Go to the Yahoo Group Web Site

We hope you have fun recycling with our Freegle group - tell your friends and neighbours all about it. Or get in touch with questions or improvement ideas!

The group is run by volunteer moderators who gently help the members to follow the simple rules, try to keep spam out of the group, and publicise the group in the area.
Email the moderators: Chris, Judith-Ann and Juliet.

For more information on the network of Freegle groups, see here: www.ilovefreegle.org

The Cumbria Recycle Cafe is a group to discuss recycling, re-use and waste prevention issues. In particular, we welcome members of locally run re-use groups, but also encourage anyone in the local community who wishes to participate, eg with a recycling question.

This group was started in January 2007 and was affiliated to The Freecycle Network until September 2009, when, after consulting with members, it was decided to switch to the new UK Freegle network.
January 2011: the group currently has over 2,400 members.

Nearby other re-use groups

• Kendal Freegle
• Carlisle Freegle
• Carlisle Freeshare
• North Lakes Freecycle - centred around Keswick
• Hexham Freecycle
• Teesdale Freecycle
• South Lakes MyFreecycle

Please also see the Cumbria Recycle Cafe group and the Recycle for Cumbria web site.

Once you have joined for free, you can post messages to all the other members of the group, ie:

• Offer an item you don't want, eg  OFFER: bed (Penrith) 
• If someone replies to the message, the email comes direct to you
• You may get several replies - or none
• You then choose who to give the item to
• Arrange when and where to hand over the item safely
• Send another message saying the item has been taken, eg  TAKEN: bed (Penrith) 

Or:

• Ask for an item, eg  WANTED: guitar (Alston) 
• If someone replies to the message, the email comes direct to you
• Arrange when and where to pick up the item safely
• Send another message saying you have got it, eg  RECEIVED: guitar (Alston) 

Please put the basic details in the message subject, eg  OFFER: item (location)  and more details if necessary in the message body. To protect your privacy, we strongly recommend not putting your address or phone number in a message to all the group. Once you have made contact, swapping full details helps considerably - having a contact phone number can help if someone gets lost or is late for a pick up.

You can post a message to the group, either by sending an email, or by filling in a form online:

• Either, send an email to PenrithEdenFreegle@yahoogroups.com
• Or, post your message at the group web site once signed in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PenrithEdenFreegle/post

To help get the subject line right, you can use one of these tools:

• Either, use the Message Maker
• Or, install one of these plugins for Internet Explorer or Firefox. The plugin adds to the Yahoo groups user interface to make it easier to post in the correct format, and removes items that have been taken from the list.

As a member, you may get quite a few messages. You can control how many you receive online by clicking the Edit Membership link:

• Individual messages
• Daily Digest: all messages grouped into one email per day
• Special Notices - no messages except occasional important ones from the moderators

Finally, for the full rules and recommendations, once a member:

• Please read our Member's Handbook
• Read the Safety Notice and Disclaimer - on the right

If you join using the "Join the Group" box on the group page you will be an "email-only member". This means that you will receive messages from the group and can send an email to the group by sending to PenrithEdenFreegle@yahoogroups.com. However you will not be able to view the group messages online until you create a Yahoo ID.

For more information on the commands available to email-only members: see here.

To get a Yahoo ID:

If you are an email-only member of PenrithEdenFreegle, use this form to link your email address to a (new) Yahoo ID. This form opens in a new window so you can see the instructions below.

• Click on Continue
• If you don't have a Yahoo ID already, click on Sign Up at the bottom right
• Fill in the registration form
• Make sure you put your main email in the Alternate Email field
• Choose a Yahoo ID - this will also create a new Yahoo email, but you ignore this
• Click on "Create My Account"
• Click on Sign In
• On the "Manage your email addresses" page you will need to verify your main email address: Click on the "Verify Now" link. A message appears: click Close.
• Click on the link in the "Verify this email address" email. Click on "Continue". Sign in again. Select your main email address and click "Save".
• Go to the group home page
• You should be signed in at the top.
• If "Join This Group" is not showing then you are set up correctly. Otherwise:
• If "Join This Group" is showing then click it
  • Some way down the page you should your main email listed - click on "Get Web Access"
  • Review your options and click "Save Changes" at the bottom
• Whew!

Week ending 30 September 2009

OFFERs:

• Radio control, nappies and coat hangers
• kitchen door pack
• towel rail
• Large sofa
• 3 Seater Sofa & 2 Matching Chair
• Various Kitchen Items
• Various
• DVD player
• computer desk
• groundsheets
• wall brackets
• Packing boxes
• Cooker
• Fridge/Freezer
• Table and 4 chairs
• Various Kids Items
• Blind and outside light
• Standby saver
• Divan Double Bed Base
• Double bed base
• Large tea pot
• Gravy Boat
• black Leather briefcase
• Lindam baby bouncer
• IBM Laptop docking station
• Book on the Bradford Trolleybus System
• Carrier Bag full of "Bob the Builder" toys
• Various
• Curtains
• Mens Racer Bike
• terry nappies
• Small Colour TV
• computer keyboard shelf
• sit up bar
• lap top black bag
• large gas urn
• Box of Videos
• Various
• Desk
• Stereo
• Fridge
• PC USB Graphics Tablet
• Typists Chair
• Large Rug
• 3.5" Floppy disks
• Nikon 35mm camera

WANTEDs:

• jam jars
• Lego
• Small backpack
• Desk
• Some Famous Five books
• Scratting Mill or Industrial Mincer
• PC
• Bread maker
• Leather armchair
• trike frame
• old carpet
• Footballs
• 2 seather sofa
• guinea pig cage
• garden storage box
• shed
• Jetwash Lance
• flat screen for PC
• Dog cage
• Washing machine
• Slat Board
• Indoor Guinea Pig/Rabbit Cages
• 28 Times newspapers
• Record deck
• Desk top PC or laptop
• large TV
• Dust sheets
• Old trampoline enclosure
• Bubble Wrap
• computer printer
• 20" tv
• Laptop Computer

More people in the Penrith area can now “give and take” after two open days run by local recycling group Freegle. Almost a hundred people came in to the Five cafe in Penrith on Saturday 24th September to find out about the online re-use group that now has almost 3,000 members across Eden District.

Lots of unwanted but good condition items were brought in and handed over to others at the open day – all for free: everything from CDs, light bulbs, books and teddy bears to a sat nav, printer, foot spa and two hoovers. Some larger items such a pram, child's bike and baby walker were picked up later. Someone who joined the group offered a green house, which was snapped up quickly.

“I was pleased to see some Newton-Rigg freshers dropping in several times to check out what was available to get them started at university,” said Juliet Gray, one of the volunteers who help run the group. “I hope they get some good sounds from the retro LP turntable music system.”

Freegle was also pleased to take its message of helping each other and conserving the world's resources to the Ullswater Community College open day om 29th September. Freegle was one of the community groups showing the links between “town and gown” in association with Vitality of Penrith.

One of the other group volunteers, Chris Cant, said that “the mix of councillors, businesses, teachers and students was impressive. Many people signed up the group there and then – and some went away to find us on Facebook. A few posters will hopefully end up on office noticeboards.”

There are Freegle groups across Cumbria, and over 300 across the whole of the UK, with over a million members giving away tens of thousands of items each month. It's free to join and everything is given away for free.

If you are less technically inclined, please ask Chris Cant to offer an item by phoning him on 01931 713240. He will post your offer and get back in touch if anyone is interested in it.

Reusing items through Freegle cuts down on the waste and recycling collection and disposal costs for the district and county council, with an estimated 6 tonnes saved every month. In March last year, 328 items were handed over.

Press release after open days