I’m so pleased you asked, Smiliesam! It’s a lovely thing to have some bags to hand out.
Claire Morsman’s original idea is to give them away in your local shopping street.
It’s nice, but not essential, to take a friend with you for support, field questions and to help carry the bags.
If you have lots of morsbags to give out thread your arms through the handles of as many as you can carry easily and walk through the public streets of your town centre. You don’t need a licence as you’re not selling anything.
Just ask “Would you like a free bag?” and ask passing shoppers to pick one. (I try to guess which one they’ll pick. It almost always matches what they’re wearing at that moment.)
Don’t have too many bags on your arms at one time as they always pick one of the most difficult ones to get at. I clasp my hands together and can then shuffle bag handles from one arm to the other easily if they want a bag near the end.
This is where your “wing supporter” comes in useful as they carry the backup supply of bags and provide moral support too. After the first few you will find out how easy it is even if you are a bit shy. Prepare a little spiel about why it’s done but avoid long discussions with a “Look there is someone over there I must give a bag to”.
Enjoy the ones who duck your offer as suspicious but then circle round to get one after they’ve watched from a distance.
Limit the “And one for my aunty?” to one only or they will try to adopt the lot.
Avoid malls and private areas as they just waste your time with questions.
40 minutes should be enough to get rid of all the morsbags two people can carry.
For smaller numbers of bags needing a home, you could give them to a grocers or vegetable shop to distribute “For your best customers – not for sale, mind!” Charity shops have a bit of a problem understanding this concept.
Small, personally-run shops are what you’re looking for, where the person in charge knows what we are trying to achieve.
If you are not giving them away yourself a small slip inside helps get the idea over. See below about resources.
Give to family and friends with presents and as wrapping.
Give them to a charity raffle to hold the prizes.
Run a demo of how they are made in a community centre, library or similar (after getting their agreement). You just give bags to those who show an interest. We have done a lot of country shows. You can get a free entry too.
Form a group of morsbaggers. It usually splits into those who prefer to make and those who love to give.
Another wheeze is to select an appropriate sized village or housing estate and slip one through every door or into every letter box when no one is looking. Just imagine them doing a “You too?” with their neighbours and then commiserating with those who have missed out! (As they come out of the blue, these bags would benefit from a flyer explaining what they are)
The general idea is it should be quick and fun and a nice surprise to the recipients.
You asked whether we should give out a flyer or similar with the bag? This is optional. There are logos and information sheets that you can use here –
/resources/
I’ve given out morsbags with A5 sized flyers in them, others tie a tag with info onto the handles. Now I let the sewn-on label that every morsbag has to have to qualify as a morsbag lead interested people to the website. That’s why the label is so important!
I’m sure other morsbaggers will have tips and encouragement and I’m sure you’ll find giving them away is fun!
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