The UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards celebrate initiatives in universities and colleges that make them more socially responsible and sustainable. In November 2019, The London Institute of Banking & Finance won an award in the Money for Good category.

"For 140 years we have promoted financial education. To win this Green Gown Award for LiFE not only recognises our work so far but validates our ambitious outreach aspirations. It will help us increase momentum to promote social financial inclusion across the UK and beyond."
Alex Fraser, Chief Executive
Sustainability in education and equality celebrated: promoting online financial education for young people
The Green Gown Award recognises The London Institute of Banking & Finance’s commitment to supporting and empowering young people in making responsible financial decisions and building financial capability.
In 2016, we launched our Lessons in Financial Education (LiFE) programme to enable students to receive critical financial education at a fraction of the cost of formal qualifications. LiFE is also used by charities to build financial capability and confidence among young adults.
Of 11,518 UK learners that have already studied our LiFE programme:
- 92% now feel they have the skills and knowledge to make positive financial decisions
- 90% can now improve their CV
- 88% now understand what to look for when choosing a career route
- 58% have now started saving.
Judges commented “LiFE is a focused, accessible and scalable initiative that has brought huge benefits to society.”
Other nominations
The London Institute of Banking & Finance were also finalists in the ‘Next Generation Learning and Skills’ category for their Routes to Enhancing Achievement (REACH) programme which supports under-represented groups in the banking and finance industries.
The Green Gown Awards
The Climate Crisis is increasingly recognised as the most pressing issue our world faces. The Green Gown Awards puts a spotlight on the innovative and inspiring sustainability work taking place in universities and colleges to create a brighter future for their students.
This year’s UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards finalists represented over 1 million students and 162,000 staff. Organised by EAUC, the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education – the awards ceremony was held at Glasgow Science Centre on Tuesday 26 November 2019.
Established in 2004, the Green Gown Awards UK and Ireland recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities, colleges and the learning and skills sectors across the UK and Ireland as the education sector leads a path to efficiency, employability and better quality of life all.
There were a record number of finalists this year, with 101 brilliant initiatives across 14 categories, and 20 winners. Several of the categories had a large institution winner and a smaller institution winner – to recognise the different levels of capacity and resource of the institutions.
Elizabeth Passey, Event Host and Convener of the University of Glasgow said, “The institutions recognised here tonight have been truly inspiring and highlight how much positive impact universities and colleges can have on their students, staff and communities.”
Why financial education is a sustainability issue
Find out more about the LiFE programme