Give and Take

A give and take is a great opportunity to meet some of your members, interest new people in 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 a good start by reading this) and enthusiasm and energy. Have a go, enjoy yourself, and keep more things in circulation and reused.

Important message, posted on Central, 8th March 2017 [1]:

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 [2] is useful for noting 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 event organisation or publicity, people who can help transport things, lend folding tables, design or put up posters, or help on the day.
• Do the planning either in your mods group (if it's mods only) or in a separate group that all volunteers can join, so you have a record of who said what and who's doing what, and somewhere to store 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 - see Banner.
• Think ahead about publicity - both for the event itself and for Freegle on the day. Consider a snappy name for the event, e.g. "Freegle Live" or "Neighbourhood Freegle".
• Is your local council running a give and take you could join? If so, several of the tasks below may already be taken care of.
• Plan what to do with leftover items after the event. If you intend to donate these to a charity, make that clear in your event publicity.

Date

When's convenient for the venue, other organisers and your volunteers? If it's outdoors, how will you handle rain on the day (hold it the following week, the following month, never, or later)?

Finance

No buying or selling, charging for entry, or taking cash donations for goods is allowed - including accepting items and then selling them, or donating them elsewhere, before or after the event.

You may incur some expenses yourself, so think about how 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 costs go beyond that, is everyone happy to cover the rest themselves? If you've received a grant to cover your event, keep receipts and follow your local financial procedures.

Public liability insurance (PLI)

Are you covered by your venue's public liability insurance? If not, you may wish to use the cover that may be available through Freegle - see Insurance for details.

Health & safety and safeguarding

There's a lot of detailed legislation around both health & safety and safeguarding. Make sure you keep yourself safe and don't put others into any inappropriate or hazardous situations through your event activities.

Safeguarding at Events outlines some of the things you might want to consider.

A risk assessment form is available here as part of Freegle's insurance requirements. You might want to use it even if you don't take up the insurance cover.

Other liability / disclaimer

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

The goods supplied by this stall have been supplied by other people, 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's on the labels.

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

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

The organisers of this event aren't liable for the failure, functionality or other faults of any goods acquired at this event. For the event, the organisers act as facilitators of the exchange of goods between giver and receiver.

Responsibility for the safe functioning of the goods lies with those acquiring them.

Note: Freegle Ltd isn't 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 there's no public transport?
• Will the venue's public liability insurance cover you?
• If not, have you made alternative insurance arrangements? Freegle may be able to help.
• 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 enough space (for items and information/publicity)?
• Who's responsible for traffic management?

What items to allow

Unless you have a large area and a way to dispose of goods immediately afterwards, don't allow large furniture, or you may get lumbered. Collecting and delivering large items is always hard - if you want to accommodate them, make sure you can accept and dispose of them.

Let people know in advance, and print on posters/flyers, what they can and can't bring. Also make sure you have some guaranteed items to start the event - don't stand with an empty table.

Electrical items: there's a lot of conflicting information online about PAT testing of electrical items given away for free, and even Trading Standards weren't able to give a clear answer (see the thread on Central starting here). We suggest you decide for yourself whether to allow them, whether to get a qualified electrician to PAT test them, and whether to contact your local Trading Standards office. Whatever you decide, safeguard yourself, and don't assume insurance (Freegle's PLI or any other cover you have) will cover you.

Age-appropriate items: as above, this is your decision, since legislation is unclear about gifts of things like knives or alcohol. This wiki has advice on Specific Items which you might use for your event as well as for messages on your group.

Leftover items: have a plan for what to do with your leftover stuff. Possibilities include:

• Take them home and offer them on Freegle
• Store them for a future give and take (if you have the space)
• Take them to a charity shop
• Arrange for a local charity to collect them from the venue at the end (be careful they don't just pick and choose - specify that they must take everything, 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 suits your event.
• Specify what items may and may not be brought.
• Put posters/flyers in your group's files and ask members to print and display them at workplaces, community noticeboards, libraries, local shops, church halls etc.
• Do your local papers have free or cheap ads?
• You can print large posters on a home (A4) printer using a site like http://www.blockposters.com/default.aspx
• Ask local schools if you can put information about the event in book bags - provide enough paper slips for all the children.

Clearing up

Take a bunch of old carrier bags (or similar) for people to carry stuff away in - better still, see if your local council or businesses will give you free reusable bags; many produce them for publicity these days.

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

On the day

• Signpost the immediate area to help people find you (waterproof the signs if possible, in case of rain, so you can reuse them next time).
• Have a big sign at the entrance.
• Have you got a banner? You may be able to borrow one - see Banner.
• Have you got flyers/cards with the UK website or your group's website on them?
• Setting up takes a while, and so does clearing up. People will interrupt your set-up to chat, so bring help and arrive early.
• Give volunteers a name badge and/or Freegle t-shirt so people can spot who to ask questions to.

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. A folder of screenshots or info posters in plastic sleeves is useful for people to leaf through (or to store the posters if you've already put them on the noticeboard).
• Have screenshots showing people how to join and how to post.
• If you have enough volunteers, bring a laptop with screenshots to show members how to use Freegle - better still, if you have WiFi, you can sign people up on the day and offer them help. Label the laptop clearly as not part of the give and take, with your name and contact number, and don't leave it unattended.
• Have someone counting attendees as they sign in. If you have enough volunteers, you might also weigh the goods that are brought in (you'll need suitably large scales).
• These figures can produce useful statistics to post on the group afterwards - members like to hear how it went, and you can share photos from the day. It's also useful if you're applying for help from local councils.
• Tables: are they provided, or do you need to bring your own? Wallpaper pasting tables or trestle tables can be useful.
• Have different areas for different types of goods, so they're easier for volunteers to lay out and for members to find. Label the tables (hang posters from the edges or on the wall above them), 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, plan for them in advance. Examples might include:

• Something for children (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 or quote any articles they print, and for copies of photos.
• Set your recording device beforehand if you want to catch the local evening news, so you don't need to remember when you get home.

Your stuff

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

And afterwards?

First, congratulate yourselves on doing so well.

• Thank everyone who contributed - volunteers, the venue, people who attended (via your group, or the media, e.g. a letter to the newspaper's letters page or a personal letter/email).
• Advertise your success - post a notice on your group, tell your local mods group and local council, and contact the media (include some stats if you collected them - weights, number of items and participants - and some photos if you have them).
• Share your tips with others - what worked, 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

See also

• Events
• Publicity