Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
25 September 2024
Post No. 371
The Week’s Contents
• Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources, In Focus for 2024 Edition: End Higher Living Costs
• Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
• Evaluation of 2023 Libya-Morocco Joint Influence Appeal
… And much more!
Key Messages
• Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources, In Focus for 2024 Edition: End Higher Living Costs
To facilitate the reading and understanding of 2024 Edition of Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources, we are going to briefly explain Help and Resources for a Fresh Start as well as the focus for this year’s Fresh Start. Fresh Start and End Higher Living Costs are key words and contextual framework of CENFACS‘ Autumn poverty reduction work.
• • Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources
Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources strikes or kicks off our Autumn programme and Starting XI Campaign. It is our Autumn project striker. Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources are made of fresh start skills, tips, hints, tweaks, hacks, etc.; help and resources designed to overcome poverty and hardships. They are indeed activities to turn endings of Summer to new beginnings, to manage new beginnings and plans for the future.
Our advice- and guidance-giving month of September continues as planned and will end next month. Advice- and guidance-giving services are part of our Help and Resources for Autumn Fresh Start. Although we put particular emphasis on advice-giving activity in our September engagement, other aspects of Autumn Fresh Start or striker are equally important and will continue beyond September.
Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources comes with a bundle of Fresh Autumn Start (FAS) Resources and Setup Services. The highlights of the 2024 Edition of FAS, which are given below, take into account and focus on Ending Higher Costs of Living. The resources provided in FAS are non-financial help to end higher living costs and poverty. In this respect, the focus will be on what help that is available for users and what resources they can have in order for them to end higher living costs and the effects of these costs on them.
• • End Higher Living Costs as a Focus for This Year’s Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources
End Higher Living Costs is basically a process of making it easier or possible – via support and setup services – for CENFACS members and project beneficiaries to stop higher living costs happening or impacting them. To end higher living costs, one may need a plan of action to achieve the overall goal of ending higher living costs.
However, CENFACS does not have the power to stabilise prices, costs and bills for its members or members of the public. CENFACS has rather a voice to speak and can help through its voice so that those who can influence the economic factors and indicators (like inflation, interest rate, wages, etc.) do their best to stabilise prices, improve the welfare system and raise wages to match prices.
Also, there are people who are succeeding in their fight against the adverse effects of higher living costs or the cost-of-living crisis. There are others, who could be the majority, who are failing to win this battle.
For those who are not winning the fight against higher living costs, they may need to rethink or improve the ways they are tackling the enduring cost-of-living crisis, especially as many experts believe that the cost-of-living will last until real household disposable incomes increase and inflation drops back to meet the UK Government’s 2 per cent CPI (Consume Prices Index) inflation target.
For those failing this battle, they may need help to improve the way they are tackling the cost-of-living crisis. In this process, those who are failing in their fight against the cost-of-living crisis are not left alone. They will receive help and support. That is why we call it Autumn Help to End Higher Living Costs. Autumn Help will assist them to start freshly, to reset or change the systems or ways they are trying to end higher living costs or the impacts of these costs on them.
Autumn Help to End the Higher Costs of Living is a resource containing new information, tips, tools and hints to help the community find ways of ending higher living costs or the impacts of these costs on them.
So, to end higher living costs, they need to freshly start or reset or change their settings. There is a say that every day is a fresh start. In this Autumn of the enduring cost-of-living crisis, fresh start is even more relevant than at any time to restore life. They need to freshly start since they could be still dealing with the lingering socio-economic effects of the cost-of-living crisis. They need to freshly start to end higher living costs or their effects on them.
Further details about the above key words and contextual framework are given below under the Main Development section of this post.
To ask for ‘Fresh Start’ Help and or access ‘Fresh Start’ Resources and Setup Services to End Higher Living Costs, please contact CENFACS.
• Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living, which started in October 2022, is one of CENFACS Starting IX Projects for this Autumn 2024. In order to get a basic understanding of it, it is better to define it, to highlight the kind of poverty this campaign is trying to address, to spell out the types of actions making it, and to explain its phases or steps.
• • What This Campaign Is about
The Campaign to End Poverty Linked to Rising Costs of Living is an organised series of actions to gain support for the cost-of-living poor so that something can be done for them. These actions need to result in change, particularly the reduction and end of poverty led by the cost-of-living crisis.
The cost-of-living poverty is linked to the fall in living standards. The campaign tries to address the root causes of the cost-of-living crisis. Amongst the causes is the mismatch of highly rising prices and slow wage/income growth of the cost-of-living poor.
The cost-of-living crisis is now a barrier for many poor. To tackle this barrier, one may need to understand poverty linked to the cost of living.
• • Basic Understanding of Poverty Attached to the Cost of Living
For anyone to understand poverty due to high costs of living, it is better to define the cost of living. The website ‘ben.org.uk’ (1) defines the cost of living as
“The amount of money needed to cover basic expenses such as housing, food, taxes, and healthcare in a certain place and time period”.
From the above definition, it is possible to argue that those who are poor, because of rising cost of living like at the moment, are those who are failing or totally struggling to meet this rise. The rise includes hikes in energy bills, food prices, taxes, interest rates, rent, fares, etc. In economic parlance, it is the rise of headline inflation (that is, all the changes in the values of things). At the moment, inflation has decreased to nearing the UK Government target of 2%, But, prices are still slowly growing. Wages cannot keep pace with this slow growth of prices; let alone prices which were already fast increased.
In order to deal with this rise, actions need to be taken to support or work with the cost-of-living poor so that they can reduce and eventually end poverty linked to rising costs of living.
• • Actions or Ways of Working with the Community to Reduce and Possibly to End Poverty Linked to Higher Costs of Living
There are those who believe that to end poverty linked to high costs of living, earnings and incomes or any benefits received by the poor have to be uprated to the rates of inflation. However, CENFACS as a charity does not have the means or power to adjust its members’ incomes or earnings or benefits for inflation. Instead, what CENFACS can do is to work with them in a series of actions or activities so that they can navigate their way out of poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis. What are these actions or activities?
• • • Actions to be taken with the community
It takes a long time for a crisis like the cost-of-living crisis to end. Normally, this crisis ends when real household disposable incomes are able to match the level of headline inflation in the economy. Because of that, it is better to have short-, medium- and long-term actions; actions that can stemmed from a strategy to end crisis.
Since it is difficult to know the duration of the cost-of-living crisis, we prefer to have an open strategy or plan which will run for the duration of the crisis. In this open strategy or plan, we can conduct short-, medium- and long-term actions.
Since this campaign was launched in October 2022, we had short-term or immediate actions (from October 2022 to until March 2023) and medium-term actions (from October 2022 to October 2024). At the end of October 2024, medium-term actions will be totally covered while we are still the long-term horizon or actions of this campaign. The long-term actions are explained below.
• • • Long-term actions
These actions go from 2 to 10 years. The aim of this third level of actions is to avoid that the cost-of-living crisis leads to intergenerational poverty; that is the transmission of poverty linked to high cost of living to future generations.
At this level, the actions to be undertaken could be those listed below:
• Help beneficiaries improve their productivity and capacity to earn or generate income
• Support them to consume green and local so that they are less exposed to the volatility of the international prices of goods and services
• Find ways of scaling down repressive or punitive market dictatorship on them.
On 2 November 2022, we put in place a long-term service or a programme between 2 and 10 years to accompany our community members for the duration of the cost-of-living crisis. The current cost-of-living crisis may not last for 10 years. However, we organised this service because we thought that even if the cost-of-living crisis ends, its effects will be still around for a while. Depending on service beneficiaries’ experience, some of them may need the service, others may not. There is at least a provision or service for the community should anyone needs it.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned actions are just a selection amongst the ones we hope to take with the community. They will be taking them via what we called ‘GARSIA‘ (that is Guidance, Advice, Referrals, Signposting, Information and Advocacy) services.
Because there are phases or steps in any campaign, these actions will be taken according to the phases of our campaign.
• • Phases/Steps in the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living
Any crisis has some phases or cycle to take or follow. Because of that, our campaign will follow the cycle of a typical crisis. We use the adjective typical because we do not exactly how the cost-of-living crisis will evolve. What we know so far, there has been a crisis (the cost-of-living crisis). And if we use the generic model of this typical crisis, we can guestimate that there will be de-escalation, stabilisation and resolve phases of the current crisis.
In each phase of our model of crisis curve, there will be actions to be taken. However, actions from each phase should not be treated separately without considering actions before and after each phase. This is because there could be communicating vessels between the two phases.
So, the phases or steps of our Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living will be aligned with the above-named phases (i.e., de-escalation, stabilisation and resolve). At the moment, our Campaign is between the crisis phase and the de-escalation phase.
The above is the summary of our Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living. To enquire and or support our campaign, please contact CENFACS.
• Evaluation of 2023 Libya-Morocco Joint Influence Appeal
• • What This Evaluation Is about
This evaluation is on the influencing appeal that CENFACS made in September 2023 for the Earthquake-stricken Peoples of Morocco and Floods-affected Populations of Libya.
The appeal was about asking to those who were in the position of power to put their influence on those who had the keys in the humanitarian operations and life-saving mission so that every victim of these two crises could get help and support they needed in the short, medium and long term (including the reconstruction and restoration efforts or phases of these crises).
One year on, one could ask if the victims of these two crises had the support they needed or need. These actions to be taken were those to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintaining human dignity during and after these two crises.
• • What We Are Looking at through This Evaluation
We are looking at if the Positive Influence donated contributed to the provision of assistance (such as food, healthcare and shelter) and the protection of the victims from earthquake-induced poverty in Morocco and poverty caused by floods in Libya.
Besides that we are evaluating some of the humanitarian projects or actions or programmes supported or conducted by CENFACS‘ Africa-based Sister Organisations during these crises and their outcomes so far.
• • What the Evaluation Will Help to Achieve
The evaluation will help to know if the victims had the support they needed/need. The evaluation will also assist in drawing out lessons with the broader view of improving policy, practice and responses/appeals for future crises. It will briefly contribute to the prevention and preparation of any future humanitarian action and response by influential donors or persons while enhancing our donor development and stewardship programme.
For those influential donors or persons who have not yet shared with us their influencing work or contribution they made or are making and their outcomes on behalf of the peoples of Libya and Morocco, this is the time to share.
To share the story of your influencing work or contribution to the peoples of Libya and Morocco, please contact CENFACS.
To engage with this evaluation, please also communicate with CENFACS.
Thank you in anticipation for your willingness to participate in this evaluation.
Extra Messages
• Financial Plan Updates for Households – In Focus from Wednesday 25/09/2024: Retirement Planning
• Brown Spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 25/09/2024: Integration between the Redevelopment of Brown Spaces and Other Spaces in the Process of Poverty Reduction
• Save Flora, Fauna and Funga
• Financial Plan Updates for Households – In Focus from Wednesday 25/09/2024: Retirement Planning
Our 4-series of Financial Plan Updates for Households reaches its last serial of these updates. This last or fourth serial is planning for retirement or Retirement Planning. To start this last serial, let us explain the meaning of retirement planning.
• • What Is Retirement Planning?
A retirement planning can be defined in many ways. According to ‘financestrategists.com’ (2),
“A retirement planning is the process of learning about, selecting, and executing financial solutions that will allow you to prepare sufficient funds for a comfortable and secure retirement”.
Another definition comes from ‘smartasset.com’ (3) which argues that
“A retirement plan is a financial strategy that combines both savings and investments and plans for distributions to pay for retirement”.
In both definitions, there is need for those planning to retire to save and invest in their retirement plans or projects. To do that, they need to identify the retirement plans that are suitable for them.
• • Retirement Plans
Within the literature and practice about retirement planning, there are many options. In the context of the brief notes, we would like to limit ourselves to two commonly known pension plans: defined contribution plan (or employer-sponsored retirement plan) and defined benefit plan.
Whatever the retirement plan chosen, it is better for households to bear in mind the retirement factors and steps.
• • • Retirement planning factors
Factors to include in planning your retirement include retirement spending needs, time horizon, risk tolerance, investment goals, after-tax rate of investment returns, estate planning, etc. With the knowledge of these factors, one can use their retirement plan to assess the income they will need during retirement and properly invest their retirement funds.
• • • Retirement planning steps
There are many steps one can take to plan their retirement. Briefly, one can limit themselves by following these four steps: determination of your retirement goals, calculation of how much you need to save, setting up a retirement savings plan and investing your money in your retirement plan.
There are households capable of doing this planning. There are other ones needing help of a retirement specialist or financial advisor. Although CENFACS is not a charity specialised in retirement matter, we can however work with households in the context of these Financial Plan Updates to guide them.
• • Working with Households on Retirement Planning
CENFACS can work with those households interested in the following:
√ how they can save and invest a portion of their salary for retirement purposes
√ estimating and checking together if households are on track to meet their retirement goals
√ identifying their sources of their retirement incomes
√ determination of their retirement number (e.g., 80% of their current income)
√ checking with them which retirement programmes or pension schemes (e.g., defined benefit, defined contribution) suit them
√ development of savings programme
√ set up a policy to manage their assets and risks (e.g., inflation, market volatility)
√ how to build their own retirement portfolio and how much portfolio to draw their money
√ briefly how they can support their post-retirement needs.
Those who may be interested in updating their Retirement Plan can contact CENFACS for further details.
If you do not have a financial advisor but need support with your Retirement Plan Updates, please do not hesitate to communicate with CENFACS.
• • Last Word on 4-series of Financial Plan Updates for Households
Financial Plan for Households covers many aspects, although we limit our to four updates (of household financial action plan, investment planning, estate planning, and retirement planning).
The other aspects of these updates could include financial goals; net worth statement; cash flow projections; short-, medium- and long-term budgets; debt management plan; insurance plan; children’s future planning; education planning; tax planning; etc.
To be consistent with themselves, households need to monitor, review and update their financial plan. They can do it every six months or on a yearly basis. Alternatively, they can choose a particular time or event to do it (for instance, change of season, beginning of a new year, life event like moving into a new home or having a new baby or a new job, etc.).
For those households needing to dive deep into any of the above-mentioned aspects of Financial Plan Updates, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
For any other queries and/or enquiries about any of the aspects of the Financial Plan Updates presented this September 2024, please let CENFACS know.
• Brown Spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 25/09/2024: Integration between the Redevelopment of Brown Spaces and Other Spaces in the Process of Poverty Reduction
The Redevelopment of Brown Spaces can be integrated with other spaces (Grey, Green and Blue Spaces) in the process of reducing poverty and enhancing sustainable development. Before looking at how this integration can help in poverty reduction, let us briefly explain these spaces.
• • Understanding Brown, Grey, Green and Blue Spaces
Let us start with brown space, also known as brownfield. According to ‘gosolve.co.uk’ (4),
“Brownfield land refers to previously developed sites that have become underutilised or abandoned, often due to changing industrial practice or contamination from former use”.
Adversely, the website ‘eli.org’ (5) argues that there could be benefits deriving from the redevelopment of brown spaces.
Our understanding of grey space comes from Oren Yiftachel (6) who argues that
“The concept of ‘gray space’ refers to developments, enclaves, populations and transactions positioned between the ‘lightness’ of legality/approval/safety and the ‘darkness’ of eviction/destruction/death. Gray spaces are neither integrated nor eliminated, forming pseudo-permanent margins of today’s urban regions, which exist partially outside the gaze of state authorities and city plans” (p. 243)
Our notion of green space is given by what Abigail Isabella McLean (7) argues about it, which is
“Green space refers to the many types of green land, ranging from parks to natural areas. Hence, the green spaces … will encompass naturally occurring green spaces, such as forests, but also space created within human-made means such as green roofs and tree-lined streets”.
As to blue space, its definition comes from what the ‘environmentagency.blog.go.uk’ (8) states about it, which is
“Blue spaces are outdoor environments – either natural or manmade – that permanently feature water and are accessible to people. In short – the collective term of rivers, lakes or the sea”.
The above-mentioned definitions can be served as basis for exploring integration between the four spaces in the process of poverty reduction.
• • Spaces Integration and Poverty Reduction
When looking for ways of reducing poverty, it could be useful to work out how each space (brown, grey, green and blue) can be a more or less contributing factor to poverty reduction. Taking this integrative approach can be worthwhile in judging each of spaces on their own merit.
The merits of green and blue spaces in enhancing health and wellbeing are already known and even undisputable. Those who are suffering from poor health can use the opportunities of green and blue spaces to improve their health.
As grey space provides the bases for self-organisation, negotiation and empowerment; its merit for poverty reduction can depend on its capacity to help people to move from darkness to lightness. This is despite many studies recognise that the development of grey space could result in harmful impact on health and the wellbeing of those living in and around this space.
Concerning brown spaces, Joseph W. Dorsey (9) explains that
“Brownfield initiatives are deeply intertwined with community economic development and job creation, and they are also important aids in health and safety issues, neighbourhood restoration, and the reuse of urban space to counter suburban sprawl into green, open spaces”.
It would be useful in search for solutions to poverty to consider the four spaces. For example, Yaella Depietri and Timon McPhearson (10) suggest a hybrid approach which combines both blue, green and grey approaches for reducing hazards in the urban context. They argue that
“Cities should rely on a mix of grey, green and blue infrastructure solutions, which balance traditional built infrastructures with more nature-based solutions” (p. 106)
However, they warn against turning easily to grey infrastructures as the default solution.
Writing a note about the above-mentioned integration is not the end of the theme of the redevelopment of brown spaces. The real aim here is how CENFACS can work with the communities in the UK and in Africa to empower these communities to use the merits of each space to escape from poverty.
• • Working with Communities to Access the Benefits Provided by Brown, Grey, Green and Blue Spaces through Their Integration
There are ways of working with communities to make the integration between the redevelopment of brown, grey, green and blue spaces work for them.
For example, if green and blue spaces can help reduce loneliness and stress, and loneliness and stress are seen as forms of poverty; then CENFACS can work with those members of its community who feel poor because of loneliness in order to alleviate this type of poverty.
Likewise, if the blue space can assist in reducing inequality, then CENFACS can work with those of its members who suffer from inequality, to tackle the matter via for example access to a river, lake, stream, etc.
Additionally, if grey space can be a principle on which an agreement can be based or made, we can work with those members of our community who are suffering from the effects of grey space to engage grey space to negotiate while empowering them.
As to brown space, after the clean-up process, there is a need to ensure that the Redevelopment of Brown Spaces does not bring injuries, liabilities or additional hazards. It does not pose any health and safety risks to the community.
In short, if one of our members needs brown, grey, blue or green prescription, we can work with them on this matter through advice, information, guidance, signposting and social prescribing.
The above is our last note about the theme of brown space which we hope you have enjoyed. We also expect that through this theme, one will be able tackle brown spaces-induced poverty and -threats to sustainable development.
Saying that the above is our last note does not mean that we stopped working on brown spaces or space framework. We are still working on it even though we will not produce any further note for the rest of the days of September 2024. We are continuing with the brown, grey, green and blue frameworks to analyse poverty reduction and sustainable development.
For those who would like more information about any of the notes developed throughout this month about brown spaces as well as those who need a brown, grey, blue or green prescription; they are free to contact CENFACS.
For those who would like to support the theme of brown spaces and our work on poverty reduction using space analysis, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS with their support.
• Save Flora, Fauna and Funga
Save Flora, Fauna and Funga projects will continue our advocacy work on the protection of plants, animals and fungi while we are carrying on to implementing new ways of working with local people and organisations in Africa to help save flora, fauna and fungi.
• • What is Save Flora, Fauna and Funga?
Save Flora, Fauna and Funga as an initiative is one of our Starting XI Projects. Through this Starting XI Project, we are continuing to advocate for the protection of animal, plant and fungi species in Africa and elsewhere in developing world. Animals get killed, traded and extinct to such extent that some animal species are at the brink of disappearing. Some plants are also threatened and disappearing.
• • Save Fauna
We continue to advocate for the protection of animals in Africa and elsewhere in developing world whereby animals get killed, traded and extinct to such extent that some species are at the brink of disappearing.
Our fauna advocacy aims at dealing with ways of tackling the threats to survival in the wild facing by the world’s big cats (such as monkey, lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cheetah, snow leopard, puma, clouded leopard, etc.), the world’s majestic animals and symbols of power and courage.
Animals such as jaguars, tigers, elephants, snakes, alligators, rhinoceroses, etc. are under threat. There are several reasons about it which include: hunting, illicit and illegal trade, over-harvesting, habitat loss, climate change, poaching, etc. Birds like African Grey Parrots, Congo Peafowl, African Green Broadhill, etc. are endangered species as well. Insects like Brenton Blue Butterfly, Chlorocypha spp, Eriksson’s Copper, Pheidole spp, African Dung Beetle, etc. are endangered species.
CENFACS’ Save Animals or Fauna advocacy is to advocate for the re-enhancement of protection of endangered, threatened and vulnerable animal species.
In this process, we are as well interested in efforts made to protect animals from diseases including the . For example, people can still remember how tuberculosis killed elephants in South Africa, a few years ago.
• • Save Flora
We are as well extending our advocacy to other species in danger like trees, plans and flowers (flora). It is about advocating to save these species that are threatened with extinction.
For example, the New Phytologist Foundation (11) argues that 35% of the species are threatened with extinction. They include maize, potato, bean, squash, chilli pepper, vanilla, avocado, husk tomato and cotton crops.
• • Save Funga
This year, we have added fungi since they comprise a separate kingdom. Examples of fungi like mushrooms, moulds, mildews, and yeasts are also threatened.
If this threat is true and continues, then one needs to protect and build forward better these threatened species.
In the light of the above, what would be the contents of our Save Flora, Fauna and Funga for this Autumn.
• • This Autumn Advocacy about ‘Save Flora, Fauna and Funga’
This year’s advocacy for flora, fauna and funga will include two actions as follows.
1) Life-saving action against new forms of exploitation and trafficking of animal and plant species
This is an action to protect animal species in Africa from new forms of wildlife exploitation and trafficking, including kidnapping of animals from their natural sanctuary. Those who exploit and traffic animal and plant species try to change their strategies and tactics. It makes sense to adjust our actions to deal with their new exploitative strategies and trafficking tactics.
2) Life-saving action against the cost-of-living crisis on flora, fauna and funga
The enduring cost-of-living crisis has put enormous pressure on humans, particularly the poorest ones. One could be afraid that fauna, flora and funga could be neglected or simply forgotten or abandoned since mankind cannot cope with their own pressure of facing soaring costs of living.
This action is about making sure that, plant, animal and fungi species regain, restore, rebuild and thrive their lives while humans are trying to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. In other words, the action is about to ensure that the cost-of-living crisis does not lead to flora , fauna and funga crises since we depend on them in order to come out of the cost-of-living crisis.
• • Save Fauna, Flora and Funga to “A la une” Campaign
Save Fauna, Flora and Funga is only an iceberg of the wide campaign for the protection of nature run by CENFACS. CENFACS’ Save Fauna, Flora and Funga is run this week and will be soon after followed or taken over by our Autumn environmental umbrella campaign, “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action to the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) project.
“A la une” will take Save Fauna, Flora and Funga advocacy to the other level of environmental communications and awareness raising. It will focus on Critically Endangered Fish Species. We shall focus on saving endangered insects through our new initiative called ‘Mbisi’ (that is, Maintaining Bagrus In Situ Inhabitation). It is an advocacy for the endangered fish species.
Mbisi is a new advocacy project planned by CENFACS to help protect critically endangered fish species and keep them up in their natural habitat in Africa. Fishes like Bagrus, Boyoma Falls Upside Down Catfish, the Ruwenzori Lampeye, the Line-spotted Ufipa Barb, the Arnegard Electric Fish, the Kunungu Air-Breathing Catfish, African Wedgefish (Rynchobatus Luebbert) and the Angel Squeaker are endangered species because of environmental threats and unregulated fishing activities.
The above is our highlights for Save Flora, Fauna and Funga. To advocate and raise your voice to save endangered plant, animal and fungi species, please contact CENFACS.
Message in English-French (Message en anglais-français)
• End-of-Month Special Offer with Translation Day on 30/09/2024
• Offre spéciale de fin de mois avec Journée de traduction le 30/09/2024
As part of CENFACS’ Translation Service and the United Nations’ International Translation Day, CENFACS’ in-house bilingual translators will be offering special translation service on 30/09/2024 in French to English and vice versa.
Dans le cadre du Service de traduction du CENFACS et de la Journée Internationale de la Traduction des Nations Unies, les traducteurs (rices) bilingues internes du CENFACS offriront un service de traduction spécial le 30/09/2024 du français vers l’anglais et vice versa.
If you have texts, documents, projects and stories to be translated from English to French and vice versa, please grab the unique opportunity of the end of the month and the beginning of the Autumn season to get your work translated.
Si vous avez des textes, des documents, des projets et des histoires à traduire de l’anglais vers le français et vice versa, saisissez l’occasion unique de la fin du mois et du début de la saison d’automne de faire traduire votre travail.
Translation is free service that we offer to our community. However, we do not mind a voluntary donation or gift to keep this service running and the machinery of CENFACS.
La traduction est un service gratuit que nous offrons à notre communauté. Cependant, nous ne sommes pas contre un don volontaire ou un cadeau pour maintenir ce service et l’appareillage du CENFACS.
Should anyone need translation; they can let us know before the Translation Day so that we could plan ahead.
Si quelqu’un a besoin d’une traduction; ils peuvent nous le faire savoir avant la Journée de la Traduction afin que nous puissions planifier à l’avance.
Please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS beforehand should you need translation, and we hope you will join us on the Translation Day.
N’hésitez pas à contacter le CENFACS à l’avance si vous avez besoin d’une traduction, et nous espérons que vous vous joindrez à nous lors de la Journée de la Traduction.
Main Development
• Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources, In Focus for 2024 Edition: End Higher Living Costs
The following two items cover the presentation of Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources:
∝ Making Autumn Start and Season Easier
∝ Key Summaries of FAS 2024 Edition.
Let us look at these items.
• • Making Autumn Start and Season Easier
In order to make Autumn Start and Season Easier it is better to understand Fresh Autumn Start and its context.
• • • What is Fresh Autumn Start (FAS)
FAS is a continuation of our Summer Support projects into the Autumn season. It is a building block or additional handy back up of useful survival tips and hints to embrace Autumn as smoothly and trouble-freely as possible.
It includes real life situations that users may face when and as they return from their Summer break or season on one hand, and possible leads to proffer solutions to their arising Autumn needs on the other hand.
This FAS resource is not exhaustive or an end itself. It needs other resources as complement. It is a good basic insight into a Fresh Start as it provides helpful advisory tools for a Fresh Start and confidence building from the beginning to the end of Autumn season. It could also be used as a reference for users to engineer their own idea of Fresh Start and the sustained management of autumn needs.
At the end of this resource, there are some websites addresses/directories for help and support. In this post, we have not included these websites addresses/directories. Those who would be interested in them, they need to request them from CENFACS. These sources of help and support are not exhaustive. We have mainly considered third sector organisations and service providers as well as social enterprises.
For further or extended list of service providers for Autumn needs, people can contact their local authorities and service directories (both online and in print).
• • • Fresh Autumn Start in the Context of Slow Rising Costs of Living
This Autumn, we are approaching Fresh Start Help from the perspective and context of Rising Prices at a slower pace. It is the context in which prices of goods and services are slowly rising and sometimes going up and down in a sinusoidal way. Yet, incomes are not still in position to catch up with slow rising costs or prices.
It is still the context of cost-of-living crisis since real household disposable incomes have not really increased although inflation is nearing the UK Government target of 2%. In this typical context, the most sufferers are those living in poverty as they cannot afford any rising prices and bills whether they are small or slow.
A context like the one we have depicted needs a response so that our users and members can meet their needs and navigate their way out of the cost-of-living crisis and poverty. Our users and members need help and support to improve the ways they are tackling the enduring cost-of-living crisis. Our users and members would like to see the end of higher living costs happening. We can work with them so as they can get the help they need in order to meet basic life-sustaining needs and requests.
Briefly speaking, Fresh Start Help is the first line of support in the process of ending higher living costs or their impact. The second line of support is Fresh Start Resources.
• • Key Summaries of FAS 2024 Edition
The key summaries of FAS 2024 Edition can be found under the contents below.
• • • Contents for FAS 2024 Edition
The contents for 2024 Edition of FAS include:
∝ Autumn scenarios and actions to take
∝ Examples of Summer break expenses track record and Autumn budget
∝ People needs and Autumn leads
∝ Integration of threats and risks
∝ Ending Higher Living Costs
∝ What you can get from CENFACS
∝ Autumn online and digital resources.
Let us briefly explain each of these contents.
• • • • Imaginable Autumn Scenarios and Possible Actions
When returning from Summer break and/or season, people can find themselves in a variety of situations depending on their own individual circumstances and life experiences. This variety of situations may require or be expected to be matched with a diversity of responses in order to meet people’s Autumn needs.
These variable circumstances and diverse responses or a course of actions can take the different shapes as well as can be framed in order to take into account the continuing adverse impacts of the enduring cost-of-living crisis. One of these shapes could be to contextualise and customise back-to-relief, fresh start and build-forward-better support. This is what CENFACS tries to do via the advice service.
• • • • Examples of Summer Break Expenses Track Record and Autumn Budget
Tracking down and reassessing summer break/season expenses are a positive step to put one through an optimistic start of the Autumn season. As part of this positive step, FAS is packed with an example of Summer Break Expenses Track Record.
Budgeting Autumn items and needs is also good for a Fresh Start and for overall control over the start and rest of autumn season expenses. Since our focus is on ending higher living costs, one can write a budget that deals with the shape and direction of the rise of the costs of living.
To write a comprehensive budget, one needs to include in their budget possible projections or forecasting or even scenarios regarding key indicators or adjustment factors like interest rate, inflation, indexes of goods and services, etc. Such a budget will help in costing the activities planned in the process of improving ways and coming out of the cost-of-living crisis.
One of the precautions to take in your Autumn budget is to check affordability of your budget. In other words, you need to make sure that any budgeted outgoings match budgeted incomings, any actual outgoings balance with actual income. A positive difference means your budget is affordable, while a negative one signifies it is unaffordable.
To support this financial control, FAS contains two examples of budgets: Autumn budget adjusted for the cost-of-living index and fresh start budget.
• • • • People’s Needs and Autumn Leads
Variable circumstances can obviously result in multiple needs. One of these circumstances is the enduring cost-of-living crisis. To meet those needs, we may have to gather resources, tools and institutions to guide us. The 2024 Edition of FAS provides a table that gives an idea of the likely leads to satisfy people’s needs or just to guide them.
• • • • Integrating Threats and Risks from the Adverse Impacts of Various Factors into FAS
The FAS 2024 edition integrates the damaging impacts of economic factors or variables such as interest rate change, inflation, the cost-of-living index, policy changes, geo-economic tensions, etc.
It also considers the probable evolution of these factors or variables in the medium term. Likewise, the probable adverse impacts of climate change are nevertheless taking into account and unavoidable.
This integration is at the levels of possible Autumn scenarios, Autumn budget and arising needs. It is the integration of both life-sustaining needs and other factors (like economic, social, climate, geo-economic, etc).
• • • • Ending Higher Living Costs
It is about making it easier or possible – via CENFACS‘ support and setup services – for CENFACS‘ members to stop higher living costs happening to them or the impacts of these costs. Perhaps, the best way of understanding this is to explain what is the cost of living, the importance of ending higher living costs, what causes higher living costs and responses to higher living costs.
• • • • • What is the cost of living?
There are many explanations of the cost of living. According to ‘britannica.com’ (12),
“The cost of living is a monetary cost of maintaining a particular standard of living, usually measured by calculating the average cost of a number of specific goods and services required by a particular group. The goods and services used as indexes may be the minimum necessary to preserve health or may be what is considered average for a given income group, depending on the purpose of the index”.
The same ‘britannica.com’ explains that
“Measurement of the cost of a minimum standard of living is essential in determining relief payments, social-insurance benefits, family allowances, tax exemptions, and minimum wages. Measurements of change in the cost of living are important in wage negotiations. It is difficult, however, to make precise comparisons over time, because consumer tastes and the availability of products change”.
For instance, on 25 August 2024 the website ‘kanan.co’ (13) provided the measure of the cost of living in the UK as follows:
“The cost of living in UK per month for a family of four in UK is $3,135 (£2,268) without rent and for students in UK is $900 (£651) without rent”.
Living costs can go up and down or remain stationary. In recent years, they tend to go up than the other way. For example, according to ‘statista.com’ (14),
“As of July 2024, 45 percent of households in Great Britain reported that their cost of living had increased in the previous month, compared with 51 percent in late June”.
What the 2024 Edition of FAS is concerned about is higher living costs (or living costs going or staying up). Living costs are higher when they exceed the real household disposable incomes (RHDI). The latter measures the total household earnings (like wages and benefits) after tax and accounting for inflation.
When living costs stay higher than RHDI for a long-term period, one can start to speak about the cost-of-living crisis, like it is happening now.
• • • • • Why ending higher living costs matters
It matters because increasing living costs can exacerbate poverty and create a cycle that keeps people trapped in hardships. Higher living costs can become a crisis in the long run. When higher living costs settle in for the long term, they can pose systemic and structural issues to ride off them. If they exacerbate poverty, exacerbated poverty can lead to intergenerational one if higher living costs continue through different generations. There are factors that cause higher living costs.
• • • • • What causes higher living costs
Living costs remain high because high inflation led to the average price of goods and services increasing faster than people’s wages and income.
For example, in the UK the ‘commonslibrary.parliament.uk’ (15) notes that
“The UK inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, rose almost continuously from under 1% in early 2021 to 11.1% in October 2022. The inflation rate then declined, dropping to 2.0% in May 2024”.
Although inflation is nearing 2% (as per the UK Government target), bills and costs are still growing slowly. Higher living costs are still felt from previous record inflation and slowly growing prices of food shopping, energy, housing, rent, mortgage costs, etc. There are and have been responses to higher costs of living.
• • • • • Responses to higher living costs
These responses came and are coming from the people victims of higher living costs, charities and voluntary organisations/churches, the National Government and local authorities.
The people who are the victims of the higher living costs responded by taking a number of initiatives like spending less on non-essential items, shopping around before buying, using less energy at home, etc.
Charities, voluntary organisations and churches stepped up their support in various ways like food banks, debt advice, all sorts of giving to back those in most need.
The National Government took a number of steps or measures to deal with the higher costs of living. For example, the elements of tax credit were thought to be inflation-linked via the household support fund.
Some local authorities made discretionary payments to people in most need to help with rising cost of food, energy and water bills.
Are all these responses ended the impacts of higher living costs? It is difficult to answer this question.
• • • • • What it takes to end higher living costs
If one looks at the living cost equation, to end living costs being higher it requires equalising costs and earnings/incomes. Because we live in a market economy, it will be unlikely possible to fix the prices of goods and services; although in some strategic sectors like energy there is cap. Because of that, actions can be taken to deal with the other side of the equation, that is earnings/incomes. Actions are needed for wage growth and welfare state system that feels the gap.
Regarding these actions on earnings/incomes, there have been some proposals in the UK – from mostly charities, non governmental organisations, social enterprises and churches (16) – to improve earnings and incomes so that they can match increasing living costs. Among the proposals are the following:
√ Reforming the welfare system in the UK
√ Essentials guarantee to enable people to afford the basics they need to live on
√ Increasing wages across the board
√ Reforming the rental market
√ Transitioning away from means-tested benefit system to needs-tested system as a way of meeting basic needs
√ Essential occupation as insurance for transfer payments to meet basic needs
etc.
These proposals or propositions are also what can be done in order to end poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis. However, arguing about these proposals it does not mean one should abandon the efforts undertaken so far to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and poverty. One should continue to improve their ways of tackling the cost-of-living crisis and poverty.
• • • • • Improving ways of tackling the cost-of-living crisis and poverty to end higher living costs
It is about making better the means or manner of dealing with the cost-of-living crisis and poverty. To make it better, it could imply proceeding with the following initiatives:
σ conducting a brand refresh used or taking a process of adjusting the brand in the fight against the cost-of-living crisis
(if you are one of our members, your brand will be the make you are using to tackle the cost-of-living crisis)
σ getting updates with the latest information, data and knowledge about this crisis
(for example, knowing the current index of the cost of living can help in improving one’s way of tackling the cost-of-living crisis and poverty)
σ fixing projects, activities and programme areas which are not working or where there are bugs
(for instance, users can review their Autumn budget 2023 and decide whether or not to keep any of the non essential expenses)
σ reviewing some of the fundamentals
(e.g., reassessing factors such as Ukraine-Russia conflict, market power of companies, wage growth, productivity growth, the evolution of inflation and interest rates, etc. can help)
σ refreshing values from an improved perspective
(e.g., if your accounting value is any expense has to comply to the spending limit you set up, you can re-evaluate this limit/value)
σ taking refresher training to close the gaps in knowledge in the way of tackling the cost-of-living crisis
(any crisis comes along with it with new jargon and tools to deal with it. If there is a need to learn these jargon and tools, then a refresher training can be required)
σ ameliorating your leadership abilities in whatever you do as the cost-of-living crisis endures
(any crisis can change the way one leads their life or household as well as it can provide the opportunity to improve one’s leadership skills)
σ enhancing the culture of your household or community
(to better deal with the cost-of-living crisis and poverty, it may require some improvements or adjustments in one’s household culture or simply way of doing things)
etc.
All the above means will help in improving ways of tackling the cost-of-living crisis and poverty.
• • • What You Can Get from CENFACS in Autumn under Autumn Help to End Higher Living Costs
The set of helps provided in the FAS 2024 is part of CENFACS’ UK arm of services and additional services we set up to overcome the negative side effects of crises and risks (like the coronavirus, the cost-of-living crisis, climate crisis, etc.). In this respect, FAS 2024 include ‘Fresh Start‘ activities or services that can be aligned with the typical phases of crisis after the crisis phase. These typical phases include de-escalation, stabilisation, post-crisis and resolve phases. What are these activities?
There are three activities we would like to mention, which are:
a) activities to turn endings to new beginnings
a) activities to manage new beginnings
b) activities to manage plans for the future.
• • • • Fresh Start Activities as Those to Turn Endings to New Beginnings
These are the activities to return to where people were before the living costs increased with changes rather than against them, this Autumn. People can now move on with change and transition. They include:
√ tasks to manage transition (from Summer to Autumn, from when living costs started to increase to where they are now)
√ tasks relating to wellbeing economy, inclusiveness and safety to manage the process of ending higher living costs.
• • • • Fresh Start Activities as Those to Manage New Beginnings
The activities relating to the management of new beginnings will help to work with the community to achieve the following:
√ set up new goals with them
√ identify new opportunities and threats at the current time of the enduring cost-of-living crisis.
We shall work with them through advice, tips and hints in order for them to manage the new beginnings.
• • • • Fresh Start Activities as Those to Manage Plans for the Future
Fresh Start activities could be those of managing the future as well. By using futuring and visioning methods and techniques, it is possible to develop scenarios, horizon scanning and trend monitoring/analysis to help them not only improve and navigate their way out of the cost-of-living crisis; but to minimise the likely harmful impacts of future risks and crises as well.
Besides the above-mentioned provision, FAS 2024 Edition further takes into account specific needs of people that may require specialist organisations and or institutions to deal with them. In which case CENFACS can signpost or refer the applicants to those third parties.
• • • Autumn Online and Digital Resources
As explained earlier, FAS 2024 Edition contains a list of organisations and services that can help users in different areas covering basic needs. Most the provided resources, which are from the charity and voluntary sector, are online and digital. The list gives their contact details including the kinds of support or service they provide.
We hope that the basic tips and hints making the contents of FAS 2024 Edition will help you in some aspects of your Autumn needs, and you will find the relief you are looking for.
We would like to take this opportunity of the beginning of the new season to wish you a Happy and Healthy Autumn, as well as good luck in your efforts to End Higher Living Costs and Their impacts on You!
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• References
(1) https://www.ben.org.uk/how-we-help/for-me/articles/reduce-your-living-costs/ (accessed in September 2024)
(2) https://www.financestrategists.com/retirement-planning (accessed in September 2024)
(3) https://www.gosolve.co.uk/brown-grey-green-field-land-development (accessed in September 2024)
(4) https://www.eli.org/brownfields-program/brownfields-basics# (accessed in September 2024)
(5) https://smartasset.com/retirement/what-is-a-retirement-plan (accessed in September 2024)
(6) Yiftachel, O. (2009), Critical Theory and ‘gray space’ Mobilisation of the Colonized at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248930381_critical_theory_and_’gray_space’_Mobilisation_of_thecolonized (accessed in September 2023)
(7) McLean A. I., at https://peopleknowhow.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/what-are-the-benefits-of-green-and-blue-space.pdf (accessed in September 2022)
(8) https://environmentagency.blog.go.uk/2021/08/04/blue-space-the-final-frontier/ (accessed in September 2022)
(9) Dorsey, J. W. (2003). Brownfields and Greenfields: The Intersection of Sustainable Development and Environmental Stewardship. Environmental Practice, 5(1), 69-76, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1466046603030187 (accessed in September 2024)
(10) Depietri, Y. & McPhearson, T., (2017), Nature-based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas, Theory and Practice of Urban Sustainability Transitions, N. Kabisch et al. (eds.), DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-56091-5_6
(11) https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10225 (accessed September 2022)
(12) https://www.britannica.com/money/cost-of-living (accessed in September 2024)
(13) https://www.kanan.co>blog>cost-of-living-in-uk (accessed in September 2024)
(14) https://www.statista.com/statistics/1300280/great-britain-cost-of-living-increase/ (accessed in September 2024)
(15) https://www.commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9428/ (accessed in September 2024)
(16) https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/uk-poverty-the-facts-figures-effects-solutions-cost-living-crisis/# (accessed in September 2024)
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With many thanks.
