HSBC UK

Research by the Money Advice Service tells us that we usually form our habits around money by the age of seven. That’s why we worked with HSBC UK to design these badges for Beavers and Cubs. After three years of success, awarding over 200,000 Money Skills badges to our younger sections, the time has come for us to extend this opportunity to our Scouts and Explorers too!

The badges aren’t about maths or teaching young people what they should and shouldn’t do with their money. They build on young people’s decision-making skills, help them learn about the things that might influence their choices, and introduce some different cultural practices around money. Above all, they give young people to chance to get stuck in and practise handling money and making their own choices.

The new Money Skills Activity Badges are our opportunity to help young people prepare to deal with money, both at Scouts and in their personal lives.

We knew that this badge needed to be shaped by expert knowledge, including knowledge of what leaders, young people, and parents wanted from the badges. We set up a working group of diverse volunteers from different religious backgrounds and locations (and with different learning styles and experiences) – and we learned a lot.

Of course, our priority was to make sure the badges:

• promote learning by doing,
• relate to Scout experiences,
• and are as fun and active as possible.

We worked with our dedicated volunteers to design the badge requirements, then tested them around the UK. People’s feedback told us what worked best, and we learned where we needed to make changes to make every activity accessible to young people from all backgrounds.

The requirements are designed to give young people the chance to reflect on what they already know about money, use the decision-making skills they already have, and apply their skills to financial situations.

Through our research, we found that:

• Young people wanted to learn how money works, how to make money, and how to raise money for others.
• Young people and leaders wanted activities that give young people the chance to practise using money in a safe way.
• Some leaders gave us advice on how to respectfully reference their religious practices around money.
• Some leaders told us how to engage young people who struggle with maths by creating practical and creative activities.
• Parents wanted to make sure activities are respectful of people’s different financial backgrounds.

There are four requirements for Beavers, five for Cubs, four for Scouts and five for Explorers. We’ve created at least two new, practical, fun activities for each requirement, which have been tested and enjoyed by real groups.

In the next couple of years, we’ll release more activities. During our testing, some leaders invented their own activities – they blew us away with their creativity, so we’ll be working with them later on in the project to include their ideas too.