Children can join credit unions, too. More than 80 pupils at Granby Street primary school in Toxteth, Liverpool, are members of the local community credit union.

They can hand over their savings with their dinner money, and the credit union’s collection point is based at the parents’ centre in the school.

Marie Gray is a Merseyside education adviser and a credit union enthusiast who was the driving force behind the Granby Street scheme. She believes children should be encouraged to save as early as possible.

“If they’re already members of a credit union, we hope they won’t rush off and run up debts at Curry’s and Dixon’s as soon as they’re 18,” she said.

Mrs Gray would like credit unions to have a place in the national curriculum, and she thinks teachers could have a special role to play in setting up and running community credit unions. A change to the Credit Union Act will soon mean that people who live or work in the same area will be entitled to form a credit union; this means teachers could use their skills to found or build up community credit unions in the area where their school is based.