5th Tilehurst Guides has been running as a Unit for nearly 50 years (2016). It is a unit of <30 girls from the ages of 10+ and is run by Young Leaders, Young Guiders and Guiders. We are based in Reading, Tilehurst District, Reading Riverside Division under the Royal Berkshire County.

Welcome to the 5 th Tilehurst Guides Stop Loan Sharks Challenge Badge

Our Guides heard of Loan Sharks through the work of the Illegal Money Lending Team and Trading Standards and wanted to raise awareness of them to all age groups and what you can do to help yourself not fall into their hands. We also have a website which includes links to external organisations as well as more information on money management, the Illegal Money Lending Team, more games, your pictures and lots of other fun stuff all requested by our Guides - www.5thtilehurstguides.org.uk

What is a Loan Shark - A loan shark is an unlicensed money lender. They are not regulated by the Financial Con duct Authority, do not follow their code of practice and they opera te outside of the law.

Borrowing from an illegal money lender may mean that you:

• get a loan on very bad terms

• pay an extortionate rate of interest (rates as high as 131,000% APR have been recorded)

• will be harassed if you get behind with your repayments

• are pressured into borrowing more from them to repay one debt with another

The Illegal Money Lending Team is a national organisation, supported by the Government and the Financial Conduct Authority. They provide support to victims of loan sharks, and prosecute perpetrators of illegal money lending.

Remember, you are not breaking the law by borrowing from an illegal money lender; they are breaking the law by lending the money TO you!

Reporting a loan shark (in confidence) could not be simpler:

• phone 0300 555 2222

• text LOAN SHARK and your details to 60003

• email the Stop Loan Sharks team at reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk

If you would like any more information on how to deal with a loan shark, please visit the Illegal Money Lending Team website https://www.gov.uk/report-loan-shark

The research by the Government and other agencies estimates that 165,000 to 200,000 people are indebted to loan sharks in the United Kingdom. Loan sharking is very serious due to its links to organized crime and the violence sometimes involved.

We hope you enjoy yourselves whilst completing these challenges and love the design of our badge.

Designed by Elle, 5th Tilehurst Guides aged 11

The Challenge Booklet consists of 4 sections, each with different themes

We suggest that to gain the badge Rainbows complete 5 challenges, Brownies complete 7, Guides complete 9 and Senior Section and Adults complete all of them, in each case with at least one challenge being completed from each section.

The Sections are:

- Puzzles – a small selection of money based puzzles

- Food – a selection of food challenges and things to make

- Games – a selection of money and shark based games

- Crafts and things – a selection of crafts and fun challenges

- Badge Order form – don’t forget to order your badges when you have completed your challenges.

You could use this Challenge Badge as part of your meeting time activities, as part of an activity day or even at a sleepover.

Once you have completed your challenges, send off for your badges, the order form is at the back of this booklet.

We hope you have as much fun completing these challenges as we had writing and putting them together.

If you have any ideas on new Challenges to add to this pack or just want to contact us to tell us how you got on. Please use the email address on www.5thtilehurstguides.org.uk

Complete the above word search finding the words, they can be horizontal, vertical or even diagonal.

Anagrams Rearrange all the letters below to form well known words to do with money. Answers are on the back page of the challenge booklet

1. OMNYE 2. OLAN HASRK 3. NABK 4. GISVAN 5. TBED 6. NEGINPSD 7. DONUP 8. DRETIC 9. PRA 10. DOFTRAVER 11. YEPNN 12. DAYYAP OLANS

Guess the Logos

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

Shopping Challenge

Each group, sixer or patrol is given the following recipe for chocolate cornflake cakes. Your challenge is to make this recipe for as little as possible. Why not research online at different supermarkets.

Ingredients

• 225g/8oz plain chocolate, broken into pieces • 2 tbsp. golden syrup • 50g/2oz butter • 75g/3oz cornflakes • 36 mini chocolate eggs

Preparation method

1. Line a 12-hole fairy cake tin with paper cases. 2. Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a bowl set over a

pan of gently simmering water, (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water). Stir the mixture until smooth.

3. Remove the bowl from the heat and gently stir in the cornflakes until all of the cereal is coated in the chocolate.

4. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and press 3 chocolate eggs into the centre of each nest. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or until completely set.

• Where did you buy your shopping from? • Did you buy value or luxury brands? • Who saved the most money? • Which one tasted the best? • Would you make them again?

Shark Biscuits

Ingredients

• 100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened at room temperature • 100g/3½oz caster sugar • 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten • 275g/10oz plain flour • 1 tsp vanilla extract • To decorate • 400g/14oz icing sugar • 3-4 tbsp. water • 2-3 drops food colourings

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until combined. 3. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract, a little at a time, until well

combined. 4. Stir in the flour until the mixture comes together as dough. 5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness

of 1cm/½in. 6. Using a shark shaped biscuit cutters (if you can’t find one have a

go at carefully cutting one out), cut biscuits out of the dough and carefully place onto the baking tray.

7. Bake the biscuits for 8-10 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Set aside to harden for 5 minutes, and then cool on a wire rack.

8. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and stir in enough water to create a smooth mixture. Stir in the food colouring.

9. Carefully spread the icing onto the biscuits using a knife and set aside until the icing hardens.

Christmas Dinner Challenge

• Split into small groups and plan a menu for a Christmas dinner. • Have a go at costing the menu. How much do you think a Turkey

costs? • See how it compares with the other groups • Each group is then given a supermarket, value or luxury range.

Now re-cost your menu. How close were you to your original costing? How does the price compare between value and luxury? Did you realise how much Christmas dinner costs?

Interest Rate Chocolate Button Challenge Use chocolate buttons to explore interest rate. Each group has a couple of packs of buttons but want to borrow 10 more buttons. How many buttons do you have to pay back over a year if the APR (annual percentage rate) changes? APR 25% 50% 100% 200%

Running a taste Test

• Buy two versions of the same product – e.g. Jaffa cakes – one branded and on supermarket own brand.

• Work out the cost per 100g or per biscuit • Fill out an A card for one brand and B for the

other. • Put the product on separate plates, hiding the

packaging. • Get people to look, smell and taste the

products. • Which one do they prefer? • Can they tell the difference?

Reveal the prices – is the branded one always the better.

Sharky Shark

• Choose a girl to be Sharky Shark and have them stand in the middle of the room.

• Girls go to one end of the room. • Guides say ‘Sharky Shark can we cross your golden river?’ • Sharky Shark says ‘Only if you’re wearing……’ (colour) • Girls wearing the colour run to the other side of the room but can

NOT be caught by Sharky Shark • The other girls not wearing the colour run to the other side of the

room – Sharky Shark tries to catch these girls. • Any girl that is caught joins Sharky Shark in the middle • The winner is the last to be caught

Sharks and Lifeguards (Parachute game)

• Choose 1 girl to be the shark. • Choose 1 or 2 to be lifeguards. • The sharks go under the parachute, the lifeguards walk around the

parachute. • The rest of the girls sit down with the parachute in their laps and

their legs sticking straight out under the parachute. They can hold onto the side.

• The “sharks” try to pull those girls under the. • If a girl gets pulled under, they become a shark and get to attack

others. • The lifeguards try to keep children from being pulled under by

pulling on the other end. • Rule lifeguards can not tug on clothes or heads. Arms, torso and

legs were fine. • The winner is the last girl to be pulled under.

Fishes in the Sea

• The girls sit in a circle facing outwards. Label each girl with a different fish (cod, haddock, herring and place).

• The Leader calls the name of a fish and all living fishes with that name stand up and run around the circle. (Or everyone who is still alive if the leader calls 'all the fishes in the sea'.)

• When the leader calls 'tide turned' they must turn and run in the other direction.

• When she calls 'calm sea' they walk. • When she calls 'rough sea' they run as fast as they can. • They keep going until she calls 'sharks are coming' . They must

then run back to their place and sit down (keeping in the same direction as they were already running).

• The last one back is gobbled up by the shark and turns to face inwards.

• The last fish alive is the winner.

Sharks and Islands

• Spilt the girls into small groups of (approx.) four girls. • Give each group a large sheet of paper (e.g. several sheets of

newspaper stuck together) and tell them this is their island. • Each team should stand on their island. • When an adult says 'swim' they should go into 'the sea' (the hall

floor) and swim around the islands. • When an adult says 'shark' they must swim back to their island. • Each time an adult rips a piece of the island away. • Teams must help each other to stay on their increasingly tiny

islands!

(An alternative is to give each child an island and take away one at a time. In this version children may go to any island.)

Bartering Game Give each group or Guide tokens (eg. Sharks, elephants, tv’s, bananas etc.) and they have to barter with each other to collect items you have asked them to collect on a shopping list (I would like you to collect four bananas and a shark!)

• You will need to make some tokens and a shopping list

Monopoly Night Hold a Monopoly night at guides and let the guides buy and sell properties. Who will be the richest and who is the first to be bankrupt?

Hold a discussion afterwards about how it might feel to be made bankrupt, what might this effect in your life?

Desert Island Game Make up 2 bags of the following items – either the items or a photograph of them:

• Tin of beans (representing food source) • Bottle of water (representing clean water) • Stick • Black bin bag • Mobile phone • Games console • Matches • Box of paracetamol (representing medical supplies) • Chocolate • A fish hook or something similar (if you can find one) • Make up

Split up into two groups and give a bag to each group. In their groups they have to decide what 6 items that they would like to take with them. They must explain the reasons around their choices.

Loan Shark Whispers

1. The object of this game is to not only have lots of fun, but to also show that clear communications are important when managing your money and tell someone if you think a Loan Shark is in your neighbourhood.

2. Get at least five people, over 10 is brilliant. They can be any age to be able to participate properly (Rainbow age upwards). The more people involved, the better, because the message that is being passed around is likely to become very messed up and even funnier.

3. Prepare. Write a few messages down on paper that consists of at least ten words. The message can be serious or downright silly. Be sure it is legible.

4. Sit the players down on the floor in a circle or a line. 5. Give the first player the message note. Have tha t person

explain the message to the next person by whisperin g it in their ear. They cannot pass on or show the message; that must go back to the person organizing or monitoring the game.

6. Have them repeat the message very quickly in a whisper to the person sitting next to them. No one else must hear.

7. Request that the next person say whatever they hear d, also fast in the same manner, to the next person.

8. Continue on around the circle or down the line. The game goes on until the last person says whatever they heard aloud and the first person reveals the real message. Compare them and have a great laugh!

9. Why not discuss communications as a group, perhaps talk about what might happen if you don’t understand som ething and don’t ask about it, for instance what is APR? I can’t pay my bills.....

Leaflet Why not make a leaflet giving money saving tips? You can then send this to our website: www.5thtilehurstguides.org.uk via email: lkelly.webmaster@gmail.com and we will put them on our site to share with others

Poster Create a Stop Loan Sharks Poster that you can display in your home, school, hall or Unit. Why not send a copy of them to our website: www.5thtilehurstguides.org.uk via email: lkelly.webmaster@gmail.com and we will put them on our site to share your ideas with others.

Origami Sharks Step 1: Start with a square piece of paper Step 2: Fold the upper left corner to the lower right corner, then unfold Step 3: Fold the upper right corner to the lower left corner Step 4: Fold the top half back and unfold Step 5: Poke the centre with your finger so that the centre pops in. Step 6: Bring the left and right sides together so that the paper collapses into a triangle. Step 7: Rotate the triangle left 90o (Anti-clockwise). Step 8: Fold the bottom corner up a little above the centre as shown. Step 9: Fold the top flap over the bottom one as shown. Step 10: Fold the bottom point up and tuck behind as shown Step 11: Turn the shark over and you’re done. Draw the eyes and some menacing teeth to make it look scary!

Design an Advert As we get older we grow out of things like clothes, toys, books and shoes. Why not raise some money to pay for new things, pay a bill or save for something nice like a holiday. So, it’s time to try out your selling skills, and Design an advert to sell something to family, friends or your community. Your ad can be for anything, but if you are stuck for a few ideas………

Toys Clothes

Books Shoes

Make sure your advert:

• Is marketed towards the correct age group – like children • Is truthful – adverts have to tell the truth • Sells any good points • Hides any bad points • Has photos and sizes on it, to show what you want to sell. • Makes it look like something you’d want to buy • Remember – you are trying to sell your goods!

Role Play: Split into your patrols or with your friends and role play different scenarios involving money. Once you have practiced why not perform this to the rest of the unit and discuss.

1. Working for your pocket money 2. Taking your favourite piece of jewellery to the pawn brokers 3. Asking the bank for a mortgage 4. A Loan Shark coming to your door to lend you money

Can you think of any more scenarios?

Debt Poem Writing a poem together is a good way for a group to start to express their feelings about money & debt and is a gentle introduction for the whole topic. This is because no one is being asked to say whether they are in debt or give any details about their own financial position, whilst at the same time acknowledging that debt is an emotional not purely financial issue.

The group may feel it can not write poetry but we have found that every group can. In fact, most groups are very proud of the results when they have done it!

You can either ask each member of the group (if they wish) to come up with one line describing their feels around debt and write it down, or call a line out and you write it down for them. Explain that rhyming can be used (it may help generate ideas) but it is not vital.

Ask no one to talk except when saying their line.

Give the group time but if nothing is happening suggest a fairly neutral opening line like

Debt makes me feel………

We find most groups enjoy if you type up the poem for them and bring copies back the following week for them to take away and share. Some have also put copies up at the Hall or school, where they meet, to share with others.

Invite a bank Why not see if your local bank or building society can come and talk to you about the importance of saving money and how you can do it.

Money, Money, Money Get the girls to write out separate post it notes and say one or more of the following:

• What is the BEST thing about money • What is the WORST thing about money • What would they do if they had all the money in the world

Do the girls have the same opinions? What lessons can we learn as a group from this?

Save for something…………

It is always a good idea to set yourself a personal budget for occasions such as Christmas, Birthdays and Holidays.

You can put aside money during the year to save, this means you know how much you can spend and you may even have some money over afterwards for a treat! Saving is great!

I want, I need!

Put up a sign at one end of the room saying ‘I WANT!’ and at the other end of the room ‘I NEED!’

Get the girls to stand in the middle of the room, you will then read out an item from the list and they must choose whether they need it (essential to life) or want it (not essential but it would be nice to have). They must run to the end that they feel it is. Encourage the girls to make their own minds up; if they neither need nor want it they can stay in the middle of the room.

Here are some suggestions for the list:

• Food • Fast food e.g. McDonalds • Water • TV • Sky TV • Mobile Phone • Hugs • Electricity • PlayStation/Xbox • People to have fun with • Play time • Holidays • Computer • Toys • Books • Sunshine • Trainer • Anything else….? (add your own)

Peer pressure is a very negative thing, it is important for us to make our own decisions on what we want and what we really need to live good healthy lives.

Anagrams 1. MONEY 2. LOAN SHARKS 3. BANK 4. SAVING 5. DEBT 6. SPENDING 7. POUND 8. CREDIT 9. APR 10. OVERDRAFT 11. PENNY 12. PAYDAY LOANS

Guess the Logo 1. Credit Union 2. Citizens Advice Bureau 3. Natwest 4. Groupon 5. Nationwide 6. Wonga 7. Wowcher 8. Amigo

BADGE ORDER FORM

Thank you for taking part in our Stop Loan Sharks Challenge – we hope you enjoyed it!

Fill in the form below and send with your payment to receive your Stop Loan Sharks Challenge Badges.

Unit ………………………………………. County ………………………………………….

No. of badges …………..@ £1.50 each = £………………

The cost of postage is free if you order 20 or more (Please add £1.00 to your total if you are ordering less than 20 badges).

Contact Name and Address: …………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Postcode: ……………… Telephone/Mobile: …………………………………………….

Email: …………………………………………………………………………………………

Please make cheques payable to 5th Tilehurst Guides and send your order to:

Kim Jakubiszyn, 5th Tilehurst Guides,

29 Woodfield Way, Theale, Reading, Berks. RG7 5AB

Tel: 0118 9323269 or text 07825 799 603

Email: kymus_mullins@hotmail.com

Profits will be used to help pay for trips and activities for members of 5th Tilehurst Guides