Providing financial capability coaching skills through community networks

In partnership with Scotland’s Colleges

Focus group members

Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) for Dundee, Fife, Highland and Stirling.

Aim

To design and run coaching and mentoring programmes based on Money for Life, giving tutors and facilitators the skills they need to offer financial capability support to people in their diverse learning groups and to encourage local organisations to work together to meet local financial capability needs.

Background

The four CPPs in the focus group work with people who are experiencing different forms of social disadvantage. These may include illiteracy, unemployment or having a criminal record. The common thread is that in some way almost all clients have financial management difficulties and could benefit significantly from developing capability skills. While many project workers and tutors have experience of dealing with money issues as an information topic, often they felt they did not have sufficient knowledge themselves, or the right tools, to teach people how to help themselves.

Action

Through the four CPPs, delegates from more than 50 organisations have attended financial capability training sessions. Participants came from colleges, housing associations, employment advice agencies, adult literacy programmes, consumer and debt advice groups, health bodies and criminal justice schemes.

Delegates who attended training and workshops reported improvement in their personal skills levels, and look forward to the Teach Me and Teach Others * training courses becoming available this summer. Many also commented on how the coaching skills helped them empower clients to manage their own circumstances, rather than simply ‘doing it for them’.

Outcome

The focus group work has also stimulated ‘spin-off’ benefits. For example, project workers at CraigOwl Communities in Dundee have researched and written their own ICT module for learners, with the potential for wider use among other organisations. The module is based on money matters and online shopping. A typical example includes how to carry out price comparisons.

Skye and Lochalsh Citizens Advice Bureau are also working at a local high school to integrate financial capability within personal and social development sessions. The aim is to make pupils shortly due to leave school more money aware.

Other organisations found that the networking opportunities arising from the workshops and training sessions are now leading to new partnerships, with the potential for joint working.

*The financial capability qualification and resources developed by Money for Life for FE and community practitioners.

Testimonial

Clare Dyer, project worker CraigOwl Communities, Dundee
“I don’t have a financial background, but I feel my knowledge has improved, and now I’m coaching clients so that they develop their skills.

“Through the training I’ve also met other providers that I didn’t previously know about, and that’s helping me to direct my clients to the right places when they need other information.”