There’s never been a better time to visit Money A+E
The role of social innovation in tackling the growing financial vulnerability pandemic
The Financial Conduct Authority found that the Covid-19 pandemic left over a ¼ of UK adults with lower financial resilience. The results of a survey carried out in October 2020 revealed that 27.7 million adults in the UK have characteristics of vulnerability such as poor health, low financial resilience and recent negative life events. To make matters worse, the current war in Ukraine and rising energy prices mean we are facing an unprecedented inflationary economic crisis bringing the cost of basic goods such as milk and bread to new highs.
Here, I share my insights — drawing on my personal experience and my 5-month placement with Royal London Changemaker Money A&E — on how social innovation needs to adapt to address the new realities of financial vulnerability. This work came out of the partnership between Year Here and Royal London as part of the ‘Bold Ideas’ stage of the Changemakers programme. The partnership explored what causes financial vulnerability, the challenges of building economic resilience, and how we can better build people’s financial resilience. It also looked at the social and financial impacts of moving to a low-carbon economy. Together we aim to find new and scalable solutions by giving Year Here Fellows deep insights into these challenges.
What is the cost of living crisis and who is most impacted by it?
The cost of living crisis refers to the fall in disposable incomes — it is a result of inflation outpacing wages and benefits. This economic scenario leaves the most vulnerable in society exposed to homelessness and poverty. The impacts of this crisis are felt most by those from diverse and ethnic communities; a poll of 1,639 workers by People Like Us, found 34% of professionals from racially diverse backgrounds said their salaries were not enough to cover their mortgage or rent and energy bills, compared to 27% of those from white backgrounds. To compound the issues faced by minority employees, a more recent People Like Us survey conducted in January 2022 revealed ethnic minority employees were paid on average 84% of what their white counterparts earn.
The financial issues faced by diverse and ethnic communities in the UK are profound and require a tailored approach driven by the individuals who inhabit and have direct experience with these groups.
Enter Money A&E…
Money A+E stands for Money Advice and Education, a clever acronym embodying the organisation’s purpose with clarity. It was founded in 2011 by Jerry During, MBE and Gregory Ashby, MBE through their shared desire to convert their lived experience into a socially impactful organisation. They are both Black British founders who understand the plight of diverse and ethnic communities in London; they know people require financial coaching, support and education to enable them to thrive within their local communities.
Back in 2008, a report by the Runnymede Trust and Fair4All Finance found that 60% of Asian and 63% of Black households have no savings, compared to 33% of white households. Jerry was a member of the advisory committee for Fair4All Finance at the time, helping to improve the research into this area of London’s social inequality. For him, this statistic highlighted the danger that diverse and ethnic communities faced and continue to face during our current cost of living crisis. With no savings, a single life shock, like illness, redundancy or bereavement, can cause a family or individual to become unstable with very few remaining options.
The coaching and education services provided by Monday A+E enable the development of communities through improving the financial literacy, resilience and learning skills of individuals who then share these learnings with the wider community. It’s one of the powerful aspects of diverse and ethnic communities — through my own lived experience, I observed how minority groups will band together to support one another through difficult times. Whether this is through advice and support when an individual in the community is undergoing a life shock or through pooling financial resources to enable a family to settle down in the area. Therefore, one can begin to understand the impact of Money A+E through understanding the strength of the bonds and ties within these communities that allow knowledge to be shared intergenerationally.
Why we now need to go beyond advice — the Supported Housing and Supported Learning Centre
Initially, Money A+E understood their mission to support the education of individuals and communities with regard to financial literacy. Having worked with communities for over a decade, they saw that the changing economic and societal environment required them to consider treating the consequences of the problem they were tackling if they truly wanted to create lasting financial security.
During my placement at Money A+E, I was tasked with project managing a new initiative called the “Supported Housing and Support Learning Centre” (SHLSC). This was an innovative proposal to create move-on accommodation for people moving on from care, refugees and prison leavers who had independent living skills but required support to move into long-term professional employment and private accommodation. The key insight that catalysed the development of SHLSC was the lack of affordable move-on accommodation providers for organisations to transfer their residents when they were ready. Hence, it would be a 24-month process — where partner organisations would provide support within the property to enable the participants to develop themselves, acquire the Money Mentors qualification and address the issues inhibiting them from attaining private accommodation.
It was during a co-creation session at Anchor House in Newham that I began to understand the need for projects like SHLSC. I met with 3 participants who had stayed at Anchor House for varying amounts of time. Throughout the session, there was a realisation that the cost of living crisis and the lack of supportive accommodation in London was a vicious cycle. The cycle started with a life shock, leading to the experience of homelessness, followed by declining mental and physical health until an individual reached a point of crisis and would become more eligible for greater support. As the individual improved their situation, there was always risk due to an unhelpful landlord, changing legislation or personal circumstances that they could be pulled back into the cycle.
Each of the participants had their own rich story speaking about their struggles while experiencing homelessness, attempting to find employment but being rejected as they didn’t meet the expectations of the interviewer. The damage that this caused to their self-esteem and well-being — which would compound their own mental health issues, leading them to riskier situations. Despite the immense hardship that each of these participants faced, they were grateful, willing to learn and determined to overcome the obstacles they faced. One participant, when asked about his ambitions for his career, simply stated he wanted to use his story to help others avoid the suffering he had faced. It was such a humble and profoundly meaningful career ambition that I hope he has every success in achieving.
Moreover, the co-creation session was empowering for the service users — it enabled them to feel heard and valued as the residents of any future project. Their insights were not only useful for the SHLSC project, but they were shared with Anchor House to help support their own accommodation’s development. These insights helped us to understand their needs for move-on accommodation, including enabling greater integration of social relationships, integrating nature, autonomy around food and creating rules that promote wellbeing and safety.
Each of the participants decided to be a part of the future SHLSC steering committee designed to help dictate the future direction of the project through its development and eventual launch. It’s magical what can be achieved when all stakeholders and relevant parties enable open, honest and curious communication to achieve a shared goal.
My reflections
Royal London was key in enabling the SHLSC project through its Changemaker programme. As part of this, their volunteer support helped Jerry and me in considering the issues we’d face such as local politics, economic turbulence, funder resistance, public relations messaging and how to approach the project to meet the needs of the three distinct target groups: care leavers, refugees and prison leavers. Royal London’s involvement in the project highlighted an impactful and powerful partnership between a large financial institution and a localised community interest company- it’s a blueprint that large national and multinational corporations should replicate. It made perfect sense in many ways as financial institutions rely on safe, stable and resilient customers while Money A+E exists to create financially resilient individuals. The symbiotic relationship between these two organisations emphasises the potential for change when stakeholders are engaged across society.
The cost of living crisis impacts us all relative to the financial resilience we possess. If we are lucky to have a bank of mum and dad, savings, investments, steady income or a solid education, it’s our duty to recognise our privilege and contemplate how we can alleviate the hardship that others face.
Through my own experiences, providing people with financial coaching, discussing financial goals and creating a deeper understanding of financial resilience, I understood that this is an unconditional kindness we should all strive towards.
Regardless of your socioeconomic background or cultural heritage — our relationship and experience with financial well-being is individual and nuanced. It’s our duty to recognise and communicate this experience to friends, service users, community members and strangers.
The simple act of signposting to an organisation like Money A+E, Citizen’s Advice or someone who might have the answer can be transformative for an individual. It’s easy to tell people to put themselves in another’s shoes, but it’s harder to embody this ideology by creating safe and nurturing spaces for people to discuss issues like financial resilience.
Whether it’s your workplace, social group or immediate family — money doesn’t need to be taboo. It’s a commonality we all share — we all need money to provide for ourselves and our loved ones and meet our needs. Therefore, it requires the same openness we have with food; you wouldn’t think twice about sharing a recipe for a great dinner — so don’t think twice about sharing your recipe for financial resilience.
Money A&E is currently running a fundraiser for the cost of living crisis facing their communities. Find out more here, and feel free to donate here.
