freebadge.co.uk was initially set up to put something back into the community.

Having just invested in a state of the art laser engraving machine, and with over 18 years of successful business experience in plastic manufacturing, David Thompson  wanted to create a system whereby deserving causes and people involved in the community could benefit.

Initially he made a number of free badges for a local hockey club and a youth hobbies scheme. Both organisations soon saw the benefit of having name badges and club titles for their volunteers.

Indeed Julie Giles of Bicester Hockey club said of it, "David offered us these badges, and it was an offer we could not refuse! As a result, it makes it much easier for the parents and children to know who to approach if they need to talk to someone."

She continued by saying, “It is a great help when we get a new player, as this gives them confidence in being able to go and talk to one of us, knowing our name, but of equal importance, it gives a professional feel to our club, which is again most necessary these days when dealing with children and their parents.” 

She finished by saying, “The badges have been so successful that every time we get a new helper, we are immediately on to David to produce more badges.”

Ben Jackson, involved in a Hobbies Fair for Bicester said: 'By being able to provide our exhibitors with badges, this made the event that much more useful to exhibitors and public alike. I hope that we will be able to make use of this very generous offer next year'.

With these sorts of feedback he sat down and looked into how he could make this available to all.

The answer became immediately apparent....combine the internet with this technology. Then the costs of processing the order, (the major part of the costs involved), reduce to a point where an individual 'custom but standard' product can be delivered for just a small handling charge.

However, he did not stop there...

Realising that it would be uneconomical to check whether or not a request for this service was bona fide or not, he opened it up to all.

By spreading out the handling costs over a greater amount of people, it was a case of 'the more the merrier', rather than restricting it to a select group of community helpers.

Being a parent, he also knew that School Governors, PTA's and other local societies have constantly changing committee members. With this in mind, he launched even lower cost sets of badges.

In March 2006 he handed over the Production reigns to TJ Richards, a woman whose drive to satisify customers matched his own.  An outstanding addition to the team, she makes it her mission to ensure every customer has a smile on their face when recalling the service they received at freeBadge. 

Word is growing quickly about this great service. And when your friends and colleagues ask where you got that great badge from you can say with a smile, "I got it from freeBadge!"

freebadge.co.uk 
Making a name for you!