Principality Building Society has set primary school children in Wales the challenge of building a business with only £5 with support from two Welsh rugby international number fives.

Principality and Young Enterprise have teamed up to deliver the Fiver Challenge initiative, which asks students aged 5-11 years to create, research and plan a business with just £5. As partners of the Welsh Rugby Union, to help launch this year’s challenge, the Society has teamed up with two of Welsh rugby’s number fives, Will Rowlands and Gwen Crabb.

Since 2020, the Society has worked with partners such as Young Enterprise to reach over 18,000 children and young people with financial education and careers-based learnings. This year is the first time Principality is also funding the challenge in England, allowing even more children the opportunity to develop their creativity, commercial awareness and money management skills.

During the project, which starts in June, students will learn important skills for starting their own mini businesses, including designing a company logo, undertaking market research, and planning their product or service. They will then pitch their plan in a Dragon’s Den-style.

The students will also have the chance to win prizes by entering competitions for the best logo, sales pitch and overall project.

Two fives of Welsh international rugby – second rows who wear the number five jersey – Gwen Crabb and Will Rowlands paid a special visit to one of the primary schools in Wales who were previously named winners of the Fiver Challenge, to meet the pupils taking part this year.

Gwen said: “The children will find that they’ll learn many important skills when they take part in the Fiver Challenge, such as teamwork, working under pressure and against the clock – very similar to those you need as a rugby player. As a business owner myself, I can see this is a great initiative to help teach children these life skills from a young age so we wish them all the luck in setting up their businesses.”

Vicky Wales, Chief Customer Officer at Principality said: ‘’We’re delighted to have teamed up with Young Enterprise to bring the Fiver Challenge to children and young people in Wales for the third year in a row, and for the first time in England. We are passionate about helping young people to build their life skills, which includes supporting hard working schools across both Wales and England with financial education and careers-based activities.’

Teachers can sign up and access the resources for their school to take part on the Fiver Challenge website by visiting www.fiverchallenge.org.uk.

Lee Palmer, Director for Educational Partnerships at Young Enterprise said: “The Fiver Challenge continues to provide young people with a brilliant opportunity to develop transferable skills that will remain with them for life. We are thrilled to be partnering with Principality again this year to offer this programme to young people across both Wales and now England for its biggest year yet, helping to support the development of valuable life skills in a fun and engaging way.’’

To find out more, visit www.principality.co.uk/fiverchallenge.

Young Enterprise and The Westminster Foundation work together to transform young people’s futures by helping them develop the skills that will prepare them for the world of work.

May 2022

On 5th May, the Duke of Westminster visited Christleton High School in Chester to meet with groups of Year 9 and Year 12 students, all taking part in programmes run by Young Enterprise, a national financial and enterprise education charity.

In partnership with the Westminster Foundation, the visit saw the Duke meeting a group of Year 9s taking part in the Learn to Earn programme, which helps young people consider financial plans for the future and make informed decisions about their careers.

The Duke also met with a group of Year 12s taking part in the Company Programme, which aims to give young people the opportunity to sell their products to real customers to generate a profit.

The students involved in the Company Programme make all the decisions about their Young Enterprise business, from the company name and product, to creating a business plan, managing their finances and selling their goods. In doing so, young people gain the practical business experience, adaptability, confidence, resilience and key employability skills needed to build successful futures.

The participants in Company Programme at Christleton High created Bottled Aromas. They went on to win a Young Enterprise competition, being awarded the Best Presentation Award for their company. They commented:

Jack: “We learned a lot about time management, plus a sense of how to work as a group and build our teamwork skills and not just work as individuals. Some of us enjoyed making the product the most, others enjoyed the planning that we did at the start of the process.”

Sophie: “We started out not knowing anything about entrepreneurship, but through doing the programme, we developed our business skills. Selling has been my favourite part of the experience.”

Head of Business and IT at Christleton High School, Kate Dennan commented:

“From the outset it gives students a fantastic opportunity. At first you get lots of students who are unsure what to do and how to run a business, but very quickly the support of Young Enterprise (and the website which they offer) shows them all the different stages of how to create a business.

The skills that they learn are phenomenal. We’ve been able to give our students a wide range of opportunities which we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise”

Student at Christleton High School, commented:

“It was really nice to meet the Duke and speak to him about his business and choices in life”

Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster commented:

“Young Enterprise is doing a brilliant job to empower young people, equipping them with real skills that are relevant in life beyond education. I was struck by how all the students taking part in the Company Programme told me how it really boosted their confidence through taking on a new challenge and learning new skills together. I’d like to thank the students and staff at Christleton High School for their very warm welcome and I look forward to seeing plenty of amazing things in the future from this next generation of workers and entrepreneurs.”

The APPG on Financial Education for Young People has today launched a new inquiry which will explore the barriers facing schools as they deliver financial education or consider offering this provision.

Across the UK, too many young people leave full-time education without the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to manage their money effectively. Financial education in schools is one of the key ways in which we can develop financially capable individuals, but we know there is a mixed picture in relation to the provision on offer.

This new inquiry seeks to identify the challenges facing teachers and schools in delivering financial education and will explore these barriers and consider ways to remove them. A particular area of focus for this inquiry will be whether barriers vary across schools and if certain school contexts or settings require unique solutions or additional support.

The APPG is inviting stakeholders to share their views in the call for evidence, which can be viewed here.

The inquiry will also give a voice to those on the frontline, by asking primary and secondary teachers across the UK what they consider to be the vital ingredients needed to deliver financial education well.

The inquiry call for evidence will be open until Friday 10th June. This will be followed by a Parliamentary oral evidence session in July, where a panel of MPs will explore some of the key themes with a series of stakeholders. A report launch in Parliament is planned for September.

For further information on the inquiry, please contact the APPG Secretariat by emailing appg@y-e.org.uk.