FUNDING of nearly £200,000 has been awarded to credit unions to set up saving schemes for children in Scottish schools.
The new Junior Savers Schemes aim to help pupils learn how to manage money.
Ten credit unions working in areas like Aberdeen, Dumfries and Galloway, West Lothian and Stirling are set to receive a share of the Scottish Government cash.
Additional funding will also be used to develop and produce a new Junior Savers toolkit which will provide booklets and online resources for both credit unions and schools to use to set up their own schemes.
“Credit unions provide safer and more secure opportunities for people to borrow money and are an alternative to pay day lenders, so it’s only right that we should highlight their benefits to people from a young age,” said communities secretary Angela Constance, who announced the funding on a visit to the West Lothian Credit Union in Livingston. “Through the scheme and our new Junior Savers toolkit, credit unions will be able to work with schools to raise awareness of money issues. This early work can help to change behaviour, and ultimately play a role in our efforts to reduce inequalities.”
The grant was welcomed by Nancy MacGillivray, chairman of West Lothian Credit Union which has loaned £10 million in the past 18 years.
“The news of our successful application to the Scottish Government Junior Savers Scheme for working in primary schools combined with our celebration of £10 million loaned to the community makes this a wonderful day for West Lothian,” she said.
There are currently around 100 credit unions in Scotland, with a combined membership of 387,000. Seven per cent of the Scottish population is enrolled in a credit union, compared with only 1.5 per cent in England, and 2.6 per cent in Wales.
Glasgow Credit Union, the largest in the UK with 39,000 members, has signed up 4,000 members in the past year, most in the 25-35 age group.
Credit unions receiving £20,000 of the new money for the Junior Savers Schemes are East Renfrewshire Credit Union, Blackburn, Seafield and District Credit Union in West Lothian, Sovereign Credit Union in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, Stirling Credit Union, Falkirk district Credit Union, Yoker Credit Union in Glasgow and North East Credit Union in Aberdeen. Solway Credit Union in Dumfries and Galloway receives £12,000.
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