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givers and receivers.

Every town/area should have an "acts of kindness Facebook page where people give stuff away for free to avoid good stuff being thrown away like [Freegle] In fact it should be made law. Countries like France have started with food but should be made law for clothing and furniture too, as clothing production is environmentally damaging all of which can go to the needy first. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers.
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  • marcia_
    marcia_ Posts: 2,942 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 11 December 2024 at 2:15PM
    Pec123 said:
    Every town/area should have an "acts of kindness Facebook page where people give stuff away for free to avoid good stuff being thrown away like [Freegle] In fact it should be made law. Countries like France have started with food but should be made law for clothing and furniture too, as clothing production is environmentally damaging all of which can go to the needy first. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers.
     There is such a facebook group where i live but its full of beggers and very cheeky people who ask for specific things, colour brand etc Makes people want to not donate 
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,352 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    Pec123 said:
    Every town/area should have an "acts of kindness Facebook page where people give stuff away for free to avoid good stuff being thrown away like [Freegle] In fact it should be made law. Countries like France have started with food but should be made law for clothing and furniture too, as clothing production is environmentally damaging all of which can go to the needy first. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers.
    And what if you don't 'do' Facebook?
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,894 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Pollycat said:
    Pec123 said:
    Every town/area should have an "acts of kindness Facebook page where people give stuff away for free to avoid good stuff being thrown away like [Freegle] In fact it should be made law. Countries like France have started with food but should be made law for clothing and furniture too, as clothing production is environmentally damaging all of which can go to the needy first. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers.
    And what if you don't 'do' Facebook?
    I agree, a law stating that there must be a FB page is as unlikely as it would be unhelpful!
    soolin said:
    Online help is all well and good, but excludes a great many older people or those truly without money who perhaps don't have access to internet or even a laptop or smart phone. 
    Indeed. Of course there are already many alternatives to FB (eg Freegle), and I get regular emails from NextDoor which includes a space for giving things away (or selling them). Sadly no-one wants my wire coathangers, which at this time of year could easily be transformed into fantastic wreaths and decorations. 

    Our Household Reuse and Recycling Centre (aka The Tip) has a ReUse Shop. I'm not sure they'll want my coathangers, but at least I can take any redundant but working equipment there. And if they say they don't want it (they're quite strict), I'm in the right place for just getting rid of it. Clothes usually go to charity shops, and I also have a 'rag bag' which some charity shops will take. Furniture is always more difficult because you can't always give it away! 

    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,352 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    Pec123 said:
    Every town/area should have an "acts of kindness Facebook page where people give stuff away for free to avoid good stuff being thrown away like [Freegle] In fact it should be made law. Countries like France have started with food but should be made law for clothing and furniture too, as clothing production is environmentally damaging all of which can go to the needy first. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers.
    There's quite a few places like that near me.

    I call them 'charity shops'.
  • Pec123
    Pec123 Posts: 71 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    Pollycat said:
    Pec123 said:
    Every town/area should have an "acts of kindness Facebook page where people give stuff away for free to avoid good stuff being thrown away like [Freegle] In fact it should be made law. Countries like France have started with food but should be made law for clothing and furniture too, as clothing production is environmentally damaging all of which can go to the needy first. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers.
    And what if you don't 'do' Facebook?
    Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers. Facebook is just an example maybe Freegle or Olio which can be in an app form. What do you think could be the best format?


  • Pec123
    Pec123 Posts: 71 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    soolin said:
    Locally to me we have about 8 different facebook groups plus a neighbourhood group all of which allow for requests or offers of donations including food, baby items clothing etc.

    As Pollycat says the main posts are people asking for specific items as they need Nike Track suits as their children won't wear anything that isn't branded, or a 'decent' laptop for college or other high end items. I offered a working but small TV on there earlier this year, there were no takers at all, instead I was asked whether I had anything bigger as their 9 year old had a 36 inch TV in their room so they couldn't give the 7 year old a smaller one. In the end I let an obvious second hand dealer collect it and got a warning strike from admin as that wasn't allowed and I should have waited another month or two as 'someone' would have wanted it.

    I also failed to give away a working inkjet printer as people wanted me to buy them a full set of ink and didn't think it worth their time if there was only the remains of the existing ink in there. 

    I've got books sitting here unwanted, and some baby clothes that did get interest but people didn't want to collect only 6-7 things and wanted me to either add some more things to the bundle to make it worth their while, or post at my own cost.

    Online help is all well and good, but excludes a great many older people or those truly without money who perhaps don't have access to internet or even a laptop or smart phone. 

    I agree certain groups can be like that. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers. Facebook is just an example maybe Freegle or Olio which can be not like that, maybe more user friendly. What do you think could be the best format?
  • Pec123
    Pec123 Posts: 71 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    Pollycat said:
    Pec123 said:
    Every town/area should have an "acts of kindness Facebook page where people give stuff away for free to avoid good stuff being thrown away like [Freegle] In fact it should be made law. Countries like France have started with food but should be made law for clothing and furniture too, as clothing production is environmentally damaging all of which can go to the needy first. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers.
    There's quite a few places like that near me.

    I call them 'charity shops'.

    I agree, charity shops are great, but they are struggling with pressure to not take everything as they can only sell what they can or have a rag bag.They have targets to meet to pay the rent for example. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers for the rest of the stuff that cannot be sold and gifted on.  What do you think could be the best format?

  • Pec123
    Pec123 Posts: 71 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    soolin said:
    Locally to me we have about 8 different facebook groups plus a neighbourhood group all of which allow for requests or offers of donations including food, baby items clothing etc.

    As Pollycat says the main posts are people asking for specific items as they need Nike Track suits as their children won't wear anything that isn't branded, or a 'decent' laptop for college or other high end items. I offered a working but small TV on there earlier this year, there were no takers at all, instead I was asked whether I had anything bigger as their 9 year old had a 36 inch TV in their room so they couldn't give the 7 year old a smaller one. In the end I let an obvious second hand dealer collect it and got a warning strike from admin as that wasn't allowed and I should have waited another month or two as 'someone' would have wanted it.

    I also failed to give away a working inkjet printer as people wanted me to buy them a full set of ink and didn't think it worth their time if there was only the remains of the existing ink in there. 

    I've got books sitting here unwanted, and some baby clothes that did get interest but people didn't want to collect only 6-7 things and wanted me to either add some more things to the bundle to make it worth their while, or post at my own cost.

    Online help is all well and good, but excludes a great many older people or those truly without money who perhaps don't have access to internet or even a laptop or smart phone. 

    I agree certain groups can be like that. Connectivity is what is needed between the givers and receivers. Online is just an example but turnover is far greater. There are several different types of religious group nearby which don't need access to internet or even a laptop or smart phone and maybe more user friendly for local people. What do you think could be the best format?

  • IvanOpinion
    IvanOpinion Posts: 22,460 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 16 December 2024 at 7:20AM
    In the past I have given stuff away using freecycle and other groups and will never do so again - I now prefer to take stuff to the recycling centre rather than waste my valuable time on those that I have had the displeasure of meeting when offering something for free.

    One woman asked if I could deliver to her (a round trip journey of over 100 miles). When I said 'no' she played the 'I am a single mother of 2' and don't have time to get it. I told her I didn't care if she had 20 children, but I was not driving 100+miles. At that point I found out what an entitled waste of space she was as she hurled abuse at me over the phone.

    I was once asked if I could throw in anything else to make it 'worth their while'; and on another occasion I had to ask someone to leave because they pushed their way into various rooms in my house asking if they could take random items.

    So no thank you, I am not wasting any more time on 'takers'.

    The old adage applies, "when you give someone something for free they put no value on it".
    Past caring about first world problems.
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