1. Look around you - find a place where people are brought together. It could be a school, hospital, housing estate, older people's centre…anywhere which needs the active participation of the people who learn, live or work there to thrive.

2. Be creative - explore what people want and together create a vision of where you want to be. It might be an after-school club or a community clean-up. Make sure you tap into people's priorities before you get going. Keep focussed: this way you will build on local enthusiasm and support - the most important ingredients.  Link up with local organisations and businesses and get them to work with the time bank.

3. Make the right connections - talk to potential partners and explore local initiatives. People who share your concerns will want to support the project with money or in kind - by donating space, office equipment or volunteer support.

To get started, you need a co-ordinator, a phone line, basic office equipment and basic running costs. Make sure to add into the equation the time contribution that local people will be making through the time bank. Possible sources of funding include local health and regeneration initiatives as well as charitable trusts.

4. Find a base - where your co-ordinator can set up the time bank and install the TimeKeeper software . Create a tangible presence for the time bank and make it easy for people to see you and see the difference you are making.

5. Start small - five or six people are enough to get going. These could be your friends, people from a local tenant's association, people you meet in the doctor's waiting room, or parents and teachers from your local school. Show people what they can achieve immediately by getting active together - through a community clean-up or a garden tidy for elderly people. Working as a team is an ideal way for people to get to know and trust each other.

6. Explore with members where their skills and talents lie - and also where they might need some help. Instead of remembering all the things people can't do, be radical and ask people what they can do. Then help them to do it!
 
7. Get active and involved by using the energy and talents they are offering immediately. Link them up with people who need their help. Support and train your members; this way, you share the knowledge that's needed with the people who know best.  Encourage members to be part of the steering group and get them fully involved in the operation, decision making and future planning of the time bank.

Use members' ideas for new initiatives and get them to bring their family and friends along. Encourage them by offering them time credits for each new member they introduce to the time bank.

Make sure your members are part of the day-to-day management and development of the time bank, so they can tell you what is going right…and wrong….and can help you to fix it. Make sure members feel safe by taking up references and running regular training sessions.

8. Make your time bank enterprising by getting local charities and businesses to sponsor you or donate unwanted goods (food, clothes, furniture) - anything you can re-use through the time bank.

9. Measure the difference. What difference is your time bank making to the local community? The indicators you choose are up to you - for example, levels of bullying, transfers off the estate or older people being admitted to hospital) - but this evidence is vital to show your supporters that they can't afford to be without you.

Get the message out there: show people what a radical difference you can make by involving everyone in the production of the things they need most - a helping hand, a listening ear, good friends and neighbours.