A NEW board game designed by an Ipstones businessman is set to be sold to schools across the country.

The game, entitled Credit4Life, has been produced and designed by Andrew Simmill who runs Rayne Precision Engineering and is aimed at teaching children the value of money.

He has been working on the project for around 18 months with the help of his three daughters.

The game has now been given the "quality mark" by the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg), an independent charity helping schools to plan and teach personal finance relevant to students' lives and needs.

The award will enable the businessman to sell the game into schools across the country. At the moment, it is available from his base in Ipstones.

Pfeg provides free support, resources and expert consultancy to teachers and school leadership teams throughout the country. It also works with government, opinion formers and key bodies with the aim of influencing education policy.

Mr Simmill has also received help and support in redesigning his initial idea from the Cauldwell Children's Charity.

He said: "I have been working on the game for more than 18 months, along with my children, who have helped me with the computer work.

"A lot of hard work has had to be done to get the quality mark and pfeg approval.

"Today, we hear many stories about people getting into debt. This game is trying to help young people about credit, mortgages, car servicing and all the bills associated with today's living.

"Some young people know nothing about money management.

"If the game saves one person from going into debt, it will be well worth it."

The colourful board game has now been produced, complete with dice and notebook for keeping a track of each player's weekly account.

The person who has the most money after successfully negotiating the board is the winner.

Mr Simmill added: "This game makes maths more interesting.

"When you talk to your own children, if they want something they always say: 'Use your credit card.' As people use credit cards, the risk of going into debt becomes more real."

David Stevenson, project manager at Rayne Engineering, said: "This game makes children more financially responsible and teaches them about savings and managing the bills.

"The game uses fictional families and can be set up to how many members you want.

"We are very pleased to receive the pfeg approval."

Anyone interested in finding out more about Credit4Life should contact Mr Simmill on 01538 266100.