How to Survive Rapid Inflation

How to Survive Rapid Inflation

On 28th August 2022, while our little rural community of Magherafelt in Northern Ireland was still recovering from lockdown in 2020 due to Covid, the wholesale gas price futures market showed a remarkable, if not terrifying, increase in price that would create rapid inflation across all sectors of the economy. Due to local (UK) legislation, the electricity price is pegged to the wholesale price of pipeline gas, even though approximately half the electrons running in the NI grid are generated from wind turbines, solar panels, and biogas plants.

Magherafelt is a farming community with energy imported as manufactured nitrogen fertilisers and higher-than-average fuel costs due to its geography with remote markets. In a few months, the inevitable high inflation rate would hurt. That reality spurred the Magherafelt Bahá’í Community to organise a day conference that would demonstrate how we could pool the skill sets in the district to alleviate the hurt to an already struggling population.

Many people were contacted over several months of face-to-face discussions, and 26 “Champions” who were passionate about their subject were recruited to donate time for this endeavour. Champions had experience in topics such as beekeeping, home-grown food, recycling, book sharing, homestead-based pig rearing, electric cars, passive solar, solar roofing, and home preserving.

The role of the Bahá’í community was coordination, and we paid for the hall and administration so there was no financial impediment for anyone to attend. Each Champion was given a chair, a standard single desk, and a white card on which to advertise their skill. Each was offered a speaking slot during the day, and the whole programme was advertised using social media and posters in shops.

Attendance on the day was approximately 100 people, including the local Mayor. New networks were formed, and a huge amount of debate occurred around solutions to food poverty, energy poverty, mental health, and community wellbeing. The coffee shop next door was packed with people networking over coffee. The spirit was high, and the day ended with some hilarious line dancing. A major output was the listing of the Top Tips provided by participants, presented below.

Long-term results have been significant, with many people focusing on solutions and helping each other. Les Gornall was invited to give a talk on the issues and the Top Tips to upper school students and teachers in the largest school in the neighbouring town, which was well received. The community centre has asked when we will repeat it. To that, we say we do not know, because the next major disaster is already upon us — the Blue Green Algal bloom covering the largest lake in the UK and Ireland, right outside the front door of the same community centre.

Top Tips for Surviving Rapid Inflation

The following Top Tips were gleaned from this one-day conference at the Ballyronan Community Centre in the Spring of 2022.

Practical Self Help

• Katy's Swap Shop online is a way of putting surplus goods to good use, with no charge.
• Friends of Charis provide local services for recycling, re-reads, pre-loved items, and repurposed furniture.
• The locality has 96 listed places of interest, many of them world-class facilities, including OM Dark Sky Observatory, Hill of the O'Neill, and Seamus Heaney Homeplace.

Food Production

£1 worth of food grown = £1 plus 40p in taxes saved from the weekly budget — and the food is as fresh as cut, carry, and cook.

• Act now — seeds can be germinated indoors from February.
• If you can, grow your own food. Clamp potatoes (ask Grandad — he will know).
• Share the surplus and the knowledge.
• Preserve the surplus by bottling, drying, and jam making (ask Granny — she will know).
• No garden? Lobby for an allotment — start with manure/compost and easy crops:
  • Potatoes (plant before St. Patrick’s Day)
  • Beetroot
  • Radish
  • Mangetout peas
  • French beans
  • Rhubarb
  • Spinach
  • Greenhouse gherkins
• No labour? Put up a notice in the Nextdoor app for help.

Warm Home

• Create a heat “lifeboat” — super-insulate one south-facing room to create a warm living space.
• An open fire is only 15% efficient; replace with a glass-fronted multi-fuel burner for 75% efficiency.
• Insulate thoroughly: attic, floors, cavity walls, and external cladding.
• Fit triple-glazed windows with argon-filled air gaps and low-emissivity glass.
• Seal all draughts and install air-to-air heat exchangers.
• Install photovoltaic (PV) panels and battery storage for energy resilience.
• Tiny houses work — explore community interest online.
• Never burn wet wood — 3–4 years of drying is required.
• Ash dieback trees can be salvaged for timber and firewood.

New Houses

• Insist on PassivHaus standard construction with photovoltaic systems.
• Maximise southern-facing glazing and minimise northern-facing windows.
• Install solar hot water panels and heat pumps instead of boilers.

Finance

• Continue working if possible — delayed pensions earn high government interest.
• Invest savings in insulation and tools to reduce future costs.
• Join a credit union to save locally.
• Don’t panic — local currencies and cooperative networks can maintain essential trade.

Farming

• Convert to organic farming.
• Use digestate from anaerobic digesters as fertiliser.
• Try no-till methods.
• Plant fast-growing willow or poplar for fuel and timber.
• Use polytunnels to increase food production.

Health

• Eat more beneficial herbs.
• Reduce anxiety through walking, running, sport, and social connection.
• Engage in community and faith activities.
• Join study circles and lifelong learning groups.

Travel and Holidays

• Explore local tourism and activity sites.
• Discover how much fun can be had locally.

Communicate

• Walk and talk — reconnect with neighbours.
• Engage through community apps and social media.
• Share skills and build networks.
• Reducing fossil fuel use helps mitigate climate impacts.

This is a personal checklist. If you are a Champion of a skill — beekeeping, hydroponics, tractor restoration — share your Top Tips through community platforms.

Let’s start again — make a difference.
Les Gornall and the Magherafelt Bahá’í Community, September 2022