Hi,

Welcome to our February newsletter, covering all the latest from Farillio

• New features coming: We’ve been hard at work finessing and working on releasing those new, magazine-style resources pages that we showcased in last month’s newsletter. We’re also busy working on a data tracking tool to help our users track their insurance position, with the aim that you should never lose track of your insurance cover or policies. And very soon, you’ll be able to send some of Farillio’s everyday correspondence templates by email too!

• New content: This month’s new content includes:

  • Pamela Windle’s excellent video FAQs and related materials on menopause, take a sensitive, supportive and highly insightful look at this long under-discussed and highly important issue that affects women at home and at work, and
  • essential updates to the highway code relating to new rights for cyclists and pedestrians and an illustrated handy reminder of those common motoring offences and their consequences – how many points do you get for what? When is a fine or a worse sanction imposed…? It seems lots of us aren’t clear on the true facts when it comes to the penalties we’re likely to face if we’re driving badly.

• In the News: This month sees:

  • more doom and gloom on rising costs – energy and fuel and food being the big headliners on this topic, although it seems we’ve been spending a lot on household appliances, homeware, electronics and furniture, as well as footwear and jewellery since the start of 2022;
  • the rise in scams such as fake reviews for rubbish products that have been ripping off shoppers finally triggering a campaign by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (our fair-trading regulator) with government support;
  • success for MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis in convincing the Minister of State for Universities, Michelle Donelan, to better support parents of students with maintenance loans, who need clearer advice and information on the burden they’re picking up when the available loan amounts don’t cover what’s needed, and
  • the free website that enables you to check the MoT and mileage history (including passes and fails) of any car simply by taking inputting the make and registration number into their search tool.

• Expert corner: meet the very experienced and highly approachable, Caroline Green, our student and youth career coach expert on Farillio. Caroline’s FAQ videos support students and parents on some of the biggest career questions, offering plenty of advice and checklists to help with these often very challenging ‘pathway to ambition’ decisions. From how to decide on a career/training opportunity to what to do if you really don’t know what kind of career is right for you, where to find suitable job vacancies, how to stand out on paper and at interview, to maximise your opportunities, the legal duties surrounding student career support that schools have to comply with and how to ensure you’re not exploited in your first job… and much more, Caroline’s advice is reassuring, pragmatic and immediately actionable.

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