Spend It Wisely
For many young people, the idea of suddenly receiving a potentially large sum of money with "no strings attached" is a pretty exciting concept and one that doesn't come around very often. However, it's easy for us to get carried away when we suddenly find ourselves with more budget than planned, and in some scenarios, this can have some dangerous consequences for ourselves and our families. Money spent responsibly is money well spent and while it's great for us to treat ourselves, it's vitally important that we avoid spending our Child Trust Funds on things that can do more harm than good.
We appreciate that many parents may be a little worried that their children may soon gain independent access to their Child Trust Funds. Legally, there is no alternative to this and it’s important you discuss the situation with your children before their Child Trust Fund matures. In those cases where you are concerned that your children may use their Child Trust Fund money in a way that could harm themselves, there are services that you can contact. We have detailed some of these below.
Young Minds
Young Minds is the UK’s leading charity when it comes to supporting young people with mental health challenges. Their website is filled with useful information on a range of different topics that young people can access. This includes important information on supporting your child when it comes to drugs and alcohol problems.
You can learn more here: https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-guide-to-support-a-z/parents-guide-to-support-drugs-and-alcohol/
The Money Charity
The Money Charity supports people of all ages and backgrounds on various money management tips and advice. They have a great guide on how to manage your money effectively as a young student.
You can find this here: https://themoneycharity.org.uk/work/young-people/student-moneymanual/
Big Deal
Big Deal is a charity dedicated to providing information, advice and support to anyone who is affected by gambling. They have some great information to support young people who think they might be affected by gambling addiction.
You can find this here: https://www.bigdeal.org.uk/
This list is by no means extensive and we plan to keep adding and updating it to make sure it holds the most useful information we can find. We’d also love to hear from anyone who has any recommendations for other helpful resources that we can add to our list. If you do, get in touch as we’d love to hear from you.
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