Words that Count

Words that Count is a free financial literacy programme run by National Literacy Trust and created in partnership with Experian and Foundation 92. Now in its fourth year, the campaign aims work in collaboration with football foundations and community sports organisations to empower young people aged 15 to 19 to feel more confident and informed about making their own financial decisions.

The programme includes six in-person workshops delivered by community role models, covering topics such as money management, understanding credit cards, and methods of bill payment. Additionally, a complementary digital campaign supports the initiative. This campaign features well-known influencers in the field of financial well-being sharing their tips and advice on TikTok and Instagram.

Literacy skills play a crucial role in enabling young people to bolster their financial resilience. Integrating financial education into literacy lessons throughout a young person’s education proves to be highly effective. In 2019, we published a report exploring the association between literacy and financial capability.

We found that:

• Children and young people who have good reading skills are four times as likely to have good financial skills than their peers who have poor reading skills (35.6% vs 8.8%)
• Children and young people who have poor reading skills are four times as likely to also have poor financial skills (56.3% vs 12.3%)

We are looking to work with sports community organisations and selected FE settings in England who have access to disadvantaged young people, aged 15-19.

Each setting will receive:

• Programme training
• All necessary resources:
  • Student workbooks
  • Lesson PowerPoints with lesson notes
  • Lesson plans
  • Glossaries
  • Activity cards
• Limited financial support is available for eligible organisations (such as community-based sports organisations. This does not include FE settings or those that already receive statutory funding).

The programme will be available from January until the end of May 2024. You can register your interest in delivering Words the Count by completing the form below.

If you have any enquiries relating to this programme please email sport@literacytrust.org.uk.

To register your interest in running Words that Count, please complete the form below.