Freebies draw families to Clevedon Village

A free give and take initiative established by Clevedon Presbyterian Church has grown beyond the bounds of the community and is attracting people from all over South Auckland.

Free Week is put on twice a year in Clevedon Village, by both church staff and volunteers, and is where people give away things they don’t need and take things they do need - all at no cost.

“It’s not a swap,” said Clevedon Presbyterian’s family ministries coordinator Lynette Burton.

“You don’t have to bring anything to obtain something. It’s just all free, it’s just gifts of love for other people to use as they need.”

The initiative started as a table at the back of the church where families who attended weekday preschool sessions could pick up and give away items for their children, such as toys, clothes, books and equipment for young babies.

Free Week has grown so much it is now being held in a much larger space, and has an outreach that goes beyond the churchgoers and the Clevedon community.

“It’s not limited to ‘you’re one of us’. There’s no limits. It’s for everybody,” said Mrs Burton.

“We get a lot of people from quite a wide radius - Papakura, Beachlands, Maraetai, Orere Point, Kawakawa Bay, Drury, Hunua . . .”

Mrs Burton has noticed a change in the type of people making use of what Free Week provides.

“There are some very high needs families coming through, but there’s also a lot of the average family now who are actually looking forward very much to Free Week.

“We’re finding that the rental market in Auckland is so high that basically there’s no money left over for those extra things, so there’s been quite a change in that.

“A large number of working families are struggling to make ends meet now, so [it’s] very, very wide ranging.”

Organisations also benefit from the event. Family Works, which supports families through counselling and social work, gets a lot of equipment for its programmes from Free Week, making the initiative’s reach even greater, said Mrs Burton.

The vision behind Free Week, and the real attraction to it, is the win-win system it provides.

“If you need to take, then it’s time to take. If [you need] to bring, then it’s time to bring,” said Heather Urquart, who helps run the event.

Clevedon woman Emma Henson was at the Tuesday event and has enjoyed going along.

“My kids have lots of new stuff from here, and I’m able to get rid of lots as well.

“It’s cool that it’s open to the wider community, not just our community.”