'Give and take' for all in need

Raewyn Sharrock hopes to see her idea of a "give and take" stand in the front yard spread throughout Whanganui.

The Koromiko Rd resident was inspired when she saw a similar setup for unwanted goods in Raglan during Easter.

"I saw a stand similar to that and thought, you know it's a really good idea and thought I could do it back home.

"It's for the local community; my neighbours and anyone who wants to come and use it either to give something or to take something."

The shelf, which she picked up at a buy-sell-swap garage sale, is adorned with books, fruit, vegetables and toys.

"So just your surplus fruit and vege and anything you have lying around in your pantry perhaps," she said.

"It could be children that have finished using their toys, they can put them there and maybe take something else.

"There's a local book club that meets in this street and they're donating their books."

Sharrock wasn't concerned about vandalism and hadn't had any issues.

"It's tied to the fence in case somebody wanted to kick it over or something.

"Everyone's been really good. I see a college boy walking past every day on his way to school ... I saw him take something ... but he'd also left part of his lunch.

"I thought that was a cool. A young person like that would swap, rather than just take."

Sharrock isn't sure how long the shelf will last during winter as it's not made for rainy weather.

She said if clothes or books start to stack up, she'll box them up and donate them to one of the charity shops.

Items can be dropped off at the "give and take" stand at 28 Koromiko Rd.