scale. Schools need more support to deliver financial education consistently and confidently. However, funders and commissioners do not have the evidence they need to target their funding. There is a need to know much more what works to ensure children get the high quality financial education they need.

Lord Hutton, former Secretary of State for the Department of Work & Pensions, said:

“I have five children and I was shopping each day without planning my shopping trips or making lists. I didn't know how much money I was spending on my children. I soon learnt to add up how much it was and I was shocked. It has helped me change my habits. I am so glad I learnt and got to benefit from this course now, so early on in my life. I am quite a bit younger than most people on the course. It has been such an eye opener. When I started the course I didn't think I needed to learn anything. But there is so much to learn about money. I now have the tools and skills to teach others how to use money, which is especially important now that I have a child. I can teach her at a young age about money. It has given me skills for life.”

Money Mentors is a pioneering initiative that aims to improve participants’ financial confidence, increase their financial capability and reduce financial exclusion. In a three year partnership, the Foundation is supporting the roll-out of Toynbee Hall’s Money Mentors programme to every London borough. A core element of the programme is participants sharing their financial knowledge and capabilities with their community post-graduation.

Our funding will enable the course delivery and post-graduation structured pathways programme for Money Mentor graduates. Volunteers from Columbia Threadneedle will be integral and will deliver a Money Mentors session on financial products or become post-graduate mentors supporting Money Mentors graduates to achieve their financial goals and to share their knowledge with their communities.

An evaluation report released in January 2015, which was funded by Columbia Threadneedle Foundation, found that the Money Mentors Programme has a social return on investment of £3 for every £1 spent. It also showed that:

• 65% of participants have more confidence in their financial future
• 48% of participants experienced a positive change in their budgeting skills
• Those who describe themselves as ‘always struggling’ decreased from 40% to 2%
• 54% of participants felt less isolated
• 43% of participants felt that their relationships with family and friends had improved
• Regular saving increased from 10% to 49%.

Sara, a Money Mentor graduate from the Tower Hamlets Homes group: “I have five children and I was shopping each day without planning my shopping trips or making lists. I didn't know how much money I was spending on my children. I soon learnt to add up how much it was and I was shocked. It has helped me change my habits. I am so glad I learnt and got to benefit from this course now, so early on in my life. I am quite a bit younger than most people on the course. It has been such an eye opener. When I started the course I didn't think I needed to learn anything. But there is so much to learn about money. I now have the tools and skills to teach others how to use money, which is especially important now that I have a child. I can teach her at a young age about money. It has given me skills for life.”

Rahima, a Money Mentor graduate from the Link Centre group: “Before the Money Mentors Course, I didn't know so much about money and finance or even how to save. Now I know how to manage my money and how to save. I am so happy. Thank you very much. I came to Toynbee Hall with £3,600 in debt. And I cannot tell you how much Money Mentors has changed my life since then. I was working 15 hours a week and was on the minimum wage. I had bad habits as I was spending more than I was earning”.

*The names of these individuals have been changed to protect their identities.

Toynbee Hall, founded in 1884, is a community organisation that pioneers ways to reduce poverty and disadvantage. Based in the East End of London it has been a catalyst for social reform in the UK for almost 130 years. It gives some of the country’s most deprived communities a voice, providing access to free advice and support services and working with them to tackle social injustice.

In 2014 senior Columbia Threadneedle employees decided to contribute to a scholarship to enable a student in need to undertake a degree at Cass Business School, City University London. The Columbia Threadneedle Executives Undergraduate Scholarship supports a student in financial need over a three-year period. The scholarship funds full tuition fees for the student for three years, and is funded by personal donations. The first scholarship was a great success - our scholarship student graduated with a First Class Honours degree in 2017.