FAKE News will top the agenda at a cyber security course aimed at community workers in Keighley.

Bradford District Credit Union is hosting the course at Keighley College on Thursday February 13 as part of national Safer Internet Day.

Participants will learn from experts about the rise of fake news, safeguarding children online, cyber security, financial security, health and the internet, online gambling and scams.

The aim is for staff and volunteers with local organisations to pass on their new skills to Keighley people on low incomes.

The course comes as the Credit Union, a charity that gives people an alternative to loan sharks and high-interest payday lenders, launches new services in Keighley and Bradford.

One is the new PrizeSaver account which HM Treasury is piloting with 15 credit unions across the country.

Keighley people have a chance to ‘win £5,000 while you save’ by putting away as little as £1 in an account with Bradford District Credit Union.

Every month will see a top prize of £5,000 awarded to the winning saver, with a further 20 smaller prizes of £20 also awarded.

The Treasury said that the pilot, announced at last year’s Budget, is designed to help improve people’s financial resilience and raise awareness of credit unions.

For every pound put into the savings account, savers will receive an entry into the prize draw.

The district’s credit union is also working to tackle the ‘buy now pay later’ mentality in younger generations which often leaves many people counting the costs of their poor spending habits.

It has teamed up with the Church of England to sign local schools up to the LifeSavers programme, a savings club initiative similar to that of the ‘penny banks’ of yesteryear.

Ian Brewer, the credit union’s financial inclusion officer, warned that many young people didn’t see the value in saving money, continuing to splash their cash until they were “crippled by credit card debts”.

He said: “If you take the route back, in the 1970s Barclays bank got together and they decided they weren’t making money out of savings and they were going to use this word ‘credit’.

“That way they could make money off it. They created the first credit card. We are discovering we are now reaping the consequences of the whole attitude change.”

Visit bdcu.co.uk or call 01274 434100 for further information credit union services. Book on EventBright for the cyber-security course.