Cash and cord
You’ll need
- Scissors
- Pens or pencils
- A4 paper
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Planning and setting up this activity
- Print or write enough scenario cards for the whole group before the session starts.
- Place a lighter somewhere safe, out of reach of young people. Only adults should use the lighter. You may need to use it outside to avoid setting smoke alarms off.
Aim of the activity
The aim of this activity is to help understand the risks and challenges of borrowing money from friends and to practice navigating difficult financial conversations. This activity also reinforces the importance of friendship and trust.
How to Manage Money
- Saving and Borrowing
Becoming a Critical Consumer
- Making Financial Decisions
Running this activity
- Ask if anyone can think of a situation where they might need to borrow money from a friend.
- Next, see what everyone thinks the pros and cons are of borrowing from friends. Explain that borrowing money can sometimes be helpful, such as when you forget your lunch money or bus fare. However, borrowing from friends can cause problems. If you don't repay them on time or if you ask for money repeatedly, it can strain the friendship and break trust. It can sometimes be awkward to ask friends too.
- Now, see if anyone knows who can you borrow money from apart from friends. Some ideas include family members, trusted adults, banks or certified lenders.
- Explain that you’re going to explore some common scenarios where borrowing money from a friend might come up, and talk about how we might handle them.
- Ask everyone to get into small groups and give each group a few scenario cards.
- The teams should read through each card, then discuss their ideas for what the risks and solutions are.
- The groups should decide together what action to take for each scenario and note it down.
- Now, gather everyone back together and chat through each scenario, letting groups share their ideas.
- Optional: For each scenario, the team with the best solution wins paracord for their team to make paracord bracelets. It could be judged by the adult volunteers. By the end, make sure each team has been given paracord.
You’ve forgotten your lunch money and it’s a long day — you’re already starting to feel really hungry. A friend offers to lend you enough to buy something, but they say they need the money back by the end of the day. You do have the money at home, but you don’t live near your friend and won’t see them again until later in the week. What do you do?
You didn’t have enough money for the bus this morning, so your friend kindly lent you the fare. You told them you’d pay them back, but the truth is you won’t have the money until next week. The next day, they ask you to pay them back straight away. What do you do?
A group of your friends decide to chip in to buy a birthday gift for someone in your class. One person says everyone should give £5. You weren’t planning to spend any money this week, and you’re trying to save — but everyone else agrees quickly, and now they’re looking at you. What do you do?
A few weeks ago, you borrowed £2 from a friend to buy a drink, but it completely slipped your mind to pay them back. Today, they bring it up — but in front of a group of your friends. You feel embarrassed and unsure how to respond. What do you do?
You’ve asked your friend if you can borrow £10 for a school trip. You know you still owe them from the last time, but they say they’re willing to lend it — only if you agree to pay £1 extra for every day it takes to repay them. What do you do?
After school, your friend asks if they can borrow £5 for a snack. While they’re laughing, they say something like, “You know I never pay people back anyway!” A few other people laugh too, but you’re not sure if they’re serious. You don’t want to seem mean, but it makes you feel uncomfortable. What do you do?
There’s a friend who often asks to borrow money — for snacks, bus fare, and other little things. They rarely pay you back on time, and sometimes not at all. Now they’re asking to borrow more money for a £50 concert ticket. You like them and don’t want to fall out, but it’s starting to bother you — especially because you’ve been saving up for a new game and don’t want to dip into your savings. What do you do?
One of your friends keeps asking to borrow things — books, games, chargers, or bits of kit for camping. They always say they’ll give it back, but they don’t always remember to return what they’ve borrowed. You want to be a good friend and help out, but it’s starting to get a bit frustrating and you’re not sure whether to say something or just let it go. What do you do?
- Explain to the group that to we’re going to make a paracord bracelet to remind us to be careful with money in friendships. When you wear it, think of it as a sign to avoid borrowing or lending money in ways that could hurt your friendship.
- Take a 1.5 metre length of paracord.
- Fold it in half to make a loop at the top.
- Secure the loop to a stable surface (such as a table) with a temporary knot, or use a buckle if you have one.
- Start a simple ‘cobra weave’:
- Take one strand and cross it over the middle.
- Pull the other strand over that one, then under and through the loop.
- Pull tight.
- Keep going, switching sides each time, until it fits your wrist.
- When finished, ask an adult volunteer to carefully melt the ends with a lighter to stop fraying.
- If there’s time, you could add a small bead to personalise it, but keep it simple.
This activity may touch on sensitive topics, such as food, money or food banks, which some young people or their families might be affected by.
It’s important to create a safe, positive and supportive space where everyone feels comfortable. Let everyone know it’s okay to ask questions, say if they feel unsure, or step away at any time. Always follow the Yellow Card.
You might need to make adjustments, such as:
- Tell people about the activity in advance
- Offer the option to leave or do an alternative activity
- Speak with parents or carers beforehand
- Remind everyone they can talk to a trusted adult if they’re upset or worried
You can offer trusted support services if needed, such as Childline (0800 1111), Citizen’s Advice (0808 223 1133) and Crimestoppers (0800 555 111).
The Trussell Trust is a great place to start looking for a food bank near you. You can find details of independent food banks online. The UK Government have some debt advice support too.
Make sure that all adult volunteers and young leaders keep all discussions age-appropriate and supportive.
Reflection
This activity was all about borrowing money, especially from friends. Have you ever been in a situation where someone asked you for money, or you needed to borrow from a friend? How did it make you feel? Borrowing money from friends might seem easy, but it can cause problems if things go wrong. Lending money to a friend can also feel like the right thing to do, but it can hurt your friendship if they don’t pay you back.
During the group work, you chatted through your scenarios. Was there a scenario that felt similar to something you’ve seen or experienced before? Did your group ever disagree on what the best solution was? How did you handle that? What did you learn from hearing other people’s ideas? How did you come up with a solution everyone was happy with? Did you work well as a team? Can you think of a good to respond next time you’re in a tricky money situation? Being honest, clear and kind is really important in conversations about money. It’s always okay to say no if you’re not comfortable lending or borrowing money.
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Active games
The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
- Outdoor activities
You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.
- Make sure all the scenarios and materials are easy to read. You may need to use large print, braille, magnifying glasses, or digital versions for magnification software. Pictures can also support those who struggle with reading.
- Print or write on thicker card, or stick paper to cardboard, to make items easier to grip.
- Paracord bracelets can be fiddly. Use thicker thread or beads with larger holes, and consider pre-tying some loops. You could run a knot-tying session beforehand, provide visual guides, or offer extra adult support.
- Allow plenty of time for the activity and give everyone the chance to try it more than once. You could run it over several sessions and offer backup activities for those who finish early.
- Make sure anyone with hearing loss can clearly see the speaker. An adult can repeat what’s said or remind others to speak slowly and clearly. You could also use visual signals, like raising a hand, to show who’s speaking.
- Some young people may need support to stay focused or sit still for a length of time, such as a discussion. You could offer fidget toys, colouring in, weighted blankets, wobble cushions, or movement breaks.
- Only ask someone to speak or present if they feel happy to do so. One person can speak for a group, people can share in pairs, or a leader can present someone’s ideas for them.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
If you enjoyed this activity, why not try out our other HSBC money skills activities.