Saving for your grandchildren. Investing in their future whilst making our life a little easier.

When my eldest granddaughter, Amy, was born in 2006, she received a £250 Child Trust Fund payment from the Government. This initiative, active from 2002 to 2011, aimed to provide children born during this period with a solid foundation and instil a savings mindset from an early age. Amy's mother opened a savings account for her, and as new grandparents, my husband and I decided to make regular monthly contributions to the account.

Grandparents cannot open savings accounts for their grandchildren, this has to be done by a parent or legal guardian. Once the account is live it’s easy to set up a standing order and make a regular payment, this could be monthly, annually perhaps on a birthday or another frequency. Many child savings accounts lock the funds in until the child is either 16 or 18 and only they can access the funds making them secure and safe.

We opted to contribute a modest £10.00 per month due to having school-age children at home and in anticipation of Amy not being our only grandchild for long. This was a wise move, as we now have six grandchildren, and we contribute towards each of their savings. We aim to increase the monthly contributions annually to keep up with inflation, which can be challenging. Presently, we contribute approximately £12.50 per grandchild per month. These regular payments add up to quite a bit of money each year, we generally don’t buy our grandchildren birthday or Christmas presents, we celebrate with them in different ways. They don’t mind and it saves us a lot of stress trying to work out what everyone might want and keeping it fair.

Amy will be celebrating her 18th birthday in December. I’m pleased that all her birthdays will come at once from us! Her savings account has a very healthy balance and will give her a great start in adult life and however she chooses to spend it I’m delighted that her Grandad and I have been able to do this for her.

I’m sure that most parents would like to open savings accounts for their children but that the current cost of living makes it difficult for many to deposit savings on a regular basis. Encouraging grandparents to get involved like we did can bring multiple benefits, encouraging a savings habit, ensuring a good start to adult life and it can take a lot of stress out of Christmas shopping.