The Imperfect Idealist: Mark Boyle

Book tickets for the Buddhafield Festival -13th-17th July 2011 here

Extract from The Moneyless Man by Mark Boyle:

"Paul Crosland and Edmund Johnson asked me to help them promote their new project, Freelender, at the Buddhafield Festival. In return for helping them, I'd get into the festival for free. I am pretty fussy about what projects I'll support but Freelender (www.freelender.org) fitted the bill perfectly. Its aim was to maximise use of resources in local communities, through a website where people could borrow and lend stuff (from books to bicycles) to and from those who may not otherwise be able to afford them. Not only does it save people money, it makes better use of limited resources and helps build resilient communities through acts of kindness and trust. Very similar ideals to the Freeconomy Community and a good example of an organisation springing up to fill another part of the 'gift economy'; a social movement in which goods and services are regularly given without an explicit exchange agreement, relying on informal custom and the culture and spirit of giving.

I wasn't sure if Buddhafield would be my type of festival. Much as I wanted to help Freelender get off the ground, I was concerned there might be too much Chai Tea and Tai Chi for my taste. But Paul and Edmund offered to get me in and make sure I didn't run out of food for the five days, so I decided to go. During the day I worked in a tent handing out leaflets and questioning people about their attitudes towards borrowing and lending. We ran a Freeshop from which people could take things they needed for free and leave things they didn't want any more, set up a borrowing and lending service for things like blankets, wellies and so on and organised liftsharing so that people could get home from the festival for free." (p144-145)

Book tickets for the Buddhafield Festival -13th-17th July 2011 here

(Mark Boyle, 2010)

28th March 2011

To all the friends who've known Mark Boyle for a while:

We wouldn't have guessed, hanging around a bit with Mark whilst I worked at HMP Bristol (I still have an unpublished interview with you Mark recorded when we walked from Bristol to Bath together), that stepping out as he did would lead where it did.

I doubt my stepping out will rock the TED world as he has just done; for now I wish to celebrate how much love has been spread by us with the wider world.

I've put the celebration particularly into this webpage on this blog about the book I'd love to launch with you in Bristol on 18th June, if you are free?:

http://imperfectidealist.blogspot.com/p/death-legacy.html

Below is a poignant leave-taking, Mark Boyle's "walk to India", before he became "The Moneyless Man".This was the 1st YouTube clip I made (it shows); still the most popular one to date:

Mark Boyle, TED talk to an appreciative (smiling on cue) audience of 1,200 in Portugal, March 2011:
On 25th March 2011 I tweeted as follows:
The Moneyless Man didn't make it but I have his ticket. Lend-It-All-Man is here; is lend-it-all woman? #ukaware @gifteconomics @freelender
http://www.twitter.com/paulcrosland
I'll let Mark off this time! Only because he was at TEDxOPorto:

Next Steps with freelender.org?:

"The Lend-It-All Man" (co-founder of freelender.org and co-director of Freelnding Community Interest Company; not an oxymoron) now recommends www.streetbank.com to open to a world of generosity. It starts with you sharing.

Also consider taking next steps with ecomodo.com (and raise money for charities from renting out your less-frequently used stuff) or, if you have stuff to give away too then try www.streetbank.com as well as the others reported on the sharing developers blog: www.freelenders.blogspot.com