The Free Store

After 15 years of serving Poneke, The Free Store is now permanently closed as of Friday 11th July 2025.

If you are in need of food supplies or good kai at little to no cost, we encourage you to go to Compassion Soup Kitchen ⁦https://soupkitchen.org.nz/⁩, Everybody Eats ⁦https://www.everybodyeats.nz/dine-with-us/wellington⁩, or Wellington City Mission ⁦https://wellingtoncitymission.org.nz/⁩.

A tight-knit group of our volunteers have also launched their own food rescue, operating out of St Peters Church on Willis Street. You can contact them about receiving food or volunteering with them via tfsvolunteers.wgtn@gmail.com.

If you’d like any other information about why we closed, feel free to contact admin@renewcommunities.co.nz.

How it works

  • icon representing The Free Store.

    Show up

    Everyone is welcome, no questions asked! We’re open weekdays from 5:15pm.

  • Icon of a steaming coffee cup on a light blue background

    Join the queue

    We serve tea, coffee and soup from 5:15pm. At 5:45pm we open the store.

  • Silhouette of an apple icon on a light blue circle background.

    Receive food

    You will always receive something, depending on our stock the quantity might change.

Our Impact

  • A person in an orange jacket and black cap hands an item to another person in a blue cap and dark jacket outside a restaurant.

    60+ suppliers contributing

    Cafes, bakeries, restaurants and caterers donating their surplus food each day.

  • A wooden shelving unit filled with assorted deli items, including sandwiches wrapped in paper, plastic containers of rice and sauce, salads in small bowls, pies, and pastries. The shelving displays a variety of pre-packaged lunch options.

    42 tons of food saved from landfill

    Saving about 126,000 kgs of carbon emissions, and 26.7 million litres of water.

  • People gathered outside The Free Store, set in an urban environment. A speaker is placed in front of the container, and several individuals are holding bags.

    60+ people served each day

    The Free Store serve people from all walks of life, all are welcome.

Man in casual clothes pushing a trolley on a city street, passing colorful storefronts with posters on the wall.

Support project highlight

Proffer’s trolleys

Beautiful, purpose-built emission-free food collection workhorses. One of the things that makes Wellington amazing is it's compact CBD. Everything is in walkable distance! That means we don't need gas guzzling vehicles to do our redistribution work, we can use regular ol' supermarket trolleys. This cuts down massively on emissions and costs!

Get Involved

People in a bakery room holding trays of bread with shelves full of baked goods and a chalkboard on the wall.

Volunteering

Keen to volunteer? It's easy as. Get involved today. We’re always looking for volunteers!

A box filled with various types of bread and baked goods, including loaves, sandwiches, pastries, bagels, and green apples.

Supplying food

Own or manage an eatery and want to make sure your surplus food reaches a good home?

Group of smiling people in a room posing for a photo, some standing and others crouching in front.

Regular donations

Regular donations help us to more certainty that our day-to-day costs will be covered.

Latest Highlights

Kia pai Te Aranga e hoa mā! // Have a good Easter, friends! Just a reminder that we are CLOSED on Rāmere//Friday the 7th, and Rāhina//Monday the 10th We hope you enjoy your break ❤️ Ka kite
Kia ora tātou! 👋🏽 Our friends at "Free Fares" are doing awesome stuff advocating for accessible & affordable public transport, which is something we at The Free Store believe in!! They are going to come down to TFS on Wednesday from 4
What do you love about the Free Store? 💛
Te Aro Eats was a success at Cuba Dupa last weekend! 🌈 Ngā mihi NUNUI ki tā tātou tautoko mai - We appreciate the support of all the volunteers that made it possible! It was such a pleasure to work alongside with our friends at Everybody Eats, See