Charles Counsell, CEO of the Money Advice Service, introduces Talk Money Week and highlights why you should take part.
A continuing priority for both the Money Advice Service (MAS) and the future single financial guidance body is spearheading the campaign to improve the UK’s financial capability. Once a year in mid-November, we take a week to celebrate, showcase and promote the work underway to improve financial capability. For the past two years this has been known a ‘Financial Capability Week’.
This year, building on our tremendously successful 2017 ‘Talk Money Conference’, we have renamed the whole week ‘Talk Money Week’.
‘Talk Money’ is a recognition of the importance of breaking down the taboo and encouraging people to have a conversation about money – with their parents or children, employers or employees, financial service providers and customers. This is one of the first steps in improving financial capability and money management, but it also signals the increasing impact we are having on personal finance research, analysis and debate.
This year Talk Money Week will take place between 12-18 November 2018, with the Talk Money Conference as its showpiece event. For the first time, MAS is teaming up with the Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG) to jointly present this year’s conference, in order to open it up to as many stakeholders from across the financial capability and debt landscape as possible with the joint aim of improving financial capability and the lives of people in debt across the UK.
The content of this year’s conference will be more varied than ever – with five streams covering all the latest topics in financial capability and debt advice. So, it made sense for MAS to partner with MALG to help amplify the messages of the week, and ultimately attract the best speakers, exhibitors and delegates for an event which will have relevance for everyone in the money guidance and debt advice sector.
Liz Barclay, consumer affairs champion and current Chair of MALG, said: “We need to get everyone from across the financial capability, debt and lending landscape together in one room to discuss and debate the hot topics and to start a much bigger conversation about the challenges we face. Only by working together can we get over the very British taboo of talking about all aspects of money, positive and negative. This will be the biggest and best event of its kind for the sector and I’m looking forward to some innovative thinking and outcomes.”
The conference is a free to attend one-day event and will be held at Central Hall Westminster on Wednesday 14 November 2018. It is open to the whole of the financial capability community, money/debt advice, credit, and wider sectors/stakeholders, meaning it offers unrivalled networking and collaborative opportunities to start new conversations about the big issues impacting the finances of the UK population today. You can register for the conference here – early booking is advised to avoid disappointment.
The conference is the showpiece event in Talk Money Week, but it works best when it builds upon the work going around the country. Last year, the week featured around 200 events and activities across the UK, bringing together charities, financial industry leaders, policy makers, academics and practitioners. I am delighted to announce that today we are launching our participation pack for Talk Money Week 2018, which includes loads of great ideas for how you or your organisation can get involved. If you would like to learn more about this year’s events, or run one of your own, contact [email protected].