6 For free is an informal phrase used to mean "without cost or payment." These professionals were giving their time for free. The phrase is correct; you should not use it where you are supposed to only use a formal sentence, but that doesn't make a phrase not correct. In the context such as "free press", it means libre from censorship, "gluten-free" means libre from gluten and so on.

Understanding the Context

Then there is "free stuff", why is the same word used? I don't think there's any difference in meaning, although "free of charges" is much less common than "free of charge". Regarding your second question about context: given that English normally likes to adopt the shortest phrasing possible, the longer form "free of charge" can be used as a means of drawing attention to the lack of demand for ...