A CLUB at a school designed to instil in youngsters good financial habits has won praise from the Bishop of Bradford.

The Right Reverend Dr Toby Howarth met pupils in the LifeSavers savings club at Riddlesden St Mary's Primary School in Keighley.

The club is funded by the Church of England and the Government and also backed by Bradford District Credit Union.

The Bishop met children who diligently save some of their pocket money in the credit union.

He said: "LifeSavers is a programme that puts financial education into the primary school curriculum.

"It has been a joy to meet these children from the ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ generation, who are learning the value of saving up for what they want."

Head teacher Jan Hesselwood said: "We're proud to be teaching children the value of a strong savings habit.

"Credit unions are ethical and faith inclusive, which is so important at our school that has a wide mix of children from different faiths."

Ian Brewer, the financial inclusion officer for the Bradford district Credit Union, said the Bradford Credit Union was started by Bradford Council almost 25 years ago and now has a membership of more than 6,000 people.

He said: "Our members are our shareholders, so unlike banks, we can keep lending rates down and lend to people who may otherwise be turned down from banks and turn to payday loans or loan sharks.

"Each city has its own credit union and we don’t pay interest on savings but rather a dividend, which is any surplus profit paid back to members.

"This makes us ‘Faith Friendly’ by giving Muslims a safe ethical place where they are not forced to take interest on savings which is against their faith.

"I work with a network of community centres, schools and social landlords to promote financial inclusion with ‘jargon buster’ workshops that explains common but little understood terms like APR, Payday loans and credit score.

"The credit union works with the Church of England to run LifeSavers, a children's saving club.

"The Church and the Government have invested time and money to work with credit unions to create these children's savings clubs in primary schools."

The project also won praise from Councillor Malcolm Slater (Lab, Keighley East).

“The credit union is a fantastic organisation and taking saving into schools to teach future generations is an excellent idea," said Cllr Slater.

For information about the credit union, LifeSavers or the jargon buster workshops e-mail credit.union@bdcu.co.uk or call 01274 434100.