28th August 2026
Smart Money Summer has officially wrapped up, concluding two weeks of fun money-learning activities across our six branches.
The money habits we form as children can stay with us for life.
That’s why we launched Smart Money Summer. Through in-branch activities in August, we wanted to help children explore saving, spending choices and the value of money. After all, every good saver starts somewhere.
We launched Smart Money Summer last year to help young people build their money skills, leading to the creation of our Money Skills Hub. This year, we wanted to take it even further.
Across our branches, children took part in hands on activities that made money concepts easy to understand. They sorted flashcards in Vernon Bear’s ‘Needs or Wants?’ game, wrote their own savings goals for the branch Savings Tree, guessed the prices of everyday items in ‘The Price is Right’, and worked in teams to plan a birthday party budget in ‘Beat the Budget’. Each activity helped children learn through doing - with Vernon Bear lending a helping paw along the way.
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One of the nicest parts of Smart Money Summer was our Savings Goal Tree. Each branch had a big wooden tree on display, and children added their own leaf shaped notes with their savings goals.
The goals were as varied as geckos and bearded dragons, football boots and toy ovens, and even a Lamborghini. Watching the tree fill up with colourful leaves showed just how excited children are about saving when they have something meaningful to aim for.
The activity helped children see that saving doesn’t have to be big or complicated. A small amount put away regularly can grow into something they’re really proud of.
Smart Money Summer also marked the launch of our Junior Regular Saver Account - a simple, child friendly way to help young savers build positive habits early on.
Children who open an account receive:
• A Vernon piggy bank to encourage regular saving
• Vernon Bear’s Book of Money to continue learning at home
• Entry into our annual prize draw - make regular deposits for a chance to win £100. T&Cs apply.
These incentives were created to make saving feel achievable and enjoyable, helping families turn small, regular deposits into a long term habit.
Research from the University of Cambridge, commissioned by the Money Advice Service, shows that children begin forming money habits as early as age seven. Smart Money Summer showed this in real life - children quickly build confidence when money learning is hands on, playful and rooted in everyday choices.
That same spirit runs through our partnership with WizeUp and school visits to our branches, which has now reached 2,581 children since 2024 - delivering over 5,200 hours of financial education in local schools. Confidence and enjoyment levels are high, with 88.6% of students feeling more capable managing money and 91.4% saying they found the sessions valuable.
Financial education shows how early, practical knowledge helps children and young people feel confident, capable and ready to make smart choices about their money.
We loved welcoming families into our branches and seeing children leave feeling excited about saving. And if you missed Smart Money Summer, the Junior Regular Saver is available all year round! If you’d like to open an account, just pop into one of our branches.
If you’d like to keep the learning going at home, our Money Skills Hub is full of simple, child friendly activities and resources to help build positive money habits - whenever it suits your family.