Farshore’s Red Shed imprint is delighted to announce a partnership with Ootiboo to deliver over 30 money management workshops in schools across London and the South East throughout November, set to reach 850 children.

The workshop content is inspired by entrepreneur and BBC Dragon’s Den investor Deborah Meaden, from her first non-fiction book for children Why Money Matters, which published as part of Red Shed’s brand-new Little Experts series earlier this year. Carefully developed for primary school-aged children between Years 3 and 6, the workshop is set to give children a chance to get hands on experience with money, buying and selling everyday items from “Meaden’s Marketplace”. Children will also learn about essential budgeting concepts such as wants vs needs and spending vs saving.

Farshore staff have been enlisted and trained to help deliver the workshops, alongside experienced workshop facilitators. As part of the workshops, children will have the opportunity to share their views on money; find out why things change in value and explore which items might hold the greatest value to them. All this feedback will help to inform future Red Shed and Little Experts publishing.

Farshore have collaborated with Ootiboo on a wide range of projects. Ootiboo is an organisation which aims to encourage creative curiosity from an early age, using skills which are essential to personal development, going on to have a positive impact on wellbeing and mental health. The Why Money Matters project is one of the most popular to date, with teachers reporting that the subject matter is extremely relevant in their classrooms. With many families struggling with the ongoing cost of living crisis, parents have welcomed initiatives that help their children to understand the practicalities of managing money.

Deborah Meaden says, ‘I’m thrilled by the success of Why Money Matters so far! This opportunity to bring the content from the book to life with so many schools through a fun, interactive and child-friendly workshop is a great way to introduce children to talking about and managing their money in a positive way. I hope this will help many children gain a better understanding of the challenges their parents face when managing their household budgets.’

Sarah Bates, Publishing Strategy Director at Farshore says, ‘We’re so proud of our Little Experts series which launched earlier this year. Working with Ootiboo to deliver this Why Money Matters inspired workshop to so many children is a great way to demonstrate the value of non-fiction publishing as a vehicle to both encourage reading for pleasure, but to also teach important life-enhancing skills like money management, at a time when so many families are feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis’.

Chris Green, former primary school headteacher and now Education Lead at Ootiboo says ‘From the perspective of a teacher, this workshop is fantastic for the children. They learn about how people earn money and we explore budgeting and saving too. This all culminates in 'Meaden's Marketplace' where the children learn through play. Not only do the children have fun taking on the role of shopkeeper and customer using our fictitious currency 'ootibloons', but they get to apply their maths skills too!’

Little Experts: Why Money Matters launched in July this year, selling over 10,000 copies through TCM to date, and is in the Top 15 Non-Fiction titles published in the children’s market this year.