Metro Bank colleagues from the Basildon store have delivered Money Zone - financial education workshops - to 90 children from The Phoenix Primary School and Nursery. The aim of the complimentary workshops is to raise financial awareness in students from a young age.
Money Zone is a series of financial education lessons that Metro Bank offers to school children - either virtually or in store. Money Zone comprises of four sessions - budgeting, saving, banking and the last session which takes place in store gave the children a behind the scenes look at the Bank including a visit to the vault and the chance to try the Magic Money Machine. At the end of the day, all the children received their own goody bag and met the Metro Bank mascot, Metro Man. Metro Bank has delivered its Money Zone programme to over 250,000 children.
Basildon Metro Bank’s assistant store manager, Daniel Lesar and customer service representatives, Ashlea Cole, Angela Libby and Georgia Vanner delivered the key Money Zone sessions to the students which ended with an hour long tour of the bank to discuss what they had learned during the sessions.
“The kids were fascinated with the behind the scenes tour and especially visiting the vault and asked us lots of questions about what customers keep in the safe deposit boxes,” explains Basildon Metro Bank’s Assistant Store Manager Daniel Lesar. “Learning how to manage your money, budget and save are fundamental life skills that everyone needs to learn. We are proud of our Money Zone programme and the difference it makes in giving these students a good grounding in their financial education.’’
“It was so much fun and bizarrely the children asked us lots of questions about taxes,” added Metro Bank Customer Service Representative, Ashlea Cole. “They all absolutely loved the needs and want session and truly got in to a debate over why they could or couldn’t live without the various items – particularly their phones and televisions. Many had great ideas of how they could entertain themselves instead of watching TV like reading a book and doing arts and crafts. Some were really taken with the idea of not needing an up to date phone instead using a basic phone that would be enough to be able to stay in touch.”
Any schools or groups interested in Money Zone can contact their local Metro Bank store for more information. Metro Bank’s Basildon store is located at 2 East Walk, Eastgate Centre, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1HH. The store is open Monday – Saturday 8:30am - 6pm. Sunday: 11am - 5pm. Basildon Metro Bank is part of the Safe Space scheme – the store is available to anyone experiencing, or at risk of domestic abuse, providing the opportunity to safely call a helpline, support service or loved one.