Free items available at Leicestershire give and take event 

A Give or Take event designed to keep items in use for longer and reduce waste is taking place in Leicestershire this weekend. 

The one-day-only swapping event, which is taking place in Market Harborough encourages people to bring along items they no longer need but could still be useful to someone else. 

Books, toys, homeware and kitchenware are just some of the types of the things people will be able to take home for free as others clear out good-quality items.

Items can be dropped off on the day at The Village in St Mary’s Road between 9am-11am. Items can be taken from 11am-1pm. There is no requirement to bring an item in order to take one.

The idea is to re-use goods and reduce the amount of unnecessary items going to landfill. The longer an item remains in use, the lower its environmental impact and carbon footprint will be. This also reduces the demand to produce new items.

Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for the environment and green agenda at Leicestershire County Council, said: “We’re excited to offer our first Give or Take event in partnership with The Village. It’s a great way to do our bit for the environment and give a new lease of life for items which are still perfectly usable. 

“I invite you to come along to the event and I would encourage you to read our toolkit to learn more about how you can organise a Give or Take event in your community.” 

Beth Lambert from The Village, said:  “As a not-for-profit organisation aimed at benefiting the community, we feel that this event is hugely worthwhile, and it fits in well with our ethos.  

“We’re delighted to be supporting this along with our weekly Market Harborough Fixers event. Hopefully this will be the first of many across the county.” 

The Give or Take event is open to everyone and items accepted include books, DVDs, CDs, jigsaws, toys, homeware and kitchenware.

Large items, including furniture and white goods, along with broken or dirty items will not be accepted. Electrical items also cannot be accepted. 

Any items that left over at the end of the event will be donated to a Leicestershire-based charity shop.  

You can find more about the Give or Take event and future events by visiting www.lesswaste.org.uk/community-involvement/events/.