Empowered Futures: Financial Literacy for Health Equity in Schools
Every young person deserves the tools to thrive — both in health and in life. Empowered Futures: Financial Literacy for Health Equity in Schools is a public engagement project aimed at informing and shaping future research priorities at the intersections of financial wellbeing, mental health and health equity.
The project is supported by the King’s Population Health Institute Investigator Awards and nested in PHI UK Population Mental Health Constortium. It builds on recommendations from community peer researchers in the Contributions of Social Networks to Community Thriving (CONNECT) study, who identified school-based financial education as a key step towards breaking cycles of financial disadvantage.
This project worked with educators, charities, artists, researchers, and most importantly, local community members (as community partners), to inspire how financial wellbeing can help create fairer, healthier futures for all. This initiative is guided by the voices that matter most: the people in our communities.
Aims
- To put community voices at the heart of future research, shaped by the voices of people from racially minoritised communities and communities affected by financial hardship and inequality, reflecting what matters most to them.
- To explore how money, mental health, and inequality are connected through an intersectional lens, creatively exploring how social, financial, and structural challenges affect health, drawing on community experiences.
- To increase understanding of financial wellbeing through The Money Charity’s workshop, enabling participants to access relevant resources, apply what they learn, and share their learning with others.
- To reflect on approaches to financial wellbeing, to understand what is helpful, for whom, and in what situations.
- To develop actionable insights that can guide future research and practice on financial wellbeing, mental health, and health inequalities.
Methods
Over the past three months, the project has delivered three creative and collaborative workshops with five local community members from racially minoritised groups, engaged as Community Partners.
We worked closely with visual artist and graphic facilitator Federica Ciotti to co-plan and co-facilitate workshops. Through creative facilitation and live visualisation, she helped inspire discussion, draw together diverse perspectives, and synthesise key insights in an accessible and engaging visual format.
As part of the second workshop, we partnered with Monica Olusola and Rhi Jones from The Money Charity, the UK’s financial capability charity. The workshop featured an interactive financial wellbeing information session delivered by Monica Olusola, which was additionally opened to local parents and teachers to broaden access to practical financial knowledge and skills.
Following the session, community partners reflected on the content, shared their perspectives, and provided feedback on its relevance and potential impact. Key discussions and insights were noted through visual minutes by Federica Ciotti, to be shared as a free community resource (see community resources below).
The third workshop was co-facilitated by Verity Buckley (The Bright Thread), using an intersectional lens to explore the project’s impact and ripple effects, and identified actionable insights as key research priorities for future work.
Community resources
- Financial wellbeing tips (visual minutes by Federica Ciotti based on The Money Charity’s workshop).
- To further support community learning, Anita Zsurkán (creativepartner and workshop attendee) developed a set of accompanying slides and handouts (MoneyMasters), also made freely available as a community resource for schools and community members.
Impact
The impact of the project was both deeply personal and strongly collective. Learning extended far beyond the workshop sessions, as Community Partners shared knowledge, resources, and conversations with family members, friends, colleagues, and wider community networks.
Community Partners described growing confidence in discussing money openly, challenging stigma, and recognising the important connections between financial wellbeing and mental health.
Over time, Community Partners increasingly viewed money not simply as an individual responsibility, but as a social and relational issue shaped by identity, culture, opportunity, and lived experience. They expressed pride in strengthening their financial confidence, deepening relationships through honest conversations, and developing a greater understanding of the structural factors that drive financial inequality.
Many emphasised the value of creating safe, supportive spaces for learning and dialogue, and highlighted a strong desire for this work to continue through ongoing workshops, community engagement, and opportunities for collective learning.
Partners
Project workshop and graphic facilitator: Federica Ciotti.
Community Partners: Enduement Adiohwo, Shabbir Mellick, Sarina Saadat, Ibrahim Sabra, and Owen Simpson.
Impact consultant: Verity Buckley (The Bright Thread).
Strategic oversight and ongoing project support: Patrick Wong (Population Mental Health Consortium Manager)
Charity partner: The Money Charity — Monica Olusola, Rhi Jones, and Rhiannon Byers.
Creative partner (community-based): Anita Zsurkán.
Workshops venue: Upper Norwood Library Hub.
Principal Investigator
Research Associate, UKRI Population Health Improvement (PHI-UK), Population Mental Health Consortium
Investigators
Professor of Social & Psychiatric Epidemiology
Vice Dean for Culture, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Lecturer in Society and Mental Health
Teaching Fellow in Population Health Sciences
Research Associate