Freegle


Freegle is a UK organisation that aims to increase reuse and reduce landfill by offering a free Internet-based service where people can give away and ask for things that would otherwise be thrown away.

History

Freegle was formed on 11 September 2009 after many Freecycle groups in the UK decided to break away from the US parent organisation following disagreements on how groups in the UK should operate and the dismissal of long-term UK moderators, who had been speaking out.

Organisation

Each local Freegle group is run by volunteers, is autonomous and affiliates to the national Freegle Ltd organisation provided they meet basic requirements such as being free to join and everything handed on must be free and legal. Freegle Ltd is a non-profit organization: an Industrial and Provident Society for Community Benefit Registration no: 32410R. and registered as a charity with HMRC reference XT32865.

Membership numbers

In September 2018, there were 426 groups, supported by about 350 volunteers, with 2,753,649 members in the UK.

Hosting

Freegle groups are hosted on Freegle Direct, Freegle's own open source platform. A lot Freegle groups are also accessible via the Trash Nothing website.

Mobile apps

In April 2015 the Freegle mobile app was launched to allow access to Freegle Direct groups on Android, iOS and Kindle phones and tablets.