History of Frome LETS

Frome had a thriving LETS which began in the mid nineties and was affiliated to LETSlink UK. By 2003, it had folded. Peter Macfadyen, one of the founders, has been keen to support a re-launch - with a new team and support from LETSlink, who are hosting our online system - and has given us some background on the earlier Frome LETS, which traded in "shuttles", as follows:

Frome had one of the most active LETS scheme in the country about 8 yrs ago, and it lasted about 5 yrs. The Town council, various shops and 2-300 other members along with a part "shuttles" part sterling co-ordinator. I was a central person in that in its central phase. In the end Frome had changed with a new festival, lots more social networking and organisations, a transition town organisation etc, so a lot of people exchanged "off LETS" and it slowly died. We had a final party and put £100 aside for any future startup. My own local path took me more into Sustainable Frome, and then into the Independents for Frome group that controls the local council. We have a spectacularly local agenda strategy/plan with lots of opportunity to co-operate.

Earlier newsletters from the original scheme are being uploaded into the Archive section of this website. The initial meeting for the re-launch was on 30th January 2012 - meeting notes are posted on the site, via Useful Pages, and may be viewed by members who are logged on. So that's some background, now read on . . .

How do I join?