Merky and HSBC partner for new school event series

HSBC UK and #Merky Books have joined forces to create a new in-person and live-streamed school event series on financial wellbeing and entrepreneurialism. 

The How To series will include events in three secondary schools around the UK with financial wellness guru Bola Sol, author of How To Save It, and creative strategists Niran Vinod and Damola Timeyin, authors of How To Build It. 

The first event will be held on 21st February at La Sainte Union School in London, with Sol talking to the students about how to budget, save and invest, how to build financial confidence and on overcoming personal challenges when it comes to money. The second and third talks will take place in Birmingham and Leeds in March, with each event being live streamed for additional schools to tune in. 

To amplify the reach of the new series, #Merky Books will work with its network of secondary schools throughout the UK to distribute resource packs developed with HSBC UK’s financial education team and guided by the topics and themes covered in the series. The series will see 1,500 books donated to school libraries and evergreen content will be created and shared on key social media channels. 

Sol said: “My hope for the future generation is that they seize the opportunity to learn about finance at a young age. There’s so much accessible information about money online, TikTok is thriving on it. But really it should be schools introducing the subject, they should learn by example and empower their students to know the real value of money.” 

Emma Wallace, senior audience development manager for #Merky Books, added: “Our How To series contributes to our commitment at #Merky Books to uplift a new generation, so I’m really excited to be bringing some of the authors to schools around the UK through both in-person events and live-streaming. Partnering with HSBC UK on this series, focused specifically on financial literacy and entrepreneurism, made perfect sense when you look at the work that they’re already doing with schools around the country.” 

Annette Whalley, senior consultant in education at HSBC UK, said: “Financial skills are life skills, however too many young people are entering adulthood without being prepared for the money and career challenges that lie ahead. Creating new and interesting ways for people to connect with financial education is key to addressing this gap. 

“Building on the success of our partnership with the #Merky Foundation to expand the Stormzy Scholarships programme, we’re thrilled to be working with #Merky Books as part of our wider efforts to help young people build the financial and employability skills they need to overcome barriers to opportunity and thrive.”