A further 5,000 young people across Northern Ireland are set to benefit from financial capability and enterprise education as Bank of Ireland announces its continued support for leading enterprise charity, Young Enterprise Northern Ireland.

Marking ten years of the partnership, which has provided over 50,000 enterprise and financial education opportunities in Northern Ireland, the endorsement from Bank of Ireland will enable Young Enterprise Northern Ireland to deliver its valued programmes to 5,000 young people in the 2023-24 academic year.

Investing in the skills of young people aged from 4 to 18+, activity across YENI’s student programmes will benefit from the renewed partnership with Bank of Ireland. 

This includes the longstanding and popular ‘Ourselves’ and ‘Our Families’ programmes where Primary 1 to Primary 3 schoolchildren have the opportunity to learn about the world of work, the importance of saving, earning, decision making and teamwork, in addition to the  My Money Matters programme which helps post-primary and further education students to develop important financial skills for the next stages of their lives, including credit and debt, budgeting and savings.

Further embedding the partnership, colleagues from Bank of Ireland will lend their expertise in the classroom, volunteering their time to bring personal finance and entrepreneurship to life in the classroom.

Reflecting on the bank’s longstanding support, Young Enterprise Chief Executive Carol Fitzsimons MBE commented:

“Over the past decade we have developed an incredible working relationship with Bank of Ireland that has helped us to make an impact on tens of thousands of Northern Ireland’s young people.  We welcome the opportunity to continue this work that will help young people gain confidence in their finances and inspire them to lead Northern Ireland’s economic future.

“We would like to extend our thanks to the Bank of Ireland team as we look forward to our tenth year together.”

Speaking about the continued collaboration, George Higginson, Director of Northern Ireland, Mortgages and Partnerships at Bank of Ireland UK said: 

“We are delighted to renew our partnership with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland and to continue supporting them to provide financial education to thousands of young people across Northern Ireland.

“Financial literacy is an essential skill, and one that many struggle with. And by introducing financial capability from early years, we can equip young people with the knowledge, confidence and skills they need to adopt good financial habits which will greatly benefit them now and long into adulthood.

“Working with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland, we connect directly with local schools, building on our own financial wellbeing programme for schools, MoneySmarts, and ensure that every young person has access to financial and enterprise education and the tools they need to make good financial choices.”

“In addition to our partnership with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland, and recognising that financial literacy plays an important part throughout our lives, we have developed a series of free financial literacy resources which are available to parents, community groups and employers, ensuing access to financial literacy and wellbeing support at all life stages.” 

Young Enterprise is Northern Ireland’s leading entrepreneurship skills charity.  To find out how you and your business can get involved visit www.yeni.co.uk

Further information on Bank of Ireland’s financial literacy resources is available at: Financial Wellbeing Team – Bank of Ireland UK