11 Downing Street hails Exeter Debt Literacy project

The ‘Celebrating Success Sharing Achievement’ showcased work being delivered by young people in initiatives within law firms, the prosecution service, charities and professional organisations. The University of Exeter's School of Law was one of only a few organisations invited to talk about their positive contribution to the Attorney-General’s Youth Network.

The event at 11 Downing Street celebrated the success of the pro bono ‘Debt Literacy’ project for reaching out to 700 school pupils across the five state secondary schools in Exeter. The ‘Debt Literacy’ sessions were integrated into education in various ways including requiring secondary pupils to teach similar debt workshops to primary school children. It also involved raising the aspirations of local children about their further education options. The Attorney-General described the project as inspiring and presented Dr Sue Prince, a senior lecturer in Law at the University of Exeter with an award for excellence through partnership with young people. Dr Prince described the award as a huge achievement for the School of Law. She said “As well as inspiring others this will also encourage us to build on our success by developing other community projects”.

Jamie Robson a Law Undergraduate who was involved in devising and presenting workshops in local schools was one of those who presented to distinguished guests. He said ‘It was a very enjoyable experience visiting number eleven, as well as being inspiring seeing what other pro bono projects had achieved.'

The long-term goals of the Youth Network programmes are to encourage the understanding of and respect for the rule of law and the importance of obeying the law. This can involve de-mystifying Government and how the legal profession contributes to citizenship education through enhancing an understanding of the justice system.  It also focuses on an appreciation of an individual's rights and responsibilities, building self confidence and self belief in young people. 

This year’s prestigious LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2010 which draws from students and law school staff across the UK and sponsored by LexisNexis, included the 'Debt Literacy Project' which was nominated in the category for Best New Pro Bono Activity. Although they didn’t win it is commendable that Exeter was rated highly enough to be nominated by a distinguished set of panellists which included the Vice President of the Law Society for England and Wales.