Time banks can:

1. meet local needs
   
2. develop skills and resources in the community
   
3. build networks between people and organisations for wider community benefit
   
4. catalyse local community activities
   

1. Meeting local needs

Time banks measure and value equally an extraordinary variety of skills that people and organisations share. These are skills which are undervalued by the market economy because they are in plentiful supply. For example:

a helping hand when needed; DIY; a companion for exercise; gardening; a trip to the shops; painting and decorating; listening; dog walking; befriending; arts and crafts; sports; music; collecting a prescription.

The market economy provides few of these services. They make a big difference to people’s quality of life. A time bank rewards people for the time they spend participating in these activities, and encourages other people to do the same. It recognises the time that they spend building a community. As time banks are often set up in areas of social and economic deprivation, the time bank provides a way for those most in need to access assistance and services, and to share their own skills.

A time bank can also provide services that have more quantifiable benefits, and which bring together the diversity of a community:

Practicing a new language through conversation; learning new skills; teaching what you enjoy; building social networks through get-togethers; organising community events; learning about IT and computers; work placements with local organisations; job skills such as letter writing and attending interviews.

This way, a time bank provides a continuum from the ‘softer’ confidence building activities to ‘firmer’ learning and employment-related benefits. It also brings together groups who would not normally mix, such as young people and older people, or refugees and long term local residents, and breaks down barriers between these groups through mutual understanding.

Organisations also participate in time banks. They use the time bank for:

Leaflet delivery; assistance at short notice; administration help; networking with other organisations at events; shared use of resources such as computers and photocopiers; advice from other organisations on finance etc.; meeting space; training resources; getting repairs or simple decorating done; delivery of goods.

For many organisations, the time bank is a way to develop a positive relationship with local people: offering incentives to time bank participants by a discount, for example, or access to sports facilities at off peak times.

The time bank can have its own account within the TimeKeeper software, using these time credits to facilitate community events or to benefit those who have no credits themselves. The time bank will credit a participant for the time they have spent on a certain activity and deduct it from its own account.

Holding Christmas parties for local kids; neighbourhood transport; box schemes; catering at special events; sports; peer mentoring in schools.

People sometimes pass their time credits on to someone else who may be in greater need e.g. an elderly housebound person needing some extra care and support.