Jawdance Image: RichMix

Get revenge on your friends for running off to the Big Chill by going to the Little London Fields free festival, spending less money than them and having much more fun. There’s loads of bands, some of them might even be quite good, and an artists area where you can admire the work of local artists and designers, and there are even food stalls! They aren’t free, but you can’t have everything.

Jawdance,  a free poetry evening, is running at RichMix every Wednesday. John Challis, Jonas McCloud, Danni Antagonist, Bridget Minamore, Lady de Bavardage, Ant Smith, Hannah Osaguona, Lovelife and Mark ‘Mr T’ Thompson  are just a few of the previous guests at Jawdance, part of the London Alternative Fringe.

 The Dalston garden site is now OPEN, known as the Eastern Curve Garden, visitors can go  from 11am to 8pm every day and it is hosting a series of activities throughout the Summer,  including dance classes, furniture making workshops and film screenings.

In Lewisham – slip on your legwarmers and neon sweatbands and go get funky fit with 80s music! Zumba! Salsa! and funkacise

It’s on Mondays 7-8pm at Lewisham Reformed Church, Tuesdays 8-9pm at Goldsmiths Community Centre Cost: £3 trial lesson, then £5.

Clapton pond against a backdrop of bus. Photo: Sarflondondunc

It costs nothing but calories to enjoy the great outdoors. We took Yang Lian’s Lee Valley Poems for a walk around, well, Lee Valley. And Clapton Pond, for good measure.

Kate Tempest. Photo: Emmest

Many London theatres are offering free tickets to under 26-year-olds as part of an ongoing government scheme to encourage young people to explore the arts.

Over 200 theatres and arts venues across London are taking part and we have provided a list of the participating venues along the East London line where you can get your free tickets.

To be eligible for tickets to plays and other art events all you need is to be under 26. Visit participating venues’ websites for details of show times and email the addresses below to get your free ticket:

• The Albany: Douglas Way, Deptford, London, SE8 4AG.

Email boxoffice@thealbany.org.uk

• The Blue Elephant: 59a Bethwin Rd, Camberwell, London, SE5 0XT.

Email info@blueelephanttheatre.co.uk for more information.

• Half Moon Young People’s Theatre: 43 White Horse Road, London, E1 0ND.

Email tickets@halfmoon.org.uk

• The Barbican Centre: Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS.

Email tickets@barbican.org.uk

• Rich Mix: 35 – 47 Bethnal Green Rd, E1 6LA

Email info@richmix.org.uk

• Hackney Empire: 291 Mare Street, London, E8 1EJ.

Email info@hackneyempire.co.uk

• The Arcola Theatre: 27 Arcola St, London, E8 2DJ.

Email: freetickets@arcolatheatre.com

Review of free under-26 event at the Albany:

It’s true what they say: things taste sweeter when you don’t have to pay for them, and Kate Tempest’s spoken word evening at the Albany was no exception.

The event, hosted by Kate Tempest, a shining talent on the spoken word circuit, consisted of performances by Blue Grenada, Brothers Grim and Kate Tempest herself (read more about Kate Tempest in this profile by ELL’s own Megan Clarke)

The two-hour poetry slam was held on a stage in the cafeteria on the ground floor of this south-east London arts centre and proved fun and inspiring.

The five poets were varied – some spoke about sex and relationships, whereas others were more political, covering issues like the credit crunch. The atmosphere was relaxed and cordial – audience members sat on closely spaced tables in front of the stage.

Blagging isn't a crime. Pic: Keith Allison

Blagging has been around for centuries, yet in our humble and thriftily formed opinion, it is practiced far too little. After speaking with an undisclosed number of academics who study the ancient art of the blag, Emily “Who’s round is it?” Jupp produced the following guide. Any tips? Post them in the comment section.

Enjoying free sandwiches. Photo: Laura Passi

“You can help yourself, otherwise they’ll just get wasted,” says a member of staff at Spitalfields Pret A Manger.

In my attempt to find dinner for the evening in bins, I struck lucky when I saw staff in a “closed” Pret were throwing unsold sandwiches away. After asking for some, I left with eight packets of premium salmon and salad sandwiches. I wasn’t breaking the law in that situation but had I been caught rummaging in Pret bins by a security guard, would I have a legal leg to stand on?

A group of people called freegans regularly find food and other necessities from bins and skips in a practice known as “urban scavenging” or “bin diving”. Freegans live simply, without money, and believe in giving something back to society. But it seems that even they can’t be sure if they are breaking the law. UK Freegans, a website dedicated to the freegan lifestyle, describes the legal ramifications of bin diving as “a grey area”.

Dr Sean Thomas, Senior law lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, identifies a need to clarify the law. He says: “Although it depends on the circumstances, it is my opinion that freeganism is not criminal and it should not become criminal.” In fact he believes arguments in favour of criminalising freegan activity tend to fall back onto personal feelings of disgust.

In his published paper, Do freegans commit theft?, Dr Thomas explains that a freegan cannot be prosecuted for stealing goods that have been abandoned because abandoned goods cannot be stolen. The problem lies in proving that goods have been abandoned and so a freegan, taken to court, would stand a better chance of avoiding conviction by claiming their actions were not dishonest. They could argue there is a moral right to take rubbish because it benefits the environment; that they believe the owner wouldn’t mind; or they don’t consider themselves or their activities dishonest. As it is even harder to define dishonesty it would be left to jury members to decide guilt or innocence.

Although this is where the law stands, it doesn’t immediately make life any less complicated for freegans.

JD, a freegan, says almost everybody who shares his lifestyle will have encountered security personnel during foraging escapades. He says: “I have personally encountered a number of threats from store managers and the occasional policeman. Having said this, I have also encountered quite a bit of support from such people too – those who are open to reason.”

A spokesperson for Association of Chief Police Officers says they aren’t sure at what point freegan activity becomes criminal: “Individual cases would be treated differently, but it’s difficult to give a definitive answer.”

Freegan UK [NOTE: website has turned into a site for 'online casinos'] has a more direct statement on its website: “To our knowledge no one has ever been charged in the UK with stealing rubbish. It is likely that this is because supermarkets realise that prosecuting someone for recycling waste would open up an ethical can of worms.”

A freegan who follows the true values of freeganism believes that a world without money would be a better place and bin diving is only one aspect of their lifestyle. Regardless of personal opinion, the actions of freegans not only reduce our landfill waste but present a fierce challenge to the monetary values that are integral to our society.

Mirrors Photo: Luis M Justino Flickr

There comes a point in the life of every young woman when the urge for a full-length, full stretch, warts-and-all mirror of your very own becomes overwhelming. I’d survived without one for years; perching precariously on laundry baskets or gazing into darkened windows in an attempt to assess my outfit from top to toe – but with my 22^nd birthday just over the horizon, it dawned on me that now might be time to Grow Up.

Unfortunately, this epiphany did not entail money -  a shiny new designer mirror was no more within my financial grasp than it ever was -  but I was sure a little foraging in the name of Freeline would turn up something sufficiently reflective sooner or later.

Cue Freecycle – the website where people who don’t want their old stuff give it to people who do, and Freeline’s new best friend. I’d read loads about it of course, and I’d even gone so far as to sign myself up – but I’d yet to join a group, offer some stuff and actually get involved. Yet with the mirror situation now getting dire (I’d fallen off the laundry basket three times last week trying to see if my heels matched my skirt) I decided it was time to jump on the bargain wagon.

Joining a group seems easy at first. A quick search revealed groups in Croydon, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney, and  a large ‘Join this Group’ button appeared with each one. I clicked. Within minutes an email from Yahoo groups arrived asking me to confirm my request to join by hitting ‘Reply’. I clicked.

Yet as with so many things online, the devil was in the detail. Each Yahoo Group has a moderator who accepts or rejects people and manages membership. By simply sending a blank email as confirmation of my request, I’d neglected to give the moderators personal details as to where I lived and who I was, nor  had I shown any knowledge of the ‘Freecycle etiquette’.

The ‘Etiquette’ rules themselves are straightforward, and could probably be summed up in a matter of two words; Be Nice. But unless you prove in your reply email that you have read and acknowledged this rather basic requirement, it is the unenviable duty of the local group moderator to reject you and everything you stand for in the Freecycle world.

‘You failed to answer the four questions we sent you in a separate email’ spake the freecycling moderators of Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Lewisham – although the email with the questions had never been received.

‘You displayed a lack of understanding of the Freecycle ethos, ie you seem to think we are a ‘freebie site’ from which you are entitled to furnish your home for free!’ I was sure that wasn’t really fair, but  ‘for the same reason we reject applications from people who are members of groups some distance from where they live because in our experience people who join several groups usually in areas perceived to be affluent are looking for rich pickings. We also do not wish to encourage travelling by car with its effect upon your carbon footprints’.

Lastly, but by no means least insultingly, they postulated that I may be ‘a known spammer/scammer’.  If only I was, I thought. I might have found the system a little easier to operate.

With freebies of three of the four East London Line boroughs now officially off limits, I turned to Croydon. They hadn’t rejected me – they didn’t seem to care that I hadn’t read the rule book – and it was only a matter of minutes before the first ‘offering’ arrived in my inbox.

‘I am offering a black JVC hifi. It has a turntable (the lid is badly cracked), double tape deck, radio and output for cd player (cd player not included). Maybe good for parts. Please note ; this needs a plug and doesn’t come with speakers’

I thought daisycupcake was pushing her luck somewhat with a broken music player that was missing plug and speakers, but just as I was contemplating whether I could make use of a turntable, more emails came whooshing in.

‘WANTED: seed trays’ ‘WANTED: stilletos’, ‘TAKEN: JVC Hi Fi’ (who took that I wonder? ‘OFFERED: tropical fish’ and so on throughout half a dozen emails, each of them seeking an answer and pick-up within a matter of days.

Four hours, seventy emails and several shouts of exasperation later, I was still mirrorless. The endless pinging of emails was driving me to distraction, and my efforts to change the email address on my Freecycle account to one I used less frequently were proving futile.

Freecycle recognized my change of address; Croydon Freecycle didn’t. The Unsubscribe emails were bouncing, the group page on Yahoo could only be accessed if you had a Yahoo account (I don’t) and the group moderator, though understanding when I emailed her explaining that I was getting ten emails an hour to my work address, was as bemused as I was as to why it wasn’t being changed.

What’s more, to add insult to mounting fury, the mirror I was seeking had been and gone; snapped up whilst I ploughed through the hundred other emails from Croydon Freecycle to find the one that told me how I could leave.

The nightmare continued for five days. No other mirrors came up – though plenty of sofa beds – and in the end the only thing that stopped me from writing an Angry Letter to the Freecycle HQ was the sterling efforts of the Croydon moderator, who worked out how to adjust my settings so I only received emails of administrative importance.

I’m still a member – and I’m still looking for a mirror. I’m told by people who have freerecycled successfully that it’s a really positive experience, and I’m not ruling it out. But with 200 old freecycle emails still gathering dust in my Trash box, I’m wary of using it on a regular basis. One man’s trash is not every man’s treasure.

Freecycling Tips

When you sign up, don’t use your work address. Have an email address you specifically use for chain mail, and use that.

When you email your confirmation to join a group, say something about yourself; where you live, what you do and why you’re in Freecycle. Say you’re out for freebies, you’ll get rejected.  Say you’ve not much to offer, you’ll get rejected. Say nothing, you’ll get rejected.

Make sure you sign up to your most local group – the idea is to minimize your carbon footprint, not increase it by travelling miles to pick up a free sofa.

If you can, offer something first before you send out a request – and, when you do put a bid in for someone’s stuff, make sure you work out how to transport it first. If its going to cost you a hundred quid to hire a van, drive to the other end of the borough just to pick up a fourth hand carpet, you might as well buy new.

Skeleton Photo: Suburbanslice Flickr

The Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, Lewisham, is a great free day out for the family. The permanent exhibitions include rooms on African culture, music and musical instruments, photography exhibitions and nature.

In addition to this, there are beautiful gardens to stroll around. Little ones will love the animal sanctuary where there are goats, chickens and ducks to see.

And when you are tired of walking you can grab a snack and sit in the delightful conservatory in the Horniman’s grounds.

It is worth noting that the Horniman runs a series of events and workshops for children throughout the year that are completely free of charge. From story telling to arts and crafts these are well worth giving a go!

All for nothing. Photo: Tigr

Janet Jackson and Luther Vandross – perhaps the greatest philosophers of the ’90s – once claimed the best things in life are free. Which is why ELL has spent the last month foraging around the East London line for all the gratis stuff we could beg, blag or borrow.

Below is an interactive map featuring all our favourite free hotspots for you to peruse and enjoy. At no cost, naturally.