Football ace Marcus Rashford has returned to his old youth club to back a scheme to help youngsters to be confident with their cash.
The 24-year-old Manchester United player sat down with NatWest chiefs to plan the programme being trialled at three community centres this Easter ahead of a nationwide roll-out.
The striker, whose school meals campaign famously delivered a government U-turn worth £170 million in support for disadvantaged children told NatWest chief executive Alison Rose: “A lot of kids are scared to go to a bank, and that’s not surprising because they don’t teach you about money mindset at school.
“For those who grew up in the sort of area that I did, it’s about what you don’t have, rather than what you could achieve.
"The positive and empowering element doesn’t register in their heads.
“It’s not hard to reverse that.”
Studies have shown that two thirds of young people worry about money but get only eight per cent of their financial education from the classroom.
The Thrive scheme sees youth workers equipped to host workshops to improve the confidence of young people in dealing with their finances.
Visitng the Norborok Youth Club in Wythenshawe, south Manchester, Rashford said: “A lot of kids are scared to go to a bank and that’s not surprising because they don’t teach you about money mindset at school.
“For those who grew up in the sort of area that I did, it’s about what you don’t have, rather than what you could achieve.
"The positive and empowering element doesn’t register in their heads.
“It’s not hard to reverse that but not many people are trying to change that.
“I know so many talented young people who could really benefit from a program like this, who could actually propel themselves into something much bigger and achieving their goals.”
As well as at Norbrook, the programme devised with the National Youth Agency is being piloted at St. Mary’s Youth Centre in Primrose Hill, north London and Sunderland’s Lambton Street Youth Centre.
A national roll-out is scheduled for the summer.
NatWest CEO Alison Rose told Rashford: “You’re mum’s given you the framework, so that you know what to do, which is really powerful.
“We’re in people’s lives from the very beginning.
“If we can give people the tools to be economically secure and know what to do and not to see something to be frightened of, it can be empowering of their life rather than something that holds them back.”
Rashford was last year awarded a MBE by Prince William in recognition of his campaign to support vulnerable children during the pandemic.
The Manchester United forward has become a prolific anti-poverty campaigner over the last two years.
He has spoken about his own experiences of using food banks and free school meals and is also involved in boosting childhood literacy.
His efforts to accelerate free school meal provision in England during holidays pressured the government into major policy changes in 2020.
