The Vanquis Foundation
At Vanquis, we care about providing young people with the opportunities to thrive. So in 2023, we launched the Vanquis Foundation. Through education, financial inclusion and social support, we’re making a real impact in our customers’ communities.
Our vision
Our vision for the Foundation is to help build a future where every child and young person in the UK is supported to achieve their full potential, contributing to a brighter future.
Our mission
Our mission is to improve the lives of children and young people by providing educational and social development opportunities which support financial and social inclusion.
Our work is guided by 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- No Poverty
- Quality Education
- Gender Equality
- Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Reduced Inequalities
Aligning with these goals helps us tackle the root causes of financial and social exclusion.
What we focus on
Our Foundation supports initiatives across three key areas:
Education – Backing programmes that improve literacy, numeracy and career skills.
Community – Supporting social and financial inclusion in the areas where we’re based.
Financial inclusion advice – Partnering with organisations that provide money advice and debt support.
Making a difference
We help communities thrive through education, financial literacy, social mobility initiatives and volunteering.
Financial inclusion
As well as giving people access to credit, we want to tackle all barriers to financial inclusion.
We work with partners to help people with budgeting and understanding financial documents. And by supporting both children and adults, we’re creating lasting financial inclusion.
For us, this starts with offering accessible and affordable products – like credit cards, loans, vehicle finance and savings. These can help people manage daily expenses, plan ahead and handle unexpected costs.
Beyond products
Financial inclusion isn’t only about products – it means giving people confidence with numbers and managing money. We’re proud to partner with charities like StepChange Debt Charity and the Money Advice Trust. They not only advise us but also support our customers too.
Improving number confidence
Poor numeracy skills make you more vulnerable to debt, fraud and financial exclusion. We work with National Numeracy because we share their belief that every child can develop the number confidence and skills they need
Their work focuses on disadvantaged communities, where improving maths skills drives social mobility. And we support their parental engagement programme, which helps parents, carers and teachers gain number confidence to help children in their care.
Clear communication of numbers and data is essential for customers – that’s why we’ve teamed up with Plain Numbers. They help organisations present financial information in a clearer, more accessible way.
As a Plain Numbers partner since March 2023, we’re helping make communications easier to understand.
Social mobility
We’re also creating opportunities that drive social mobility in our communities. People from less privileged backgrounds are often under-represented in financial services.
This could be due to a lack of awareness, role models or a sense that these jobs aren’t for them. But diverse teams are proven to be more creative and effective. So at Vanquis, we’re committed to breaking down these barriers.
The impact we're having
Education is a key driver of social mobility. But too many young people leave school with low numeracy and literacy skills. We work with schools to give them the skills and knowledge to achieve their potential. Whether that’s with us or elsewhere.
Our Social Mobility Affinity Group provides work experience, mentoring and apprenticeships. Through this, people from disadvantaged areas can join our business. By measuring socio-economic backgrounds, we can improve diversity, inclusion and career progression.
Through our community foundation partnership, we fund organisations tackling education and employment challenges.
We’re also proud signatories of the Social Mobility Pledge. Along with 550+ businesses and 50 universities, we put social mobility at the heart of what we do.
Volunteering
We’re committed to giving back to our communities. That’s why we offer colleagues two volunteer days a year and match their fundraising efforts.
Through our Social Impact Programme, colleagues can also do unlimited company-led volunteering. Opportunities include:
- Community foundation grant panels
- Career and employment skills sessions
- Numeracy skills for the workplace
- Guided reading for schoolchildren
- School business enterprise days
- Diversity and inclusion Affinity Groups
- Community team challenges
We also work with Participate Projects to identify organisations that need support from larger teams.
Match funding
Our matched funding programme remains a hit with colleagues. They value the chance to support causes close to their hearts.
We make sure everyone in the business knows how they can get involved and help communities too. This means talking about it in team meetings, sharing regular updates and including it in our hiring and employee resources.