11 May 2011

Top Money Tips Win Students Canary Wharf Prize

The winners of the Money Tips Wales competition announced today will be joined by Money Tips winners from across the UK at Barclays headquarters in Canary Wharf, London, for an insight into how to make it to the top.
 
The winning entries for the three competition categories: Money Tip for Wales, Money Tip for Colleges, Money Tip for Individuals are:

• Money Tip for Wales: “Supermarkets should reduce packaging and the cost of shopping by providing dispensing machines for dry foods such as pasta, rice and sugar that customers could dispense into coded containers”. (Winners: Deeside College students Suzannah, Suzanne and Jakki.)
• Money Tip for Colleges: “Colleges should reduce the cost of studies for students by holding second-hand textbook sales, which would have the added benefits of reducing waste and raising money to buy new books”. (Winner: Merthyr Tydfil College student, Carl Mahoney.)
• Money Tip for Individuals: “Live within your means by paying bills on time to avoid interest payments, keeping track of what you spend in a note book and storing receipts and bills to keep on top of them.” (Winner: Alex Williams, Gower College Swansea.)

The Money Tips competition is the culmination of the Barclays Money Skills Week programme of events which has given thousands of college students across Wales useful tips and tools on money management in a range of fun activities including ‘style on a budget’, ‘shopping basket challenge’, a taste test called ‘the taste of money’ and ‘family money tips’.

Programme Manager for Money Skills Weeks in Wales, ColegauCymru's Berni Tyler, said: “Thousands of students from 14 further education colleges in Wales have been on a huge learning curve thanks to Money Week this year. They have looked at how to budget and how to save – critical life skills that will help them on their way through education and into employment.

“A Canary Wharf prize is a phenomenal end to this year’s Money Week activities. I’m delighted for the five winning students, who have demonstrated that they can apply their learning and think outside the box.”
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Contact: Sylvia Davies on 029 2052 8384 or 07968 771913.

Notes to editors:

1. ColegauCymru / CollegesWales was previously called fforwm. It is a national educational charity that represents all 21 further education (FE) colleges and institutions in Wales. Its mission is to raise the profile of further education with key decision-makers to improve opportunities for learners in Wales. For further information about ColegauCymru / CollegesWales, and the colleges it represents, visit www.colegaucymru.ac.uk or www.collegeswales.ac.uk
2. Barclays Money Skills ‘weeks’ have been designed to give students an awareness of personal finance issues and to provide them with some tools to control their budget. Supported by ColegauCymru / CollegesWales and others across the UK, Barclays in partnership with the National Skills Academy for Financial Services have worked to deliver the learning week at 150 colleges throughout Britain. www.barclaysmoneyskills.com
3. Colleges in Wales that participated in the Money Tips competition:

• Barry College
• Coleg Ceredigion
• Coleg Glan Hafren
• Coleg Llandrillo Cymru
• Coleg Powys
• Coleg Sir Gâr
• Deeside College
• Gower College Swansea
• Merthyr Tydfil College
• Neath Port Talbot College
• Pembrokeshire College
• Saint David's Catholic College
• Yale College Wrexham
• Ystrad Mynach College

4. Competition winners were announced by Kathy Brown, Barclays’ Community Investment Manager, on 9 May at an event in Cardiff organised by the National Skills Academy for Financial Services.
5. Interesting tips and more about the event are published on www.twitter.com/CollegesWales and #moneytipsWales #moneyweek.