Citi U.K. Sponsors Program for School Children in Derby to Learn to "Count the Beat"

Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under the trademark red arc include: Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

Citi Foundation
The Citi Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for underserved individuals and families in the communities where we work throughout the world. Globally, the Citi Foundation is focusing its giving on Microfinance and Microentrepreneurship, which helps individuals become economically self-sufficient; Small and Growing Businesses leading to economic expansion and job creation; Education, which prepares young people for personal and professional success; Financial Education, which helps individuals make informed financial decisions; and the Environment with a focus on sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and stimulate economic growth while preserving the environment. In the U.S. and Canada, the Citi Foundation supports Community Development programs that help build and revitalize neighborhoods and Education programs that prepare students for college and careers. Additional information can be found at http://www.citigroupfoundation.org/.

Egg
Egg is one of the U.K.'s leading online bank providing banking, insurance, investments and mortgages through its internet site and other distribution channels. Egg is backed by Citi, a leading global financial services company. Egg Banking plc is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Egg Banking plc (registered number 2999842) is registered in England and Wales. Registered Office: Citigroup Centre, Canada Square, London E14 5LB.

Create
Create is a dynamic charity (registered charity No 1099733) that uses the creative arts to help transform the lives of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people in our society. Founded by Nicky Goulder and Samantha Lodge in July 2003, the charity's aim is to give people of all ages access to the therapeutic, educational and social benefits of the creative arts. Its cornerstones are access, innovation, excellence and passion. Using leading professional artists – such as musicians, dancers, writers and actors – Create develops and delivers an extensive, UK-wide programme of education & community activities across all artforms. Many projects are cross-artform (e.g., creative writing and photography), cross-curricula (eg music and maths), bring different participant groups together (eg primary school children and older people) or enable participants to explore social concerns (e.g., the environment). Create regularly collaborates with other organisations to meet its objectives including corporate partners, arts companies and charities. Since its foundation, Create has run more than 1,500 workshops, mainly as part of sustained, life-changing programmes, for over 10,800 participants including inner city school children, young people who have been excluded from school, juvenile and young offenders, women in prison, children in hospitals and hospices, young carers, homeless adults, children and adults with special needs, refugees, asylum seekers and older people. Project activities give participants the opportunity to explore their creativity, develop life skills (such as communication, teamwork, time management and problem-solving), become more self-confident and have fun! Above all, they aim to give every participant a sense of self-worth. Alongside its work with people who are disadvantaged and vulnerable, Create delivers two programs for the business community, both of which feed into its charitable work: staff involvement/volunteering opportunities and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.


	Printer Friendly Page		FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) March 05, 2008 Citi U.K. Sponsors Program for School Children in Derby to Learn to "Count the Beat" Derby, UK – Allenton Community Primary School and Nightingale Junior School are the first schools in Derby to benefit from "Count the Beat," the highly-acclaimed maths and music project run by the creative arts charity, Create, in partnership with Citi Foundation. "Count the Beat" uses creative music-making as a tool to help primary school children improve their math skills. Workshops will be going to Allenton and Nightingale between February 14 and March 7, and between March 14 and April 4 respectively. Eight to ten-year old pupils will work alongside Create's professional musicians and Citi volunteers to create rhythms using doubling and halving, transform fractions into beats in a bar and work out the common factors of different beats. Through their music-making, children will be able to explore the creative potential of math (and music). On Friday, March 7 and Friday, April 4, pupils from Allenton and Nightingale respectively will be performing their math-inspired music. Since the project's launch in 2005, funding from Citi Foundation has enabled Create's musicians to run "Count the Beat" at three primary schools in London and one in Manchester. The project has received critical acclaim, featuring as a headlining article on the BBC Education website upon launch and on the University of Cambridge's math enrichment website, NRICH. In developing "Count the Beat," Create drew on academic findings from the U.S. that identified a causal relationship between musical training and improved numerical ability. In particular, Dr. Gordon Shaw's seminal 1999 study, which compared the math test results of children who had been given piano lessons with those who had received traditional math teaching assisted by the use of computer programs. Dr. Shaw found that pupils who had piano lessons saw a significant improvement in their math skills, particularly with regard to ratios and fractions. For Dr. Shaw, this served to highlight the connection between pupils' music-making and their grasp of mathematical principles: "The learning of music emphasizes thinking in space and time … when children learn rhythm, they are learning ratios, fractions and proportion." Create's co-founder and Executive Director, Nicky Goulder, said: "We are delighted that funding from Citi Foundation is enabling us to take our Count the Beat project to Derby. Feedback from teachers and pupils alike illustrate the positive impact that this project is having, not only on children's math skills but, more widely, on their confidence and self-esteem in the classroom. Our mission at Create is to use the creative arts to help transform lives and showing children that they are capable of achieving in a subject that many of them find difficult brings with it a sense of achievement that travels with them right across the curriculum." Mike Elderton, Community Relations Manager for Citi U.K. Consumer said: "Citi U.K. Consumer is delighted to be supporting this initiative helping children to learn basic math through music. It's great to see the children's knowledge and appreciation of math growing alongside their enjoyment of the music." # # # Citi Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under the trademark red arc include: Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com. Citi Foundation The Citi Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for underserved individuals and families in the communities where we work throughout the world. Globally, the Citi Foundation is focusing its giving on Microfinance and Microentrepreneurship, which helps individuals become economically self-sufficient; Small and Growing Businesses leading to economic expansion and job creation; Education, which prepares young people for personal and professional success; Financial Education, which helps individuals make informed financial decisions; and the Environment with a focus on sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and stimulate economic growth while preserving the environment. In the U.S. and Canada, the Citi Foundation supports Community Development programs that help build and revitalize neighborhoods and Education programs that prepare students for college and careers. Additional information can be found at http://www.citigroupfoundation.org/. Egg Egg is one of the U.K.'s leading online bank providing banking, insurance, investments and mortgages through its internet site and other distribution channels. Egg is backed by Citi, a leading global financial services company. Egg Banking plc is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Egg Banking plc (registered number 2999842) is registered in England and Wales. Registered Office: Citigroup Centre, Canada Square, London E14 5LB. Create Create is a dynamic charity (registered charity No 1099733) that uses the creative arts to help transform the lives of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people in our society. Founded by Nicky Goulder and Samantha Lodge in July 2003, the charity's aim is to give people of all ages access to the therapeutic, educational and social benefits of the creative arts. Its cornerstones are access, innovation, excellence and passion. Using leading professional artists – such as musicians, dancers, writers and actors – Create develops and delivers an extensive, UK-wide programme of education & community activities across all artforms. Many projects are cross-artform (e.g., creative writing and photography), cross-curricula (eg music and maths), bring different participant groups together (eg primary school children and older people) or enable participants to explore social concerns (e.g., the environment). Create regularly collaborates with other organisations to meet its objectives including corporate partners, arts companies and charities. Since its foundation, Create has run more than 1,500 workshops, mainly as part of sustained, life-changing programmes, for over 10,800 participants including inner city school children, young people who have been excluded from school, juvenile and young offenders, women in prison, children in hospitals and hospices, young carers, homeless adults, children and adults with special needs, refugees, asylum seekers and older people. Project activities give participants the opportunity to explore their creativity, develop life skills (such as communication, teamwork, time management and problem-solving), become more self-confident and have fun! Above all, they aim to give every participant a sense of self-worth. Alongside its work with people who are disadvantaged and vulnerable, Create delivers two programs for the business community, both of which feed into its charitable work: staff involvement/volunteering opportunities and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.