A project which teaches financial literacy to young people is one of eight projects in the West Midlands to win a share of £1.5 million from the Big Lottery Fund (Big).
Best Chance will use £155,000 to help young people in Birmingham avoid debt by teaching them about money and how to make financial decisions through its Investing In The Future scheme.
The project is one of 74 schemes nationally which are sharing a total of £17.6 million from Bigs Reaching Communities programme.
Former headteacher Bernie Smith founded Best Chances with his colleague Maureen Hunt. He said: In the current economic crisis the problems associated with long-term debt and dependency on credit to survive, generational worklessness, debt, unemployment and financial literacy are significant.
They are even more acute for young people who will struggle to obtain or maintain jobs and become trapped by debt unless they are educated in how to better understand the nature of borrowing and the long-term impact financial choices can make. Knowing about finance can be fun and enlightening, and it has to be essential in the current economic crisis we are witnessing today.
Another Birmingham project to win funding is The Edge Partnership Of Schools, which has been awarded £225,000 to work in five high schools with the aims of improving the confidence, community involvement and leadership skills of disadvantaged and vulnerable young people.
Elsewhere, Your Ideas Ltd has received £189,898 to deliver specialist support services to young people, aged between 15 and 25 years old, with autism spectrum disorder living in Redditch, and Community Together Community Interest Company (CIC) has secured £142,791 to open community cafes in Glascote, Stonydelph and Amington.
John Taylor, Bigs head of the West Midlands region, said: Giving young people the best chances to succeed in life is critical for them, their families and their community. I strongly believe todays projects working with young people are going to have a significant impact on young lives and will ultimately pave the way for them to build positive futures. All of todays projects are doing phenomenal work in improving life for people and communities in need.
Other grant-winning organisations include Staffordshire County Council which has secured £241,312; North Smethwick Development Trust, in Sandwell, which has been awarded £39,704 and Coventry CSV, which has gained £288,014.
Staffordshire Adults Autistic Society, which operates in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire Moorlands and Stoke-on-Trent, has received £190,530.
