Freegle Stories

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Any old oil.

I just Freegled 5 litres of engine oil, which was about 15 years old. I’ve moved house three times with this stuff!

Down at the local dump/recycling centre, there’s a special bit for engine oil, as it is such nasty stuff, so I was delighted that someone could use it. It’s not just landfill – it’s toxic, so how cool that someone can benefit from it.

And they were passing the area, so I left it on the doorstep – no inconvenience to anyone.

Well done Freegle!

Craig Edinburgh Freegle
I would like to say how wonderful freegle was for me and my family. My son and daughter in law had to return from Canada earlier than anticipated.
They didn’t know they were ‘expecting’ until mum-to-be was told at 35 weeks; and she then went into labour at 36 weeks – probably the shock – and had a healthy baby boy. So a ‘five day pregnancy’ !

First they had to sort out how to pay their medical fees – as their insurance didn’t cover them for pregnancy and delivery; then arrange to quit their jobs, pack up and move out of the apartment, and fly back to the UK. They had to come to live with us – granny and grandpa – as no home, no job.
Thanks to Freegle we were able to get them everything needed for a new baby, and more – moses basket, cot, travel cot, high-chair, bedding, baby clothes, steriliser, bouncy seat, buggy, car seat, baby bath, even some cuddly toys.

We are so grateful to the help, generosity and good wishes that strangers have shown to us all,

Noeline Beswick, Bedford Freegle
hey there,

This is just to let you know briefly how helpful the Brighton Freegle community have been.

Me and my boyfriend moved in together with a matress and loads of love for eachother…

Slowly but surely things got offered and we were able to furnish our one bedroom flat.
I think that we paid for a few items from a Martlets charity shop but otherwise it’s all
been generously given to us from Freegle members.

What I love about looking around our flat is that each of the items that now grace our
space is that they have stories attached to them.

The place is now not only filled with our
love but with loads of stories of how we aquired all that we now have.

Thanks Freegle

Anne, Brighton Freegle
I joined the group to try to find homes for the things that I had to clear from my mum’s house. She died before Christmas and now that the house is clear and on the market. I’ve been able to shift a few things this way and it’s been very useful, as well as beneficial in seeing parts of my childhood find a new home. Equally, having to throw stuff away at the tip is somewhat traumatic for the same reason.

Many thanks for providing the service.

Chris , Leamington Freegle
Happy endings

Hi.

We had an enormous pile of jigsaw puzzles that my husband had done at least once. We were running out of space to store them and I finally persuaded him to part with many of them. I put them on Freegle thinking that we would get lots of people picking them over and taking the nicest.

A gentleman arrived from a local Retirement Home and collected them all, thanking us and mentioning that it would give his residents hours and hours of fun – and probably frustration! Possibly they would be done many more times.

Great.

Sue, Hunts Freegle
Six year old in training

My train set dates back as far as 35 years ago when I was a little dot. It got built upon until I was around 15-16 and then boxed up and forgotten about whilst I got older. It was loaned out to a family member for many years and eventually returned when I asked for it back due to having become a father and having one boy that’s train mad. What was returned to me wasn’t everything that was borrow and certainly wasn’t in good condition. By this time I’d already got my 6 year old excited about “daddys great electric train set,” and even he could feel the disappointment when I started unpacking boxes only to be met with broken or damaged trains/track/stations/etc.

A quick look on eBay and Friday Ad proved that I wasn’t in a position to replace what I wanted to so the plans my lad an I had made for the tracks had to be scaled down to something a bit more simple. By this time we had already boarded out the attic and built a raised table.

I thought a cheeky request on Freegle might provide a few bits of track IF we were really lucky. Even when I posted the ad I really didn’t expect a single reply.

Well, a single reply is all I got. It came from a very nice man just north of Lewes and said he had some track and a few bits that I was welcome to albeit in average to poor condition due to its age and the fact it had been in storage for 20+ years.

When I arrived to have a look at what he had I was led to a garage and presented with two brimming storage boxes of track/trains/carriages/stations/scenery/controllers/bridges/etc. I was amazed. A quick rummage was enough to know that there were a lot of smiles in these boxes for me and my lad so I gratefully accepted them and rushed home.

At home we emptied the boxes on the kitchen table and were both looking at each other saying “WOW” every 10 seconds as another gem was uncovered. The plans in our heads were scaling up again to building a couple of tracks and a goods shunting yard equal to anything seen on the Island of Sodor. Some of the kit might not work, some of it might be a bit damaged but that doesn’t matter. It’s going to be built and played with for years to come and will make at least two boys very happy (and a third when he gets old enough)

A collector/enthusiast would have probably paid handsomely for what I was given. I don’t know how to value a permanent smile from a six year old but I hope it’s worth a massive warm glow to a lovely man “just north of Lewes.”

Freegles ace. A proper community spirit in a world of doom and gloom.

Thanks

Tim , Lewes Freegle
My neighbour recently threw out a Hotpoint tumble dryer for reasons unknown – apparently working, externally looks like new; I could only conclude it didn’t match the brand of his washer (!) I got it shunted round to my drive and I gave it away on Freegle the same evening; mad mad world! Of course there’s the question whether we should be using power-guzzling tumble dryers at all rather than air drying, but that’s a whole other debate…..

Nigel , Penrith and Eden District Freegle
When I moved to the area with my husband and one month old baby in 2007 I didn’t know anyone, it was quite a lonely time for me and it was a struggle to make like minded friends.

We’ve given many things away since then using Freegle and have received many fantastic items, usually for our 2 boys, but my most memorable example was when I put a ‘wanted’ post on Freegle for ‘baby and toddler books’ as my little boy was getting bored of the ones that we had.

A lovely lady replied with an offer of some books and it turned out that she lived on the road behind mine, in fact our back gates are almost opposite each other. Since she gave me the books we, and our kids, have gradually become really good friends.

So I’d live to say a big ‘thank you’ to Freegle because without it I wouldn’t have made such a wonderful friend.

Dani Gaines, Bolton Freegle
I saw this mail:

_WANTED:old walking boots (Abraham Heights, Lancaster)

We are getting married in June and are both keen walkers. We would like to use old walking boots to put plants in to use as table decorations. If you have any old leather boots we would really appreciate them. It does not matter if they have holes in the soles.
_

My side of the story is that I offered to help my neighbour clear out some of her late husband’s belongings. He was a wonderful chap, sadly missed, and had used the old boots for many years in his workshop.

He was a bit of a tinkerer and loved to take things apart and sometimes put them back together again. They would often do something different after they had been put back together lol. He was a bit of a ‘Heath Robinson’ (or Wallace of Wallace and Gromet) and had the most fantastically elaborate and mysterious outdoor plumbing system that allowed him to pipe water to any part of the garden at the turn of a tap. Unfortunately nobody has got to grips with the system since he passed away and this has led to various unexpected gushing floods around the garden. Since the hosepipe ban was introduced we live in fear of an investigation from United Utilities.

Anyhow, the boots had been well worn but were sadly no longer re-usable as footwear, so I thought this would be a fitting end for them at the start of this couple’s married life together.

Afterwards I got this mail:

_Thanks for the boots back in Feb. They looked fantastic at the wedding. Well done Freegle! I have attached a photo of one of the boots. They sat on tables at the Gatehouse and then came aboard the Kingfisher and sailed down the canal to Galgate.

Thanks again

Sue_

Susan, Lancaster Morecambe Freegle
I joined the Woking group to Freegle things from a house we were clearing. The moderator kindly took me off moderation at my request (possibly on the strength of my record with the Bath group) as time was of the essence.

The job is now done (significantly helped by using your site) and I’ve cancelled membership of the Woking group as we don’t live in your area.

The experience encouraged other members of our family to get into freegleing as they saw what a good idea it is.

Meanwhile I continue to be an avid ‘Freegler’ in the Bath area!

Thanks for all your help.
Gill

Keep up the good work!

Gill Woking Freegle

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