We’re delighted to release our 2021 Annual Report today, telling the story of an exciting year bouncing back for the UK’s Financial Capability charity, moving from a year of simply surviving to one of thriving. Alongside the Report, we are also presenting our new three-year strategy for 2022-24 and new Impact page, as we continue to look towards a future where everyone in the UK can achieve Financial Wellbeing.
This year our Annual Report has been refreshed and redesigned, reflecting the renewed focus which is central to our three-year strategy, as well as helping to better highlight the many successes of 2021. While it was a year which continued to be dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the strides previously taken in 2020 opened many doors for us as we further evolved and developed our offering, expanding our delivery scope while refining and sharpening how we sold and positioned ourselves.
Through the year, delivery of our Financial Education Money Workshops for Young People doubled, with the numbers of hours delivered back to around two-thirds of pre-pandemic times. Meanwhile the number of individuals we reached more than doubled, back to around 90% of their pre-pandemic level.
On the Workplace & Community side, for adults, our work saw incredible growth, with 5-6 times more hours of Financial Wellbeing Workshops and Webinars delivered. This upward curve is already continuing and even accelerating rapidly through 2022, with record numbers of sessions being delivered month-on-month. If 2022’s numbers remain on their current forecast trajectory, our final totals for hours delivered and people reached will be several times greater than in any previous year!
It’s an exciting, albeit extremely busy, time for us and a great moment for new funders to explore partnering with us. Watch this space or get in touch!
But it wasn’t just the bottom line numbers we were enthused about for 2021. Our ongoing evaluation of our work and its effectiveness brought us brilliant findings. We found that the Young People we worked with reported a 23% increase in their ability to manage their money after one of our Workshops, along with a 20% increase in their ability and willingness to talk about money matters with their close contacts. There was also a significant positive effect on their knowledge and understanding of credit, savings, planning and budgeting.
Meanwhile in our work with Adults, they reported a 25% increase in how financially capable they felt, as well as how able to plan for their future, after attending one of our sessions. Participants’ awareness of where to go for support or financial information also increased significantly, while 96% of attendees said they would recommend what we did to others.
Two final major highlights of the year were, firstly, the creation of The Money Charity’s first-ever promotional videos. We love this set of four films, showcasing the vital work we do and the impact it has upon people across the UK. Haven’t watched them yet? We suggest you do ASAP! Secondly, the increases we saw in readership of and engagement with our monthly report, The Money Statistics. We’ve been crunching the numbers to produce our full, objective monthly round-up of how the UK manages its money since 2009 and it has always had an enthusiastic, loyal and appreciative readership, along with frequently being a source of research for media and individuals alike. Through 2021, we saw new highs month-on-month in the number of subscribers opening their Money Stats emails, visiting the dedicated summary webpage and reading the full PDF report. You can sign-up to join this list anytime here.
We hope in our 2021 Report, new strategy and new Impact page that you will see how hard we have worked throughout the year to continue seeing the UK increase its Financial Wellbeing by supporting people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities in making the most of their money, reducing their stress and the burden of financial worries so they can live happier, more fulfilled lives.
If you would like to help us in this mission, in any way at all, please do get in touch with us so we can start a conversation. We’d love to hear from you!