Young Enterprise has provided 7.2 million young people with practical financial and enterprise education opportunities since being founded in 1962, including 1.1 million young people who have started Young Enterprise businesses.
The leading financial and enterprise charity announced the landmark statistic at an event in Birmingham yesterday to celebrate its partnership with HSBC UK, one of its longest-standing supporters.
This comes after achieving a target to help one million young people since 2020 – in time for its 60th anniversary year.
The event, hosted by Ian Stuart, CEO, HSBC UK Bank, which has partnered with Young Enterprise for over 40 years, brought together business leaders, teachers, students, and policymakers at HSBC UK’s headquarters in Centenary Square, Birmingham.
Andy Street, the Mayor of West Midlands, delivered a speech in which he discussed the importance of providing young people with opportunities to become more financially capable and better prepared for the future.
Young Enterprise and HSBC UK have developed the award-winning Money Heroes Programme which has enabled over 550,000 children to date to learn about financial education.
Andy Street, Mayor of West Midlands, said: “It’s genuinely inspiring when we reflect on how Young Enterprise has helped millions of young people to realise their potential over the last 60 years. Financial and commercial literacy can play a tremendous role in personal and professional development, and it is fantastic to see a programme that equips young people with those skills.
“I also want to pay tribute to the partnership between Young Enterprise and HSBC UK, which has helped to secure a brighter, more stable future for so many young people here in our region – and indeed right across the UK over the last six decades. Long may it continue.”
Sharon Davies, CEO of Young Enterprise, said: “Young Enterprise is thrilled to have achieved the ambitious target we set for ourselves in 2020 to support over one million young people in time for our 60th anniversary this year. Access to opportunity has never been more important in helping young people build their futures, and our significant progress to date has been made possible to a large degree through our partnership with HSBC UK.
“With 7.2 million young people reached since we were founded in 1962, we aim to continue breaking down barriers to social mobility, and we have exciting plans in development for the rest of this decade. We want to ensure our partnerships are contributing to a larger ecosystem of partners committed to investing in the UK’s future workforce.”
Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC UK Bank, said: “We are proud to have supported Young Enterprise to build the future skills of young people across the UK for the last 4 decades. Evidence tells us that children’s attitudes about money are well developed by the age of seven, so starting early really matters. Our partnership with Young Enterprise to create the Money Heroes programme has led the way in teaching children about money in a fun and engaging way – with an important focus on children from higher areas of deprivation, special educational needs, or accessibility requirements.”
