The Financial Times has launched a financial literacy and inclusion charity aimed at helping young people, women and disadvantaged communities.

Called the FT Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign (FT FLIC), the charity has been backed by former prime minister Gordon Brown and will provide financial education resources to teachers and individuals.

It is seeking partnerships with other charities involved in financial education and aims to lobby politicians around education policy, in particular integrating financial literacy into the school curriculum.

FT FLIC is led by executive director Aimée Allam, former programme director of the Economic Research Council.

“Following months of scoping and research, we have mapped some of the excellent organisations that are already working to improve financial literacy either universally or for specific target groups,” said Allam.

“We see our role as complementing and bolstering these offerings. Wherever possible we want to amplify the voices of those who know their community’s needs best.”

The new charity’s chair is FT deputy editor Patrick Jenkins said the charity’s launch follows 15 years of fundraising for other charities and good causes for its annual Christmas fundraising drive.

“It seemed obvious that the FT should espouse a cause connected to finance and inequality – and be far more ambitious than an old-style seasonal appeal partnership,” said Jenkins on the charity’s development.

According to the Charity Commission’s register FT FLIC has ten trustees, including National Association of Citizen’s Advice Bureaux trustee and FT chief communications and marketing officer Finola McDonnell.

Another is former FT journalist Lucy Kellaway, who is co-founder of education charity Now Teach.

Brown said that he “welcomes the initiative” that will “not only work with current providers at the grass roots level, but it will also seek changes to policy”.

Share Story: