School children in parts of England are to be given lessons, warning them about the use of illegal loans sharks.
The IMLT (Illegal Money Lending Team) is offering schools across the country pre packed lessons with the sole objective of educating children about the dangers.
It is reported that over 2,500 schools have already expressed interest in the project and trials have already begun in schools in Middlesex.
Yeading Junior primary has been trialling the lessons which are designed to heighten awareness and develop knowledge regarding the illegal practices of loan sharks. The lessons are also tasked with increasing the children’s ability to become ‘money wise’.
In the UK, it is estimated that 310,000 families use the services of illegal loan sharks borrowing on average around £350 at a time. It is thought that this hidden economy is worth a estimated 700m a year.
Whilst these new lessons are designed to cut off the future demand for these rogue money lenders, the current problem still exists and action to tackle it is conducted on a daily basis.
Since the IMLT was formed ten years ago, they have managed to secure 308 prosecutions and this has seen over 42m of illegal debt written off accordingly. A total of 23,000 victims of loan sharks have also been helped over the past decade.
