Ian Luder, Lord Mayor of the City of London in 2008/9, established during his year of office a Financial Literacy Volunteering Programme that provides Livery volunteers with opportunities to work with young people in London Schools to enhance their understanding of issues relating to finance, enrepreneurship and preparation to enter the world of business.

The programme was established as a pilot scheme in November 2008 and will be absorbed into Livery Schools Link's volunteering programme at the end of April 2010. Livery Schools Link acts as a broker between Livery volunteers and the programmes run by Education Business Partnerships in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and other London boroughs, and volunteering opportunities available up to that date can be found in the table below.

The EBPs provide induction and training and no formal teaching or particular financial expertise is required - just an interest in helping young people improve their self-confidence, business or employability skills and a willingness to give a small amount of your time.

If you would like to register an interest in finding out more or in volunteering for the scheme, please email the initiative's admnisitrator, Alison Truphet.

"After hearing from Past Master Ian Ball about Livery Schools Link and its work, particularly, within Inner London schools, I decided last summer that it was something I would like to be involved with. Having been fortunate in life, giving something back to those less fortunate is very stimulating.

The organisers of Livery Schools Link have brought together a number of volunteers from many different backgrounds to work with students aged 15 and upwards with the preparation of CV's, job/sixth form applications and interview techniques. After I had registered with the Link my name was put forward to facilitate in a number of Inner London schools in the Islington area.

My first assignment took place in December at the Islington Green School, where a whole day was spent with some thirty facilitators and one hundred and fifty students working side by side. The students were broken up into groups of about ten with each group working with two facilitators. The day was well organised and was split into three one and a half hour sessions.

The first real eye opener for me was to find that we were working with many children whose first language is not English and who struggle to write anything but the most basic English. Some students didn't know what a post code was and, if they did, many didn't know their own. Slowly but surely, and with considerable patience, we started to make progress.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect for the students was writing a personal statement. Trying to draw them out, in order that they portrayed themselves in the best light proved to be difficult and time consuming. What we did discover, with prodding, was that each of them had something interesting to write about themselves. The concept adopted for teaching interview techniques involved the students interviewing each other. Whilst fine in principle, this approach didn't really work because none of the students could keep a straight face. So we resorted to conducting interviews ourselves, which proved to be much more productive.

By the end of the day we had made considerable progress. It was hard work but very rewarding and hopefully some, if not all, of the students will now find it easier to complete a CV, apply for a job and attend an interview."