Experian celebrates Switch Up youth at Sports Day, with Nottingham Forest players Des Walker and Jason Lee
Added by Love Business East Midlands | 24 July 2026
UPDATED: 28 July 2026
Experian extended its annual sports day to community leaders and sporting legends in celebration of its partnership with Nottingham youth charity Switch Up.
Held at Experian's Sir John Peace Building in Nottingham on Tuesday 21 July, the sporting event doubled as a celebration for 10 young people who graduated from Switch Up’s ‘Money Talks’ financial literacy programme. Designed to break the cycles of poverty, the programme provides young people with practical money skills like budgeting, debt management, and understanding credit scores.
Alongside the sports day, former Nottingham Forest players Des Walker and Jason Lee - patrons of Switch Up - joined founder and CEO Dr Marcellus Baz and Experian UK&I’s managing director of marketing services Colin Grieves for a panel discussion hosted by Experian's head of social innovation Richard Donovan. Together they explored how sport, financial education, mentorship and positive role models can help young people overcome adversity, build resilience and unlock future opportunities.
Switch Up supports young people through mentoring, education and employability programmes. Its partnership with Experian, which forms part of its wider social impact work, aims to improve financial confidence and opportunity for young people.
Richard Donovan, head of social innovation at Experian UK&I, said:
"Our annual sports day is always a fantastic opportunity to bring colleagues together, but this year we wanted to use the occasion to celebrate something even bigger by shining a spotlight on our partnership with Switch Up. We wanted to recognise the achievements of the young people who have completed the financial literacy programme, which has uniquely been created to help them make informed decisions as they move into adulthood.
"Switch Up is doing incredible work to support young people facing complex challenges, and we're proud to play a part in helping them build confidence for the future through our ‘Better your score. Better your story’ initiative. We look forward to continuing our partnership and exploring how we can support even more young people in the years ahead."
The event highlighted the growing impact of the partnership between Experian and Switch Up, which extends far beyond financial support. Since 2024, Experian colleagues have contributed more than 560 hours of skills-based volunteering across finance, governance, HR, digital capability and strategic leadership, helping strengthen the Nottingham charity while expanding opportunities for the young people it supports.
Dr Marcellus Baz BEM, founder and CEO of Switch Up, said:
"Every young person deserves the opportunity to build a positive future, regardless of the challenges they've faced. Financial literacy is about much more than understanding money, - it's about giving young people the confidence, independence and life skills to make informed choices and believe in what's possible.
"Our partnership with Experian has enabled us to strengthen this programme and provide young people with practical tools that will stay with them for life. Celebrating our graduates alongside Experian's sports day sends a powerful message that when businesses, charities and communities work together, we can create opportunities that genuinely change lives."
The event concluded with Des Walker and Jason Lee officially opening the sports day by demonstrating how to do a ‘keepie uppie’ – rounding off a day that celebrated the power of partnership, education and community.
To find out more about Switch Up visit, https://switchupnotts.co.uk/
