47 children from Northwold Primary School have delivered two unique finance-based plays to an audience of students, families and the Speaker of Hackney, Councillor Susan Fajana-Thomas. Entitled 'John's Nightmare' and 'Kelly the Superstar', the two performances were the culmination of the visit to Northwold of Create's financial literacy project, A Wealth of Stages, funded by Citi Foundation. The project was delivered by two professional drama artists from the dynamic charity, Create, who helped the children to develop their financial understanding and confidence through a series of creative drama workshops. The plays drew inspiration from trips to the Bank of England Museum and Citi's office in Canary Wharf where they played a trading game and gained finance-focused knowledge from Citi employees. At the final performance, one participant commented; "For the past two weeks I felt happy and I've loved this project. It was brilliant. This project was all about us listening and learning about money."

'John's Nightmare' centres on family problems occurring as a result of the father's irresponsible attitude to money. After begging on the street, he is given a job in a bank where he earns money and is reconciled with his family. In the second play, 'Kelly the Superstar', a frivolous celebrity spends all her earnings on material items, but when she meets the owner of a charity she realises "money doesn't buy you happiness". The theme for the two drama pieces emerged in the second half of the project, as the children gained confidence in understanding 'value for money' and financial 'responsibility' - they developed character roles, names, and their drama piece storylines to reflect what they had learnt. Cllr Susan Fajana-Thomas presented the performers with a Certificate of Achievement.

A Wealth of Stages began with an initial 'taster' day, during which four classes of children aged 7-9 were introduced to drama activities along three themes: money; the concept of 'needs' versus 'wants'; and defining the role of charities in society. All workshops were developed in line with the criteria of the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum.

Thanks to a grant from the international financial corporation, Citi Foundation, Create launched the highly topical A Wealth of Stages project in 2009. Designed in partnership with Citi to improve financial awareness and literacy amongst primary schoolchildren in children London's most deprived boroughs, AWOS has already reached 1,701 participants across five of these.

Financial illiteracy is widespread: according to EdComs (2007), of the 75% of primary schoolchildren who are saving, only 10% are doing so for the future; and by the time they reach the age of 17, over half of young people have been or are in debt. A report by the Advisory Group on Financial Literacy (AdFLAG 2002) demonstrates the strong link between poor financial understanding and awareness, poor literacy and numeracy, poverty and social exclusion.

In addition to developing financial literacy, A Wealth of Stages enables pupils to explore their creativity and learn new skills from Create's drama artists; share ideas and support one another; develop trust and transferable life skills (including teamwork, communication and concentration); and gain self-confidence and self-esteem.

Speaking about A Wealth of Stages, Create's Co-founder and Executive Director, Nicky Goulder, said: "I am delighted that Create has been able to develop this major project further this year, thanks to renewed funding from Citi Foundation. A lack of financial awareness at a young age can lead to unemployment and poverty later in life, and I hope that A Wealth of Stages will address these problems in a creative way. The children's plays were highly imaginative and showed an impressive understanding of financial literacy including ethical issues around the use of money."

For further information about Create, please visit www.createarts.org.uk.