Wellbeing does not tend to occur in a vacuum. Multiple layers can affect our health. If we have a physical illness, it can quite easily affect our mental and social health especially, just as a psychological illness can affect both mental and social wellbeing. Poor social and/or ecological health can affect both physical and psychological wellbeing. The interactions are multiple, and ideally we would work at all levels to support wellbeing in communities.
One way that Creuynni has been involved with for the past 12 years is through community resource sharing through free stalls.
Give and Take and Free Stalls In Wrecsam
The free stalls in Wrecsam were originally inspired by Give and Take - which originated with free stalls in Connah's Quay in 1992. Genny took them on as Bring and Take pop-up stalls, and later Give and Take and Creuynni supported pop-ups and more permanent free stalls in diverse places - from The People's Market for 6 months, Wrexham University pop-ups with the Sustainability Society, World Peace Day events at St. Christopher's School, pop-ups at Ty Pawb, Lle Hapus, and more recently with the excellent Repair Cafe Wrecsam - leading to a more permanent site at Caia Park Partnership Hub in 2025.
A stall where everything is free
So much of what we need in this world or can use has already been made. Like reinventing the wheel, we remake items when there are many already in circulation. Years ago perhaps we would share around our families, our communities what we had as we lived so close-knit. Now, the free shop helps facilitate that sharing with our family, our neighbours - it's just that our family, our neighbours are now extended to everyone across the area.
How does this help wellbeing?
The levels of wellbeing support are many.
In just its first week, the free shop in Caia Park saved over 18.3 tonnes of CO2 emissions - enough to power 9 long-haul flights, 183 short-haul flights, heat 8 households for a full year, and estimated to be the equivalent of planting a small woodland of 300-350 trees.
It also saves tens of thousands of litres of water, significant energy - and reduces the pollution of chemicals used to make many of these products massively.
In coming together as a community to do this, the social benefits enrich everyone - particularly where the base is in a more permanent place, communities can begin to grow through this. Supporting each other - there is no middle man - simply giving and receiving - with givers also being takers, takers also being givers, with zero need to give in order to take, all mixing together - all playing their part in helping the environment and helping local communities.
This helps mentally too. Whether it's the mental support reported from having access to craft items, the ease of pressure on the cost of living for basic needs such as clothes, shoes, household items or toys for kids, or the mental boost in knowing your actions to share and support here are helping others and helping the environment.
There is in turn the potential for a physical impact - whether that's the physical activity of volunteering, walking to the free shop, sorting stock, working together, or the physical benefits in the world of less pollution. Ideally there would be a community sharing free shop in each area that people can easily walk to, socialise, and reduce their environmental impact by reusing quality items.
How to set up your own free stall
It's very easy to set up a pop-up free stall. Many places will offer you free space at events when they know what you offer. If charged a small amount, you can set up a donation pot - while not encouraged to donate per se, you may find people donate enough to cover the cost.
The difficulty for pop-ups can be storage and the logistics of moving items, setting up and packing down each time. There is a great quote from Give and Take: "The more we gave, the more we got" - and this rings true for the Wrecsam events too. Pop-ups also require more advertising compared to regular opening hours that a more permanent free shop can have. If you have energy, storage, and motivation - it is really worth doing. If you have to choose wisely, a more permanent option is ideal.
We do recommend gaining insurance, and doing frequent risk assessments, and shared agreements for volunteers. Clear agreements so people know where they stand. With the amount of vulnerable people who come in, we also recently added a "please don't come in if you have flu" policy.
The problem we have had consistently is space. In our experience, people love to give and share - and we are so often overloaded by the sharing. It is inspiring though - how much people naturally wish to share, especially with the connection here.
If you are thinking about setting up a free stall, or have any questions - perhaps you would like to volunteer, or do research into the impact of these initiatives - please get in touch!