Student Financial Wellbeing

Research by Student Minds suggests that students' problems with finances can lead to mental health difficulties and problems with gambling. As well as negatively affecting their experience at university, such issues can ultimately hit student progression and retention.

While ostensibly a health issue, the Covid-19 pandemic has also become a financial issue for students — be it from losing a part-time job that supports their studies, to having to pay rent during the lockdown. Enabling financial resilience is a student support issue that universities are having to tackle, with the repercussions of the pandemic adding to the more usual finance problems they would see.

This ProtectED Reflections event will discuss the current struggles that students are facing with their finances, and some of the solutions. We will explore what help is out there to address related issues, such as gambling, and how to recognise potentially problematic behaviours.

We are very pleased to welcome our speakers for this event:

• Vivi Friedgut, CEO/Founder of Blackbullion, a provider of digital financial education
• Megan Pengelly, Criminal Justice and Development Manager at Gamcare, the leading national provider of free information, advice and support for anyone affected by problem gambling.

Vivi and Megan will share the practices and structures they have developed to support student resilience in relation to finance and gambling problems. They will also discuss the problems that the Covid-19 crisis has added to those they normally encounter, and their thoughts on future university student support.