Freegle Wiki - User contributions [en-gb]

Volunteering

2024-07-23T13:58:02Z

FreegleSecretary:

====Claiming Job Seekers Allowance?====

Current rules (Sept 2013) on volunteering whilst claiming JSA, P14 (Section R4073:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/admr4.pdf suggests that claimants can do as much voluntary work as they want, but must not spend less than 50% of expected work hours looking for work, (e.g. if it is agreed a claimant is looking for work of 35 hours per week, they have to spend at least 17.5 hours looking for work, regardless of how much volunteering they are doing.)

====Insurance====

Check out [[Insurance]] for more details.

====Resources for volunteers====

http://www.volunteering.org.uk/ has lots of information and links for volunteers.

Back to [[Recruiting, Training and Retaining]]

[[category:Recruit/Train/Retain]]

Running an Info Stall

2024-07-23T13:57:07Z

FreegleSecretary:

Information stalls are probably the easiest way of raising the profile of your group, as you can run one yourself without any other volunteers (provided that you don't need frequent toilet breaks, which can be tricky in cold weather!)

=== Infrastructure ===

Although not as complicated as running something like a Give and Take stall, your information stall will be more of a success if you put in a bit of planning. This spreadsheet [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aotr19dmAnNddFZOaFN3V21TM2hwS2dhZllocldqekE] covers all sorts of events, but is worth using where relevant for your stall.

As a minimum, you’re likely to want a table, a chair, a banner and a load of flyers to give away. If you have one or two large-ish posters (A0 size is good) explaining what Freegle is and how it works (perhaps with the same wording as is on your flyers), that’s also handy, since the posters will grab the attention of people who might otherwise not have stopped at a small stall/stand. You can get banners made professionally, especially if they're made of a recyclable, woven material which is pretty much waterproof, they fold up small and are light.

If you can lay out a bag or two of Freegle goodies (collected from your own group) on the table with a notice saying they’re free to any takers, that can make quite a bit of difference to how many people actually come over and grab a flyer or ask you about the group. Or have items to demonstrate the variety of goods that are offered and say they will be freegled the next day, so why not join the group to get them and other stuff like them. Don’t be surprised to find that quite a few of your visitors have trouble getting their heads around the idea of good stuff just being given away – it’s a common reaction!

=== Location ===

Your choice of spot to set up will vary depending on where you live. In a large town or city, the entrances to shopping malls on a Saturday morning/afternoon can be great, as you’ll get loads of people going in and out. Obviously, you’ll need to get permission before you set up, so call your local council - they should know.

In smaller towns or villages, you might be better off at a church hall or outside the Post Office (if you’re still lucky enough to have one) - basically, anywhere there’s a decent flow of people.

If there’s a local school/church/town fair or fete, you can of course try booking a slot for a stall there, as you’ll be pretty much guaranteed visitors. If you explain to the event organisers that Freegle is run by volunteers, and that everything offered on the group is free, you’ll often find they’re prepared to give you a free plot on the day. If they won’t, then you need to consider how you might finance the cost of the plot.

===Insurance===

If you want to (or your location requires to you to) cover yourself against any claims, Freegle may be able to assist. Have a look at [[Insurance]] to see what is required.

Note: Freegle Ltd is not responsible for and has no liability for events held in the name of/using the name of Freegle.

=== Timing ===

Weekends, especially Saturdays, tend to be a good day for running a stand/stall, as that’s when the largest number of people are out and about shopping. It's best to avoid days when major sporting events are on though – try it on the day of the world cup final, and you'll be just about the only person outside!

You could spend a good few hours handing out flyers if you’re up to it – 11am to 4pm wouldn’t be unreasonable, though not everyone will want a flyer, and you’ll need to get used to a degree of rejection from passers-by who aren’t interested. Even a couple of hours is likely to be time well spent, and you may well end up giving out 200+ flyers if you’ve set up in a busy area.

=== Publicity ===

For more information on publicity materials, have a look at [[PR Materials]] and [[Publicity]] section of this Wiki.

=== How To Give Out Flyers ===

Please bear in mind that not everyone is going to want a flyer from a group they’ve never heard of before, so don’t force flyers on people. On the other hand, if you stand mutely behind your table all day, you won’t dole out as many flyers as you would if you were to take a more active approach.

Probably the most effective way to distribute your leaflets is to try and catch the eye of someone walking past (especially if they’ve already seen your banner or posters) and say something like, ‘Free stuff, get your free stuff.’ That gets the attention of most people, or you can opt for a different phrase like, ‘Local green group, help the environment and have a clear out.’ Basically, it boils down to whatever sensible alternative you think works best.

Although you might initially feel a bit self-conscious or uneasy giving out flyers like this, it is a perfectly reasonable way of doing it, and you’ll get used to it quite quickly. While it can feel quite daunting the first time you run your own info stall, you'll soon get used to it, and it's a good way of taking the first step towards a fully-fledged event complete with volunteers and lots of stuff to give away. (such as a [[Give and Take]] event)

 Back to [[Events]] or [[Publicity]] [[File:Megaphone-man.png|20px|link=Publicity]] 

[[Category:Groups]]

Give and Take

2024-07-23T13:54:39Z

FreegleSecretary:

A give and take is...

..... is a great opportunity to meet some of your members, interest new people to your group, have a bit of fun and gain some good publicity. You’ll need a venue, some volunteer helpers, good forward planning (you’re making the best start by reading this!) and enthusiasm and energy. Have a go, enjoy yourself and keep more things in circulation and reused!

IMPORTANT MESSAGE Message posted on Central 8th March 2017 [https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FreegleUK-Central/conversations/topics/62698]:

'''''Some local groups run Give and Take events, and the Board would like to encourage this. Where possible, costs for these events should be covered via local grants (e.g. from councils), and the Funding group can help with grant applications.

'''''But in the absence of other funding, Freegle will provide up to £100 per event towards the costs.

'''''This must be agreed with the Board in advance, and pictures of the event and a very short report must be provided afterwards for social media purposes.

'''''Edward 
'''''Board Hat
'''''

=== First Things First ===

*Start planning at least a couple of months before announcing your event. This spreadsheet [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aotr19dmAnNddFZOaFN3V21TM2hwS2dhZllocldqekE] is useful for you to use as document to note everything down.
*Don’t be afraid to ask for help: from your local mods, mods groups, and most importantly your members. There may be people with experience in events organisation, publicity, people who can help transport things, people to lend folding tables, people to design/put up posters, people to help on the day etc.
*Either do the planning in your mods group (if only mods) or in a separate, custom group (that all volunteers can join) so that you have a record that all relevant volunteers can see, of who said what, who’s doing what etc, and storage of information. It’s also useful to look back on if you want to hold another give and take.
*Will you have enough volunteers?
*Have you got a Freegle banner? You may be able to borrow one, instructions [[Banner|here]].
*Think ahead about other publicity stuff – publicising your event and also publicising Freegle on the day. Consider a snappy description for the event, eg. Freegle Live or Neighbourhood Freegle
*Is your local council doing a give and take that you can join with? If so, many of the activities below will miraculously become easier and/or be done by them <grin>.
*Plan what you are going to do with left over items after the event. If you intend to donate these to a charity, make that clear in your event publicity.

=== Date ===

When is convenient for the venue, other organisers and your volunteers? If it’s going to be outdoors, how will you handle rain on the date (hold next week, next month, never, later)?

=== Finance ===

No buying/selling, charging for entry or cash donations for goods allowed, including (sorry for mentioning this, but.....) accepting items and selling, or donating elsewhere, before or after the event yourself.

You might incur some expenses yourself so give some thought about how you intend to cover these for you and your volunteers. Freegle will cover up to £100 in expenses per event, up to a limit of 12 events per group per year. If there are any costs beyond that, is everyone happy to bear costs themselves? If you are lucky enough to have received a grant that is going to cover your event, make sure you keep receipts and follow your local financial procedures.

=== Public Liability Insurance (PLI) ===

Are you covered by your venue’s public liability insurance? 
If you aren't, you may wish to take advantage of the coverage that may be available through Freegle, click [[Insurance]] for more details.

=== Health & Safety and Safeguarding ===

There is a lot of detailed legislation surrounding both Health & Safety and Safeguarding. It is wise for you to make sure you keep yourself safe and don't put others into any inappropriate or hazardous situations through your activities at an event.

[[Safeguarding at Events]] gives some indicators of the type of things you might wish to take into account.

A Risk Assessment form is available [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhDLE82mEn2jdFB5NzBPQ2lNeXk4XzdZT0o1bVlrSFE#gid=1]] as part of Freegle's insurance requirements. You might wish to use that even if you don't take up the insurance cover.

=== Other Liability / Disclaimer ===

Here's a form of words that you might want to display on the stall:

''The goods supplied by this stall have been supplied by other people, and so the volunteers on the stall cannot provide any guarantee that anything on the stall is in working order. We don’t have any more information about the manufacturers of the goods than what is on the labels of the items.''

''Also, because all of the goods are free and we are not a business or professionals, your legal rights against us are limited.''

''It is your responsibility to ensure that any goods you take from this stall are suitable for what you want to use them for, and are not defective in any relevant way.''

''The organisers of this event shall not be held liable for the failure, functionality or other faults associated with any goods acquired at this event. For the event the organisers are acting in the capacity as the facilitator of the exchange of goods between the giver and receiver.''

''Responsibility for the safe functionality of the goods is the responsibility of those acquiring the goods.''

Note: Freegle Ltd is not liable for any events held in the name of or using the name Freegle.

=== Location ===

*Is it free (remember, you can’t charge for entry)?

*Indoors (safer for rain) or outdoors?

*Is access suitable for people with disabilities?

*Is there easy transport for those without cars?

*Is there suitable parking if no public transport is available?

*Will the venue’s Public Liability Insurance cover you?

*If you aren't covered by the venue's insurance, have you made alternative insurance arrangements? Freegle may be able to assist.

*Are there tables and/or display boards or will you need to bring your own?.

*If it’s a free car boot sale, is there sufficient space? (for items and information/publicity)

*Have you got responsibility for traffic management?

--[[User:Jacky|Jacky]] ([[User talk:Jacky|talk]]) 08:44, 27 May 2017 (UTC)=== What items to allow ===

Unless you have a large area and suitable means to dispose of the goods immediately afterwards, don’t allow (large) furniture or you may get lumbered. The collection and delivery of large items is always pretty hard, but if you want to accommodate them make sure you have the facility to accept and dispose of them.

Let people know beforehand, and print on the posters/flyers, what they can and can’t bring!

Also, Make sure you have some guarantees of items to start the event – don’t stand with an empty table!

'''Electrical items''':

We have consulted with the vast amount of information on the internet and even had a conversation with a Trading Standards bod - and we are still not clear on the legislation surrounding PAT testing of electrical items that are transacted for free. (For latest views on this, see thread on Central beginning [[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreegleUK-Central/message/33910]])

Therefore, we suggest you make a decision yourself on whether to allow them or not, whether to get a qualified electrician to PAT test or not and whether to contact your local Trading Standards Office or not about the issue. Whatever you decide, please make sure you safeguard yourself and please don't assume that insurance (whether Freegle's PLI or any other cover you have for the event) will cover you.

'''Age Appropriate items'''

As above, this is your decision as legislation is unclear about gifts of things like knives, alcohol etc. This wiki shares advice about [[Specific Items]] which you might choose to use for your event as well as the messages allowed on your group.

'''Leftover items''' :

Have a plan for what to do with your left over stuff. Possibilities are:

*Take home and offer on Freegle

*Store for a future give and take (if you have suitable storage space)

*Take to charity shop(s)

*Arrange with a local charity to collect them from the venue at close of play (beware of them being selective – specify if they must take it all or you may get lumbered).

=== Promotion ===

*Publicise the event in plenty of time and ask neighbouring groups to do so too (if they’re close enough).

*Use snappy wording - Freegle Live might work better than Give and Take, or think of something else that will fit your particular event.

*Specify what items may and may not be brought!

*Put a poster(s)/flyer(s) in the group files and ask members to print and put them up in workplaces, community notice boards, libraries, local shops, church halls etc.

*Do your local papers have free/cheap ads?

*Useful site to enable you to print large posters on your home (A4) printer http://www.blockposters.com/default.aspx

*Ask to put info about the event in local school book bags - provide them with enough paper slips for all kids

=== Clearing up ===

Take a bunch of old carrier bags (or whatever) for people to carry stuff away in. Better still, see if your local council/businesses will give you free, reusable material bags. Many of them produce them for publicity these days.

Be prepared for a big clean-up afterwards. Ask for volunteers on the group beforehand. Remember to have brooms and bin liners.

=== On the day ===

*Signpost the immediate area to help people find you (if possible, waterproof the signs in case of rain, you can reuse them for your next event).

*Have a big sign at the entrance.

*Have you got a banner? you may be able to borrow one Can you borrow one?

*Have you got flyers/cards with the UK website / your group(s)’s website?.

*Set-up time takes awhile and so does clean up. People will interrupt your set-up to chat, so have help and arrive early.

*Give volunteers a logo tag, and/or Freegle t-shirt so folk can ask them questions. Name badges/stickers are also useful.

=== Information stand/table ===

*It’s a good idea to have a moderator ‘manning’ the stand.

*Try to have a display board with information about Freegle, and maybe pictures of some of the items given away. Maybe a folder of screen shots/info posters in plastic sleeves for people to leaf through (or to store them if you’ve put them on the noticeboard) is useful.

*Have screen shots showing people how to join and how to post.

*If you have enough volunteers, have you got a laptop you can bring, with screenshots, to show members how to use Freegle? Better still, any chance of WiFi to sign people up on the day offer them help? LABEL the laptop that it is NOT part of the give and take, and with your name and contact phone number, just in case, and don’t leave it unattended!

*Signing in: Have someone counting in the attendees. If you have enough volunteers, you may also want to weigh in the goods that are brought (have you got suitably big scales?).

*These may produce useful statistics to post on the group afterwards. Members will like to hear how it went, and maybe post some photos from the day or of items on the group or cafe. It may also be useful if applying for help from local councils.

*Tables: Are tables provided? Do you need to bring your own? Wallpaper pasting tables/trestle tables can be useful here!

*Have different areas for different types of goods so that they’re easier for volunteers to put out and for members to take. Label the tables (hang posters from the edges or on the wall over the tables) e.g. books, women’s clothes, men’s clothes, children’s clothes, videos/dvds/cds, bric-a-brac, kitchenware

=== Other activities ===

If you want other activities on the day, make sure you have planned for them in advance. Examples might be:

*Something for the kids (making puppets from recycled bottles, paper and material)

*Making kites from recycled materials

*Scrap paper and crayons/colouring pencils for drawing

*Screen-printing on old t-shirts and fabric bags

=== Media ===

*If you want to, invite the media (local newspapers, TV, radio)

*Ask newspapers for permission to use/post/quote any articles they print and for copies of photos

*Set your VCR/DVD beforehand to record the local evening news so you won’t need to remember to do it when you get home!

===Your stuff===

Keep clean-up items and things you don't want taken in your car (brooms, rubbish bags, tape, staplers, coats, handbag).

=== And afterwards? ===

First, pat yourselves on the back for doing so well!

*Thank everyone who contributed to the event – volunteers, venue, people who attended (via your group, use the media, e.g. letters page in newspaper, personal letter/email).

*Advertise your success – notice on your group, local mods group, inform your local council, media (include some stats if you collected them – weights, number of items and participants etc – and some photos if you have some).

*Share your tips with others – how it went, what worked and what didn’t, pitfalls and successes – on your regional mods group or [[Central Groups]].

*Book a date for your next one!

'''Good luck and have fun! Let us all know how it went, and any problems you had or tips to share.'''

=== School Advice ===

A local school held a Freegle Bring and Take in 2023 in Brighton. This is a link to their 'How To' guide for other schools - https://www.ourcityourworld.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Cardinal-Newman-Catholic-School-Eco-Ambassadors-Freegle-guide-pdf.pdf

 Back to [[Events]] or [[Publicity]] [[Image:Megaphone-man.png|20px]]

[[Category:Groups]]

Insurance

2024-07-23T13:50:04Z

FreegleSecretary:

===Events===

When you hold an event to promote your Freegle community, we may be able to offer you some event insurance (decided on a case by case basis).

On an average day of running an online community, there is minimal risk of an insurance claim by or against you. The risks are increased when you run an event or deal with things face to face.

You need to email board@ilovefreegle.org, giving at least seven days' notice of your event so that there is time to complete the process. However, sooner than that would be preferrable. 

The basic procedure for a community/volunteer is: 

* If you want cover for an event, email board@ilovefreegle.org to say so.
* Please complete an information form [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHBvRl9oemlMTGNyUTJkODViZlo5blE6MQ#gid=0] and risk assessment form [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhDLE82mEn2jdFB5NzBPQ2lNeXk4XzdZT0o1bVlrSFE#gid=1]
* Once the form and assessment are submitted, you will be sent a copy of the insurance policy and cover confirming that xxx event has been noted for the purposes of the policy and encourages use of spreadsheet for organising their event [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aotr19dmAnNddFZOaFN3V21TM2hwS2dhZllocldqekE#gid=0]
* Once the event is over, feedback should be given to board@ilovefreegle.org

If this process is not carried out, the insurance cover for your event will not be guaranteed.

===First Aid===
First aid cover is the responsibility of the volunteers, who, at a minimum, should make sure that people would know where to go in case of an incident and are given access to a phone and a chair.

===Storage of Information===

The information given as part of the procedure for getting cover will be kept and accessed only by the mailbox board@ilovefreegle.org

===INSURANCE COORDINATOR REMIT===

* Deal with requests for insurance coverage from volunteers, ensuring all the procedures and paperwork required are completed
* Keep the insurance information on the wiki up to date
* Collate annual statistics so that Freegle has an overview of commitments against the policy in the past year
* Report to the Freegle Board

Back to [[Events]]
[[category:Policies, Procedures, Remits]]