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<div style="font-size:.88em;color:#777;margin-bottom:10px">[[Main Page|Freegle Volunteer Wiki]] &rsaquo; 🏘️ '''Running Your Community'''</div>
This section is about the day-to-day life of a local Freegle community. It's ordered by when you're likely to need each thing - the basics first, then what you'll come to as your community gets going, and the occasional bits at the end.

'''Start here:''' [[Running Your Local Community]] is the handbook front page for this whole area, and [[ChitChat]] is the discussion feature most communities use day to day.

== The basics (everyone) ==
* '''[[Running Your Local Community]]''' - the classic handbook front page for this area, with pointers on to Basic Information, First Steps, ModTools and Freegle Direct.
* '''[[ChitChat]]''' - the public discussion forum built into Freegle Direct, where members chat, ask questions and get to know their community; the modern replacement for the old email Cafe groups.
* '''[[Local Community]]''' - a short hub linking the local-community pages below: advertising events, charities, the police, festivals and schools.
* '''[[Getting Involved]]''' - the ways to take part beyond your own community: Central Groups, Freegle Teams, the Board, and more.

== As your community gets going ==
'''Running events'''
* '''[[Events]]''' - a short hub linking everything below, plus insurance and Freegle Direct Events.
* '''[[Give and Take]]''' - the full guide to planning and running a give-and-take event, including how to apply for Freegle's funding contribution towards costs.
* '''[[Collecting Stuff]]''' - how to gather stock for an event, whether collecting from members yourself or storing donations at the venue.
* '''[[Running an Info Stall]]''' - how to plan and staff a simple information stall to raise your group's local profile.
* '''[[Banner]]''' - the cloth, canvas and PVC banners you can borrow for events, and how to request one.
* '''[[QR Codes]]''' - generating a QR code that links straight to your Freegle homepage, for banners, flyers and posters.

'''Building local links'''
* '''[[Charities and community groups]]''' - how to handle charities and community groups joining, and how to check whether an organisation's charity claim stacks up.
* '''[[Schools]]''' - a real example of a Freegle give-and-take run inside a school, as inspiration for links with schools in your own area.
* '''[[Community Police]]''' - how one group built a working relationship with their local neighbourhood police team to share safety appeals.
* '''[[Festivals]]''' - why big festival clear-outs are usually best left to specialist charities, but how you can still get Freegle a mention locally.

'''The wider Freegle network'''
* '''[[Central Groups]]''' - the Discourse-hosted Central discussion groups every owner, moderator and volunteer is encouraged to join.
* '''[[Freegle Cafe]]''' - the "Freegle Rock Cafe", a chit-chat group on Discourse for UK volunteers to socialise away from Central.
* '''[[Freegle Whatsapp]]''' - the formal and informal WhatsApp groups volunteers can join to keep in touch.
* '''[[Named Roles]]''' - the individually-appointed national volunteer roles (Board Secretary, Ombudsman, Returning Officer, Treasurer and more), and any current vacancies.

== Now and then ==
* '''[[Changing community name]]''' - the simple, low-risk process for renaming your local community, for example to include "Freegle".
* '''[[Local Group Initiatives]]''' - an example of a particularly active local community, Penrith and Eden, and their local projects.
* '''[[Advertising local events]]''' - why event notices don't belong on the main offers/wanteds listing, and where to point members instead.
* '''[[Cafe Groups]]''' - background on the older, Yahoo-era "Cafe" discussion groups some communities set up before ChitChat existed, and how to set one up if you still want one.
* '''[[Cafe Guidelines]]''' - a suggested welcome-and-guidelines template for a local Cafe group.
* '''[[Cafe Disclaimer]]''' - the standard disclaimer and safety-notice text for Cafe groups.
* '''[[Cafe Leave]]''' - a template message for members who unsubscribe from your Cafe group.

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<div style="color:#777;font-size:.9em">Prefer to browse? Every page here is also listed A-Z in the [[:Category:Running Your Community|Running Your Community index]]. Back to the [[Main Page|home page]].</div>

[[Category:Freegle Wiki]]