09/06/2026
âFreeshopâ was a silly name to give a shop.
People said !
I was running a community cafe and crying every day because one rail of free clothing I started turned into something big and took over the whole cafe.
The cafe wasnât making any profit because I was taking care of people in need and giving everything out for free.
I was crying because I didnât want to stop the movement of people bringing donations and other people taking them for free. But at the same time, there was no space left in the cafe at all.
I was taking stock out in the morning, bringing it back in the evenings , covering it when it rained, trying to make it work. But deep inside I knew this wasnât going to work and I needed to find a solution.
It was that night, winter 2022. Cold, wet night. I was so tired of taking donations into the cafe every evening and realising half of them were wet, then trying to clean and dry them so people could take them.
I went to bed upset and couldnât fall asleep. My brain was buzzing, looking for solutions. Then at 3am I suddenly screamed âA Freeshop!â My mum and kids, who used to sleep in the same bedroom because we didnât have much space, woke up.
Mum said, âAre you ok Maya?â
And I said, âYes mum, now I am ok. We will open a âFreeshopâ where everything will be free for people in need.â
My mumâs used to my crazy ideas. She said, âCan you just sleep and open any f..ing thing you want in the morningâ đ€Ł
But I couldnât sleep. I called Bev, Andrew and Kelly- my friends at the time who later became volunteers of the Freeshop. I was telling them all about it. Obviously they also knew if Maya has an idea, you either need to run or get involved, because she will push to the end until she makes it happen.
Next morning I was looking for a shop and by accident, the hairdressing shop opposite the community cafe became empty that day.
I looked at it once and decided-thatâs going to be the Freeshop.
That day we all were looking for the landlord, who we found late evening same day.
Next day we arranged a meeting with her in the little cafe on the high street .
She was a lovely lady and she said, âWell I like the idea, but how are you going to pay my rent?â
I didnât have an answer and I was honest.
I told her, âI donât know how I will pay your rent, but if I promise, I will deliver.â
She reduced the rent and said, âOk, give me ÂŁ300 and take the keys. I believe in what you do.â
But the problem was, I didnât have any money. I walked out of that place on the high street and told her, âGive me 5 minutes, Iâll go home and get the money.â
But I knew if I went home there was no money there. So I decided I will take that shop whatever it takes and walked into the off licence next door, Green Shop we call it in Herne Bay. Suleyman, my neighbour, was running it.
I said, âSuleyman, can you lend me some money?â
He laughed and said,
âYouâre up to something againâ and gave me the money đ€Ł
Bless him and his family, I love them dearly.
Landlady trusted me and rented me the shop then and there.
Then I spent all night in the new shop crying with happiness, thinking of how many people this shop will help. In the morning we moved all the stock from the community cafe across the road to the new shop and I hand-wrote the sign: âFreeshopâ
Since then Freeshop has helped so many people in need and now I have a mission to help other people to open their own Freeshops in their towns and help millions of struggling people!
Today is a big day. Intellectual Property Office has registered the trademark for Freeshop. The one which people said was sillyâŠâŠ
Never give up on your dreams!
Sending love to all Maya ###xx
