Ascot Freegle - Successor to Freecycle

ASCOT FREEGLE - THE SUCCESSOR TO FREECYCLE: FREE Giving, Locally, Easily

Ascot Freegle is part of a new online re-use network called Freegle formed in the UK as a friendly alternative to Freecycle.

In just six days since Freegle was formed, 143 local groups like ours – 28% of former Freecycle groups and representing over 664,000 members (32% cent of the total UK Freecycle membership) – have moved to the new co-operative umbrella organisation, and many more groups are expected to follow us.

Freegle which means Free Giving, Locally, Easily, offers greater freedom for us to organise the way we work to suit local needs, without the rigid management hierarchy imposed by The Freecycle Network.

The UK has been a big player in Freecycle’s global network accounting for approximately one quarter of all re-used household items saved from landfill, and with more members per head of population than any other country.

There are already millions of people in the UK who offer unwanted household items for reuse by others, rather than dumping them. The new site Freegle is open to everyone who wants to do their bit for the planet - just visit www.iloveFreegle.org.

Paul Thompson, local volunteer for Ascot Freegle said: "The creation of Freegle was inevitable when hard working Freecycle volunteers who merely asked for greater autonomy in the UK were summarily dismissed and their groups closed. This left us with no other choice but to set up an new recycling/reuse organisation for our members in the UK. In the long run it has been the best possible outcome. Find us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ascot-freegle."

Other local Freecycle groups that have also joined Freegle include Bracknell, Reading, Windsor & Maidenhead, and Woodley. These groups alone represent 41,216 current members. All such groups can be found on the Freegle website, www.iloveFreegle.org