Getting Started

Freegle Volunteer Wiki › 🚀 Getting Started

This is the very first stop for anyone new to volunteering with Freegle - whether you're about to affiliate a brand new community or you've just taken on a role in an existing one. It covers where Freegle came from, what we're all trying to achieve, and the small set of rules and building blocks every community is built on. Read through in the order below and you'll have everything you need to get going with confidence; you can always dip back in later as a refresher.

Start here: Welcome to the Freegle Volunteer Wiki, Our Aims and Basic Information between them cover almost everything you need to know to begin.

Welcome, and the story of Freegle

• Welcome to the Freegle Volunteer Wiki - a two-minute orientation to this wiki and the three portals (The Freegle Organisation, Running Your Local Community, and Publicity) it's built around.
• Potted History - how Freegle split from Freecycle in 2009 and grew into the UK-focused, volunteer-run network it is today.
• Our Aims - what Freegle commits to nationally, and what local volunteers agree to in return - the shared deal that holds the whole network together.
• Freegle Family - what it means to be part of Freegle once your community is affiliated, and how to get more involved nationally.

The basics every volunteer should know

• Basic Information - a short hub page linking to the handful of things (affiliation rules, aims, best practice, terms, the landfill test, age limits, facilities) every volunteer should know before doing anything else.
• Community Affiliation Requirements Policy - the mandatory and highly-recommended rules every community affiliated to Freegle has to follow: free, legal, no selling, no swapping, and more.
• The landfill test - the simple rule of thumb for deciding whether a post belongs on Freegle: does it save something from landfill?
• Age limits - the minimum age (13 on the website, 12+/PG on the app) for using Freegle.
• Group Facilities - what's available to you and your members: Freegle Direct, ModTools, the mobile app, and Freegle's social media presence.
• Can I make use of freegle - yes, volunteers can offer and take items just like any other member; the etiquette is discussed here.

Best practice for running a happy community

• Best Practice - our agreed summary of what works well, from emergency backup arrangements to first impressions, with links to further detail on each point.
• Best Practice Notes - the fuller explanation behind each Best Practice point, including why the old, more restrictive rules of thumb have relaxed over time.

Starting out and admin

• First Steps - a short guide for anyone just setting up, or newly running, a Freegle community, with pointers to the history, the aims, and the glossary of Freegle jargon.

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Prefer to browse? Every page here is also listed A-Z in the Getting Started index. Back to the home page.