[flickr id=”7127931437″ thumbnail=”medium_640″ overlay=”true” size=”medium_640″ group=”” align=”none”] Step Forward were one of 8 charities in the UK chosen to take part in a pilot of the Barclays Money Skills Champion programme. To celebrate the success of the pilot, we took part in a event held at Barclays Global Headquarters at Canary Wharf.

Step Forward ran a Barclays Money Skills training programme in February and Azizul, Ashliegh and Nadira who took part were able to join us at the celebration. Our supportive training programme was aimed at young people who wanted to improve their knowledge about money issues as well as gain peer education skills.

One of the our young champions Azizul said of the training “The info I learnt from the 2 day training at Step Forward educated me so I can help myself and others around money”

Nadira added “It was worth giving up my Saturday and Sunday to learn something about Money Skills which could help us in the future, we can help educate others and pass on our knowledge.”

During the ceremony we got to meet and share experiences with other charities and Champions from other parts of the country. We also go to hear from people within Barclays about some of the opportunities they have for young people and some hints and tips on CV writing and finding training and employment.

Azizul said “We were asked here to celebrate becoming a Champion. Some members of the HR team spoke to us about how we can move forward. They showed us what we could achieve, even if I’ve got no qualifications, through apprenticeship schemes.”

Someone from Barclays took us on a guided tour around their headquarters and we even got to see a view of Tower Hamlets from the 30th floor!