Central UK Summary - December 2015

Freegle UK Central: Summary of items of interest - December 2015 (536 members, 444 posts)

Results of poll on how frequently repeat wanted posts are allowed

49 members responded to this poll, which asked ‘How often does your group allow the same wanted to be repeated?’ The three most common answers were 14 days (14 replies), 4 weeks/a month (13 replies) and no restriction (11 replies). See message number 56635 for the full results.

Give as You Live

Nearly £9,000 has been raised for Freegle by over 5,000 supporters through Give as You Live. Sign up here if you haven’t already and help us raise more funds https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/freegle

Courier scam news

Scam offers which turned up in December included:

Tandem bike

Electric bike

Mountain bike

Kitchen Aid mixer

Sewing machine

Tumble dryer and washing machine

Condenser dryer

Headset

Power petrol generator

Used plasma TV and freezer

Many (but not all) courier scam posts are made by new members and many (but again not all) originate in Cameroon. For any members who don’t know, you can check the IP address of someone making a post by opening the message in Pending in Yahoo, clicking on the View button, then View Source. Scroll down until you find X-Originating-IP and put the numbers you find there in any IP-identifying web-site. That will tell you where it is located and whether you should be suspicious about the poster!

Multi-joiners (see message 56728ff)

There was some discussion about whether individuals should be allowed to join multiple groups and ask for the same items all over the country. One example, which has come up frequently, is someone who asks for valves, and has been doing so off and on for some time. Another example concerns outboard motors and other boat-related items. Ultimately it is up to groups themselves to decide whether they would allow these posts.

New platform – progress report

Edward’s most recent progress report to Central on the development of the new platform can be found at message 56989 https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FreegleUK-Central/conversations/messages/56989 . It’s pretty technical!

Location formats survey

In connection with developing the coding for the new platform Edward and other members of Tech group had been discussing the different location formats allowed and prohibited on different groups, and asked members of Central to complete a survey. The results of the survey and subsequent comments can be found starting at message 56778. There was a pretty wide range of answers, which Edward is taking back to Tech to be mulled over.

Evaluation of Freegle Central

In order to try and make Freegle Central more successful and responsive to members’ needs, a survey has been set up. Anyone who hasn’t yet filled it in can do so here http://goo.gl/forms/MEXgzO1J9j . A couple of sample responses received so far of what people find useful are:

‘I like the contact with others – we are not alone in our Freegle efforts. Also the fact that we can swap fears about spammers etc with others, and get their input.’

‘When a situation arises where I am unsure of procedure I always find helpful advice.’

Finally – spam – always remember to check your spam and advise your members to do so too, as freegle messages often end up there.

Working group reports

Tech – Report Nov 2015 http://bit.ly/1MVTTow

Development – Report November 2015 http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Development_Group_Report_2015_11

Liz S

January 2016