“When we know each other, we build each other” – the power of international exchange.

These were the words of Rashid, Chair of Muungano Wa Wanavijiji, at the opening session of a week-long international exchange in Nairobi between Muungano and Community Savers leaders from Manchester and Sheffield.
Rashid was sharing on the power of exchanges in the SDI tradition – a tradition that has been nurtured, tested, and adapted over more than thirty years, in 32 countries across the Global South.
November 2022 was a special month as Community Savers leaders were able to welcome activists from Nairobi here in the UK, share knowledge and learning on their adaptation of SDI/Muungano methodologies with postgraduate students in Manchester, and then travel to Nairobi to experience these approaches first hand; visiting settlements and exchanging learning with their sister federation.
Here we try to capture some highlights from a rich month of learning and inspiration...
“We Kenyans, and you from the UK, we are the same.”
Anastasia Wairimu is Chair of Akiba Mashinani Trust one of three organisations that make up the Muungano Alliance. After her second trip to the UK in November 2022 exchanging learning with Community Savers, she recognised that despite very different histories, low-income communities in the UK experience the same dynamics of exploitation and discrimination as informal settlement communities in Kenya.
Tina Cribbin is Chair of Aquarius Community Savers in Hulme, Manchester: these exchanges have enabled Tina and Anastasia to develop a strong relationship of trust and mutual respect, and Tina agreed with Anas’s observations. In particular, Tina noted the similarities in negative attitudes among those holding power and purse strings who judge low-income communities as criminal, as lazy, as a problem that needs fixing.

During her latest visit to the UK, Anastasia was shocked to see how older people are treated after visiting Hopton Court tower block in Hulme where 75% of tenants are aged Over-50 and many have long-term conditions, disabilities and mobility constraints. During their visit, the lifts were out of order again (a regular occurrence over the previous five years) and elderly people had been left with no way of getting out of the block or bringing food shopping up to their flats. Tenants shared how throughout the pandemic they had nowhere to meet with their neighbours due to the absence of a communal area at the block; and how elderly people are falling through the gaps between housing, health and social care services in ways which leave them unable to pay for food, heating or sometimes without appropriate end of life care.
During the Nairobi visit, Ellie and Sue from Miles Platting shared experiences of top-down regeneration and gentrification which resonated strongly with Muungano anti-eviction activists. Leaders reflected that although the extremity of the circumstances are very different the principle of top-down attempts to push lower-income groups away from the inner-city is the same.

During November, leaders from Miles Platting gave urban inequality students a tour of their neighbourhood. They explained to them how the Private Finance Initiative that was supposed to regenerate the area for the existing community has resulted in a net loss of approximately 500 social rental homes and the inflation of house prices and private rents far beyond a threshold that local working families can afford. This is leading to the breaking up of families and people on lower incomes being pushed out to other boroughs of Greater Manchester. Existing residents had agreed to the PFI (including compulsory purchase orders and demolitions) on the basis that a suite of community facilities would be built, including a joint services centre and leisure and retail facilities. In the end, none of this was delivered. The community are now calling on Manchester City Council to protect the public land that these community facilities were supposed to be constructed on for community benefit.

At our final reflection, Jonte shared how an elderly woman housing activist in Kambi Moto who has been involved in their community-led housing movement for over 30 years was amazed to learn that she can sit together with people from the UK, this developed country, and find that they are struggling against the same social issues and can learn from how communities have organised over land and housing in Nairobi.
"Saving is an act of resistance"
Community Savers have been holding learning exchanges with Muungano activists since 2017 and during November’s exchange in Nairobi, Tina explained to Anas that:
“What changed for me was about the savings: I used to feel like I don’t want to save, I want to spend. But you told me that every time you save it is an act of resistance and that has really changed it for me.”
Savings groups are the building blocks of a united and powerful community-led movement for poverty reduction and the transformation of urban social power relations. Tina’s group are now beginning to see the fruits of building power through savings as on return to the UK they had a meeting with the housing provider at Hopton Court (above). The provider issued an official apology for the experiences of older people at the block and announced that they will be replacing the lifts to ensure elderly people are never put in a situation of being trapped in the building again.

Aquarius Community Savers have also been able to build a new coalition of groups in their social housing estate who are coming together to form a new Aquarius Neighbourhood Forum including members of Hulme Tenants Union; Epping Park Warriors; Aquarius Tenants and Residents Association and Age-Friendly Hulme and Moss Side. They have worked closely with their local ward councillors to oppose a private development that would block the sunlight from Hopton Court gardens and put even more pressure on overburdened local services. They are now working with their councillors to request the rezoning of the Aquarius estate out of the city centre planning area and into the Inner South zone in support of a community-led plan for their thriving local community.
"Unity is our strength, Information is our power"
Muungano begin their meetings with call outs to their members "Unity? Is our strength! Information? Is our power!" During the final reflection at Muungano House on 25 November, Anastasia explained that:
“There are 43 tribes in Kenya, but at Muungano we know only two tribes: the haves and the have-nots"
Unity is critical to addressing this inequality.
We reflected on the importance of collective solutions and collective thinking. We discussed how in the UK people have become individual clients of government and service providers. Although it is good to have a social welfare system, it is provided in a way that has made people become passive. Tina observed that “it is given but it is never what you would have asked for. Now we are learning to ask for what we need.”
We reflected on the power of community data and also the value of university partnerships even though universities generally represent the “Haves”. Nicerah from Kibera shared how after she joined Muungano and began collecting data in her settlement, officials were asking her “How can you know how to make these survey questions on your own? What university did you go to?” Nicerah was able to tell them “My University is Muungano”.
Emily, a national leader from Mathare, explained how at the same time, Muungano has developed partnerships with university departments and their students. Students can help them to collect data and write up reports. This is not because the community cannot do it without their help, but it is about recognising that these students may be the next Planning Officer or Water and Sanitation official in the future: “If we teach them now, they may come back to us in the future”.
Validation is a critical step in the process: presenting the data collected back to the community through public meetings to enable them to correct inaccuracies and build a sense of ownership over the information and the change that the information makes possible.
Earlier in the week, as we began our learning exchange, Nancy explained that data collection underpins everything for Muungano: “we have to know ourselves” and this is the principle underpinning Know Your City TV…
Know Your City TV: “We can change the story”
One of the most inspiring engagements for UK activists during their week in Nairobi was with the Youth Federation leaders involved in data collection, advocacy, and Know Your City TV.
Through KYCTV young people are engaged in community action by creating opportunities for them to learn skills they are interested in like film-making and photography while leaders also engage youth through art, music and sports.
The UK team took home the principle of “Just One” – you only need one engaged young person to start a youth movement. That one person will be able to engage other young people.
UK delegates were inspired by their inclusive approach involving arts and sports and participatory approaches and tools for engagement and planning – especially the Tree of Transformation which enabled young people in Mukuru to come together for visioning of the changes they wanted to see and the conditions that they needed to foster to achieve those changes.

Georgie from Arbourthorne asked the youth leaders what made them engage with Muungano and KYCTV as it can be hard to engage young people in the UK who say "nothing ever changes". They explained that they grew up in the settlements and they saw politicians come and go with promises that they never delivered on. They recognised Muungano’s message that we have the solutions and we know our community best. We were tired of all the negative representations in the media and decided that with the training they were offering we can change the story.
Younger youths were inspired and motivated by older youth mentors who they looked up to. The older leaders explained that they put their trust in the young people to carry out data gathering and document Federation processes; and importantly they show them love and nurture them. The leaders focus on what the young people themselves are interested in and what they want to learn and: “Give them a chance to be who they are”.
They advised the UK team: “try to spot the ones with ambitions, start with them, find the youth that want change, show them the opportunities, show them a better way of life”.
Exchanges such as these between grassroots communities across different international contexts are critical for enabling communities to recognise their expertise and the commonalities of their experiences, struggles and strength within global and urban systems which act to exploit and oppress them. Yet they resist, they organise, and they grow stronger, smarter, and more effective through global solidarity networks: when they know each other, they build each other.
Women Thriving: a transformative year for Community Savers

The announcement of the third national lockdown on 6 January 2021 was not the start to the year that anyone had hoped for… the rollercoaster ride of the COVID-19 pandemic, was, it seemed, still rolling on.
As the Women’s Budget Group find, COVID has had a disproportionate impact on low-income women for whom the pandemic has worsened already challenging situations ‘in terms of health, employment and unpaid work, resulting in increased levels of poverty, debt and mental health deterioration’.
Community Savers’ ability to support their communities through such profoundly challenging times in 2021 has been strengthened significantly by three grants from the We Love Manchester charity’s Stronger Communities Fund, and the Smallwood Trust’s Frontline Women (see April news) and Women Thrive funds.
We Love Manchester!
Manchester-based groups have been able to use the We Love Manchester funding to relaunch their savings meetings after the lockdown easing in March, enabling people to build up some savings again and improving mental health and wellbeing through an array of activities and events.
Mums Mart were able to relaunch their savings meetings in March and hold a fantastic AGM and family fun day in August benefiting over 100 local families leading to lots of new members. They have gone on to raise over £300 at their Christmas Fair this month where local residents were able to benefit from low-cost Christmas gifts.

Miles Platting Savers had a fantastic relaunch event in September attracting over 100 local residents and leading to an additional ten members joining. Participants celebrated with a community wall made up of drawings of the household goods and other items the Savers have been able to provide to 34 families this year through their small grants programme (via Henry Smith Charity). MP Savers are also active members in the Miles Platting Community and Age Friendly Network - MP-CAN!, which successfully merged MP Community Network and MP Age Friendly Neighbourhoods board in July this year. Members are now united behind an exciting vision for the area including a climate action plan and a community-driven social club development after the loss of many community facilities since 2007.
In Hulme, Hopton Hopefuls were able to use We Love Manchester funds to organise an “International BBQ” together with On Top of the World Project where Savers were able to share progress with tenants on their Ageing Well work for older tenants in the Aquarius estate which is driving forward a “Naturally Occurring Retirement Community” model. This has led to a new Independent Living Adviser post and will soon see recruitment of a new Development Worker to take forward the NORC model in partnership with tenants. The initiative has shaped One Manchester’s plans for supporting older tower block tenants across Hulme. Excitingly, the GMCA's Ageing Hub has now taken up this work as a best practice case study and are exploring ways to roll out the model with housing providers across GM.

Beyond Manchester, Brinnington Savers and Arbourthorne Social Savers have done a brilliant job of keeping their savings meetings going throughout the year despite repeated challenges with COVID and a broken ankle to boot! Brinnington have been able to build on the work they have been doing supporting older residents with digital inclusion and savings accumulation to attract a £2,000 grant from Stockport Homes Community Fund - great news!
Retreat, Reflection... Recognition!
Since September, Community Savers have been on a transformative journey of retreat and reflection which was made possible by some generous donations from our fantastic supporters out there and a significant capacity-building budget from Women Thrive Fund. Thank you so much to all who have donated and to the Smallwood Trust for your ongoing faith and interest in our work!
Our two-day retreat in Snowdonia was a game-changer for the network (why retreats matter), building and strengthening relationships between women leaders (and with CLASS), deepening leaders understanding of each other’s visions and projects, celebrating our achievements, and taking home souls filled with inspiration and motivation.

This gave us the solidarity and shared purpose we needed for two really productive theory of change and strategic planning workshops with leaders in the final two weeks of September facilitated by our long-term cheerleaders Participate!

Together with all the amazing support members have provided in their neighbourhoods throughout the year, the retreat and workshops contributed directly to the wonderful recognition of our transformative potential from the Tudor Trust who have awarded Community Savers and CLASS an unrestricted grant of £40,000 per year for three years.
Savers have found dialogue with the Tudor Trust positive and enabling giving everyone an opportunity to shine. Thank-you Tudor Trust for your kind words of recognition:
“The trustees really liked the emphasis on women’s leadership and the deep recognition of community expertise which is at the heart of CLASS’s work, and which sits at the core of the Community Savers groups. They were excited by the trust, mutual support and vision for change held within the groups, and by the clear sense of connection between members of different groups […]
The trustees saw the need for an organisation like CLASS to provide the development and technical support which enables the groups to flourish and felt that governance arrangements had been carefully thought through to support genuine working in alliance with the Community Savers network. Above all there was a sense of real excitement about what the groups are doing for their communities, as well as a huge interest in seeing how things develop over the next few years. The rooted and radical nature of the work, and the group members’ ability just to get things done were also greatly appreciated!”
We look forward to getting a lot more 'things done' in 2022!
Women-led savings for financial & social wellbeing

The Money Advice Service estimates that 22% of UK adults have less than £100 in savings, yet savings are critical to wellbeing, decent living standards, and long-term family resilience. Recent research by the Resolution Foundation (2020) shows that low-income women have the least savings and are worst impacted economically by the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, research is increasingly revealing that it is women more than men who have suffered the worst mental health impacts of the pandemic. The health and social injustices the COVID-19 crisis has exposed have been widely reported, especially the disturbing reality of a death rate twice as high in deprived compared to affluent areas. Yet the fact of these health inequalities is nothing new. It is an uncomfortable truth that it has taken a pandemic with a death toll of 149,000 and counting for this to be considered a national concern.
This is the context in which our women-led savings groups have been operating: using savings as the glue through which women can address inequality and isolation with togetherness, fun and mutual aid. Together the savings groups build financial resilience, but also confidence, skills and collective social welfare responses which have the power to unite low-income women around locally-driven solutions that work for women and families.
Three groups who particularly focus on mums, families and older women are Brinnington Savers, Mums Mart, and Sheffield Social Savers. Since January, they have been able to benefit from support from the Smallwood Trust through the National Lottery’s ‘Frontline Women’s Fund’.
Sharon Davis of Mums Mart says “the funding couldn’t have come at a better time”. While groups have adapted their activities into COVID emergency response work, most of the weekly savings meetings had been put on hold with significant impacts on members mental health and ability to save or access support. This funding followed hot on the heels of the network's Lottery-funded 'Go Digital!' project through which community group leaders have developed the ability to run activities online and support their members to increase their own digital skills for participation. Support from the Smallwood Trust gave leaders the boost to restart savings meetings either online using these new skills, or face-to-face in COVID-safe venues, as well as additional funding to be able to reach older women and families who were really struggling with isolation, or accessing essential items and financial support.

Georgie Mitchell from Sheffield Social Savers shared how one of the women they have been able to support “is a single parent who is really active with volunteering in the community even though she has a lot of challenges of her own. Her daughter broke her leg just before schools opened up again. She was in a plaster cast all the way up to her hip but the hospital said they couldn’t give her a wheelchair. To get a wheelchair she was going to have to pay £18 per week to rent one which she just couldn’t afford, and without it her daughter wasn’t going to be able to go to back to school. We were able to pay for the wheelchair for six weeks for her.”
Another group (left anonymous here) has been able to support a family fleeing a situation of domestic violence and provide crisis support to an older woman who was contemplating suicide due to months of isolation amidst long-term mental health challenges.
Sharon Davis, Mums Mart Treasurer, recounts how: "We have always had women of lots of different ages participate in Mums Mart – we’re not just mums we’re also grans, daughters and sometimes great-grannies! Some of our longest-term members are now getting quite elderly and one woman in particular called Jean is now 75 and she has no family nearby so during COVID she has completely relied on us for support. She has had a lot of health problems and been in and out of hospital for multiple tests and procedures. She has been isolating on her own at home since March 2020 – a whole year now. We have taken her to appointments and brought her home, we check in on her every week to see that she is ok and just have a bit of a chat, and we deliver her food and basic necessities regularly. She says she doesn’t know what she would have done without us during lockdown."
Donna Varley, of Brinnington Savers reported that: “The Frontline Women’s funding enabled us to relaunch our weekly savings peer support meetings again. The place we normally meet has been closed since the first lockdown and some of us have been really struggling with our mental health after being stuck at home, some of us have children with learning disabilities and other mental health challenges at home through the school closures. Although they had Education, Health and Care Plans, some were too afraid to go to school even though they would have been allowed.
Being able to meet meant we could also do taster sessions on tablets with some of our members who are at home without internet or digital skills. We’ve been able to buy three tablets and two mobile wifi devices for three of our Over-50s members who developed the confidence and interest to use one independently. One of our members, Christine, doesn’t even own a mobile phone. Christine has enjoyed it so much she has just had BT internet installed at home."

We all want to say a big thank-you to the Smallwood Trust and the National Lottery Community Fund. But also: Community Savers groups are always looking for new communities to do learning exchanges with if you want to find out more. Feel free to contact one of the groups featured on our home page directly to set up an exchange, or contact CLASS for assistance.