*** UPDATE 10:00am 20/8/24 Launceston City Council once again have inconsiderately removed the recently re-installed 'Freeda the Free Shop'. Showing Council's true lack of community awareness and concern. The below petition urges Launceston City Council to re-instate Freeda in Princes Square, where the community needs and wants it to be. ***

Community members have reinstalled the well-loved and much-used ‘Freeda the Free Shop’ back into Princes Square following its senseless removal by Launceston City Council on the 26th of July (pictured below). This act is both in protest to the council’s shameful decision to remove Freeda during a cost of living crisis - and a gesture of solidarity with those who used it and wanted it to stay.

We need your help to let the council know that you want Freeda to stay at Princes Square where it belongs and can be accessed by everyone. The Council needs to know that their attempts to stop community initiatives like Freeda will not work, and that they cannot and should not, stop the Launceston community from supporting each other.

The council’s temporary community pantry has no guarantee to stay, is inaccessible based on its location, and does not understand the often negative impact police have on those experiencing homelessness and other social issues that carry stigma.

By signing this petition you are standing in solidarity with your community during the cost of living and housing crises - and defending our collective right to support each other in public spaces. You are also sending a message to Launceston City Council that they need to do better when it comes to working in supportive ways with the community. 
 

 

 

 

 

What Is Freeda?

Freeda is a community-run and maintained ‘free’ shop where anyone can give or take what they need. This usually involves non-perishable goods, pantry, and sanitary items.

Beyond this - Freeda is a community initiative that provides solidarity and support to those in need through building community connections and respect. It provides meaningful and immediate ways for people to support each other during a cost of living and housing crisis and to contribute to a culture of compassion and empathy.
Freeda is a response to the lack of effective action by local, state and federal government to address the profound inequality that has gripped our communities.

Community direct actions like ‘Freeda’ reveal the hazardous levels of bureaucracy and injustice in our social and political systems - and shines a light on the indifference and apathy of those in power that stop us from changing anything for the better.

 

 

 

 

What else can we do?

Make sure you get down to Princes Square to visit Freeda! Grab something for yourself - or put something useful in it for someone else.
Freeda loves:
Non-Perishable Food and Drink
Sanitary Items
NO books or clothes please.

What the Council can do

Below we have provided some suggestions for Launceston City Council to consider as much better alternatives to removing Free Shops.
Leave Freeda in Princes Square, help make it better/safer, or improve it with something permanent.
 
Commit to providing the Launceston community, particularly young people and people with disabilities, with high quality community-run spaces where they can connect and support each other.
 
Improve consultation practices within the Council to work more respectfully with community members. This includes actively seeking engagement from community members with lived experience to relevant decisions and discussions.
 
End hostile architecture in Launceston. This includes replacing or modifying benches, seats, tables and other structures that are designed to be uncomfortable, impractical and exclusionary with high quality and more accessible designs.
 
Follow through with their ‘Liveable Cities’ strategy! Improve the quality, accessibility and number of public amenities that provide access to basic needs like drinking water, 24/7 accessible toilets, shelter and warmth, basic cooking facilities.
 
In solidarity,
Freeda the Free Shop and friends <3