Development Group Report 2016 07

Freegle Development Group Report

July 2016

Total members 59

Freegle Development is a group where new policies are discussed and voted on and any changes of existing policy are discussed.

For a change July was a quiet month on Development. The month was dominated by just two discussions:

Task 40: Best practice review – preface

Continuing the discussion re an attempt to put into words a moderators remit. The final document was voted on in Development.

Freegle Volunteer Agreement

Thanks for agreeing to volunteer for Freegle, for your local group or nationally. Here's how we'll help you and what you can do for us.

Freegle nationally is committed to:

• Providing the IT infrastructure to list and host local groups
• Providing support for all aspects of running a group by email, in national groups and the wiki
• Representing Freegle nationally and promoting freegling to national bodies and agencies
• Running national social media and other publicity, and encouraging local freegling by provision of technical and promotional facilities
• Providing policies, guidance and insurance to help ensure the safe running of groups
• Supporting all volunteers regardless of age, background or social profile
• Encouraging mutual participation and decision making amongst all volunteers through accessible organisational structures, proactive communication and openness in governance
• Encouraging volunteers to join as an official member of the Freegle Ltd Industrial and Provident Society

Local volunteers agree to run their group by:

• Implementing Freegle rules and best practice
• Having current computer and internet access, understanding and skills
• Moderating their group messages and memberships at least daily, with moderating coverage 7 days a week
• Helping members with problems and information in a consistently positive way
• Keeping in touch and communicating with Freegle nationally

and it would also be great if local teams:

• Know the area that is served by their Freegle group and have an interest in local and national environmental causes.
• Publicise their group to build membership, eg do social media, press releases, run stalls, run events.
• Work with local councils or other relevant local bodies, businesses, charities etc to increase freegling in the community.
• Keep in touch with neighbouring volunteer teams

The poll was 68% in favour of the new document and 32% against. As it is a new document in the Best Practice guidelines, it has been sent to the Board for approval. Comments were made during the poll and these comments were sent to the board for consideration along with the document. This document completes the Best Practice review.

New Terms of Use

Chris Cant drafted some new terms of use, for the new platform that is under construction. The Terms of Use are mainly to keep the app stores happy. Development members were invited to add comments to the draft document to improve it, which resulted in a shorter more concise document. The edited document is almost complete and should be going to poll soon. The proposed text is as follows;

As far as we're concerned, it's simple:

· Use Freegle to pass on unwanted items direct to others · Everything must be free and legal · Be nice to other Freeglers, and they'll be nice to you · Please keep yourself safe and watch out for scams - if you see anything dodgy report it · We don't see or check items offered - see our disclaimer · Freegle groups may have additional rules - check your local group for details · Objectionable content or behaviour will not be tolerated · You must be aged 12 or over, as there is user-generated content · We won’t sell your email address to anyone else - see privacy page · For some Freegle local groups, you are likely to be obliged to adhere to Yahoo! Groups terms of service or those of Norfolk Freegle Version: 11 July 2016

Next on the list is a ====review of the Abandoned Group Procedure====. If you feel you can contribute to this discussion, we would be pleased to see you on Development.

https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/freegleDevelopment/info

Development team

Links

• Development Working Group
• Previous report Development Group Report 2016 06
• Following report Development Group Report 2016 08