Freegle Reps Report 2013-07-31

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This Report covers the period 13 June 2013 to 31 July 2013

SERVER MIGRATION

We are reviewing, in discussion with the Geeks, our current website hosting arrangements. At the moment we use cheap hosting from VPS.NET, but this is getting less cheap as we use more of it, and has the major disadvantage that it requires continuous geek time and stress to keep it running, which is not sustainable, and which damages Freegle - we would have had a more prominent place in the recent ITV programme if we had not had major server issues on the day of filming.

Since we are short of both money and geek time, we have difficult choices:

  • More professional hosting is available which would be more reliable and (because of the architecture) would significantly reduce the geek time required, This is what we would ideally use - but it is expensive, and we cannot afford it within current income levels.
  • An alternative is to restructure the software on our websites so that they can run reliably even if single servers fail. This is expensive to do in terms of geek time, and results in a more complex setup - but would then somewhat reduce the ongoing geek time required.

Although we would prefer the first approach, we cannot afford it and will probably adopt the second - especially as we have just received a very generous offer of free hosting which would be suitable for that approach.

STRUCTURE

Trading Subsidiary

At the request of the Trading Subsidiary Team in June we set up two placeholder companies limited by guarantee, Freegle UK Limited and Freegle Limited. Saira, Richard and Alison have said that they do not ever expect to receive payment from Freegle for provision of services. We therefore agreed that they would act as placeholder directors prior to a decision by volunteers on the future structure of Freegle. .

The Trading Subsidiary Group have now made their final Report which recommends a future structure for Freegle

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mbsXCyQlSWsb2cTXRyxakMFcFVsvV1wkwffWyQ40L9w/edit?usp=sharing

All discussions on this are presently being held on the Structure Working Group and all volunteers are welcome to follow or join in.

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Freegle-Structure/

The final decision on whether Freegle should adopt the structure recommended will be taken by full volunteer poll.

Sustainability

We continue to have discussions on how we can improve short and long term sustainability for Freegle in terms of paying for services and the number of volunteers involved in national work.

We are discussing:

  • The money we have available now which includes a £5,500 donation, ring-fenced for sustainability.
  • Fundraising and grant applications.
  • How we should choose who to pay for services and tasks.
  • What our priorities should be.

MEDIA

Tour de France legacy

Cat is talking to City of York council re setting up a bike rescue bank as part of the Tour de France legacy.

Sunday Telegraph Article 30 June

The Brighton Waste House was featured in an article by Sarah Lonsdale which included a link to Freegle.

Fill Your House for Free – July/August

Kirsty Allsopp’s programme on how to transform homes without spending any money. Thanks to Cat’s assistance to the programme Freegle were mentioned as a source for free items. This kind of media coverage sends up to 25 times more traffic to our website and an increase of 200% of facebook traffic-which is why we always try to work positively with TV advances.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kirsties-fill-your-house-for-free

ITV Tonight Special - Throwaway Britain 9pm 1 August

Cat was asked personally by ITV Wales to help a couple furnish a house for this TV programme. The filming included showing the couple how to use a Freegle group. Unfortunately, our servers experienced difficulties and despite trying again later it will not be possible for this part to be included.

The programme is being shown on 1 August.

http://tv24.co.uk/search/Throwaway%20Britain:%20Tonight

Watch again link

https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/tonight/series-17/episode-20-throwaway-britain-tonight

We have a big slot about half way through the programme. We have received congratulations from Friends of the Earth and the Anti incineration network for our role in promoting the top end of the waste hierarchy so well.

BBC Radio Birmingham – 26 August

Cat did a 5 minute slot about what free online groups do to reduce waste for Free Friday.

FUNDING/FINANCE

http://freegle.in/accounts

Media

We confirmed that for the 2013/14 financial year we will continue to pay mobile phone and broadband costs to Cat.

OTHER

Give It For Good

Edward, Cat, Chris and Jane let us know that they have formed a company which is separate from Freegle, Give It For Good (G4G) with the aim of promoting reuse more widely within the UK. The intention is that it will provide them with some income which will allow them to carry on their Freegle work. They are using a crowdfunder to gain the initial funding. More details are here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/give-it-for-good

The Reps were asked if Freegle will form a partnership with G4G. We have polled (Cat, Edward and Jane abstained) and all agreed with the proposal that:

G4G can have a link on the ilovefreegle website and use Freegle's social media network to promote its existence, and appeal for funds via crowdfunder. In return, any Freegle group that agrees to promote G4G by way of social media, or a Special Notice admin to members, can be listed for free on G4G if it manages to raise enough to get started. Both Freegle and G4G to work on a joint press release sooner (to get the project started) and later (when it's ready to go).

This is subject to a 7 day consultation period on Central which is required by our policy: http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Links_and_Partnerships_Procedure

Edward has submitted an application to Nominet for grant funding which has now reached the second round.

Struggling Groups

We continue to receive reports of groups that either appear to be abandoned or are only being sporadically moderated. We are liaising with mentors, the mailbox and other volunteers who are able to offer help.

We urge any volunteers who experience problems in running their group to contact mentors@ilovefreegle.org . They are willing to try to find either holiday cover or more long term help.

Dumfries and Galloway

We are very sorry to say that after repeated attempts to make contact with this group and following our disaffiliation procedure we have now delisted this group from Freegle.

Elections

We advised the Returning Officers of the need for an election for the two positions of Ombudsman. Jacky acted as our liaison with the Returning Officers, although the process didn’t have to be fully carried out as there were only two candidates, the present Ombudsmen. They will therefore continue in office for another term each.

Electrical Waste Company

We were approached by a company based in the West Midlands specialising in recycling of electrical waste with a view to offering a service to Freeglers who are unable to dispose of their electrical items. We considered the issues and decided against pursuing this particular proposal.

Mailbox Guidelines

We endorsed the recommendation from Structure to adopt guidelines for volunteers who use Freegle mailboxes

http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Mailbox_Guidelines

Edward let us know that he is consulting on Central on whether Google Ads can be used on Freegle Direct.

Back to: Freegle Reps Report 2013-05-31, or to Freegle Reps Report 2013-09-30

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