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Welcome to the news from around the Time Banks UK network. Please click on the links below to visit the latest news on:
Micro grants available to small community groups and individuals Micro grants of �50 - �250 are available to small community groups and individuals wishing to develop a community based project or activity. Click here for full details and application form (84Kb Word document). Deadline for receipt of applications is Monday 16 June The Grant Fund is funded through the weekly Community Lottery, which is operated by Community Money CIC, a non-profit micro finance company.
Co-ordinator � Older People�s Projects - This is the third year of an extremely successful project. Our aim is to continue to encourage organisations to use time banking to involve older people. Older people have a great deal to contribute to communities and with an ageing population we need to find new ways of providing social care and incentives for people to become active citizens. Time banking is our answer. Castlemilk gets Queen's Award! The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service winners for 2008 have been announced, and Castlemilk Timebank is one of those who will be receiving the National Honour - which is equivalent to an MBE - this year for its work in the local community. Once again the many volunteers in Castlemilk have been recognised for the work they do. Truly �Unsung Heroes�. Rushey Green's 8th Birthday Party & AGM RUSHEY GREEN TIME BANK WOULD LIKE TOINVITE YOU TO OUR AGM AND8TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!! Come and celebrate with us... ♥ Yummy Food ♥ Refreshments ♥ Raffle ♥ Live Music ♥ Salsa dancing ♥ Poetry & many more... Thursday 12th June 6.15 pm � 10.30 pm HOLBEACH PRIMARY SCHOOL Doggett Road, SE6 4QB (Entrance on the corner of Holbeach & Doggett Rd) Please RSVP to Maria Meska as soon as possible - 020 7138 1785 - 72
Invitation to time banking festival in London This is an opportunity too good to miss��.!! Time Banking UK are working in partnership with Media Trust to deliver a time banking campaign across London to raise awareness about time banking and to encourage people to get involved in a time bank near them. The campaign will run during May and June 2008 and will provide information and advice via television, radio, advertisements, leaflets, promotional documents and merchandise. There will be two festivals in June, south of the river Thames (Lewisham Shopping Centre) on 21st and north of the river at Highbury Fields in Islington 22nd June 2008. The London Time Banks will be attending one of the festivals, bringing with them time bank members to showcase time exchanges and activities where members of the public will be invited to take part. It will be two great days of fun activities and an opportunity to meet up with the other time banks! If you would like to be part of these festivals, you are most welcome. If you only come to London once this year, make it this weekend! If you could contribute to the festival in any way � on stage or with stalls and activities, we may be able to help with some of the expenses to you time bank. Just send an email to me at sarahbird7@yahoo. Time Banking UK has moved offices. Please use this address and telephone number when contacting us in future: Time Banking In this week's (31st March 2008) issue of The Big Issue there is an article with the founder of time banking, Edgar Cahn. You will need to buy a copy to read this article. See their website for more information.
Calling all time banking people! Please see report on LINks, Local Involvement Networks, a new initiative by the Department of Health to replace Patient Forums (660Kb PDF document) Local Authorities will receive money to pass on to community groups to run their local LINks. Time banks are ideally placed to do this and may I suggest that you have a look at the attached report and make contact with the appropriate officer at your LA and express an interest in becoming a LINk. It will be a good idea to all work together on this and to draft an application that we can all adapt and use. Please let Martin know if you are interested.
Community Development Foundation appointed to deliver �130 million 'grassroots grants' scheme The Cabinet Office has unveiled the name of a new, multi-million pound funding programme to boost local community organisations with much-needed access to small grants and long-term financing. It also announced the appointment of the Community Development Foundation as its lead national partner in delivering the scheme.'Grassroots Grants' will launch in the new year with �130 million available from 2008-2011 to strengthen the community sector. It will be divided into two parts: an �80 million small grants fund for community organisations; and a groundbreaking �50 million endowments programme to enable local foundations to generate additional donations from the private sector on a matched basis and invest them in endowments, thereby building their capacity to provide long-term funding for frontline community organisations. The Community Development Foundation (CDF) will open an application process in January to identify and appoint local funders who will deliver Grassroots Grants locally. Applications will be invited by April with further details of the process and the programme to be confirmed next month.
It�s all about U is a new national campaign to celebrate people who volunteer every day of the year. See time banking featured in a film on the new all about u website
Corporate social responsibilty Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby organisations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment in all aspects of their operations. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large. (click here to read the rest of the Wikipedia article) The national CSR Register offers charities the chance to get the help and resources they need to deliver social and community engagement projects and make a positive difference for so many people. We connect businesses to these projects in a way that saves time, money but most importantly makes sure the projects get done. Register your time bank for free - click here
Please take some time to remember a very special person and a good Click to view website with slide show
Royston Time Bank have put together a book of inspiring stories from their time bank participants. Click here to read the stories (3Mb Word document)
Conservative paper on �citizens service� The Conservative Party have published 'It's Time to Inspire Britain's Teenagers', a report outlining plans for a national citizens service programme.
Keen teens tackle volunteering in the 21st century Time Banks UK and other European time banks organisations are aiming to further the involvement of young people (under 25) in community activities and projects and increase the influence of young people in the development of time banking in various countries across Europe. Please click here to read more about the project (52Kb Word document) Ulla from Sweeden has set up a forum on her home page for the youth (international) and Young people from all over the Organised by Gloucester-based Time Banks UK the working weekend gave the young people a chance to come up with their own ideas on how to help their local communities by using time banking. Time banking allows young people to be involved with their community in a more interactive way than traditional volunteering and is based on the idea of �give and take�. �Young people often get a bad press so it is great to see that they care about their community and want to be involved in looking after it and helping their neighbours.� Young people from Cheltenham, Already organisations in For more information contact: Chris Moore 07810 732379 or [email protected] or
Click here to open the report on the British meeting (1Mb Word document) Improving Services and Support for Older People with Mental Health Problems The final report of the UK Inquiry entitled �Improving Services and Support for Older People with Mental Health Problems� has been issued today. A copy of the report can be downloaded from www.mhilli.org. The report has been featured on the national news. Page 72 of the report uses the Rushey Green Time Bank as a case study. �Getting Real� - Co-production, Time Banking and Mental Health This Conference Report, which has been co-produced by the delegates and the organisers, is an inspiring record of a very special day and a call for action. It will be an invaluable resource for people involved in planning, providing or receiving mental health services. The Conference and the Report mark the beginning of a campaign to actively engage users and the local community as partners in the design and delivery of services � for real! Click here for the conference report (922Kb pdf document) �Getting Real� is a partnership between NSIP, SLAM, Capital Volunteering, nef and Time Banks UK. We want to thank everyone who has given their time and expertise so generously in the co-production of this report.
One good turn - neighbourhood time banking Not so long ago we knew our neighbours, we knew which of them would do us a favour and they knew we were happy to help them out in return. Life has changed. People live more isolated lives and our friends and family don't always live nearby. Now it's not so easy to ask a neighbour for help or see if you can help them, particularly if you don't know them very well. Now a national charity, Time Banks UK, has come up with a step-by-step guide to help people build back that sense of good neighbourliness and trust in their street. Called One Good Turn it shows how a group of people can help each other out and help themselves at the same time. The step-by-step guide takes people through all the stages needed to set up a neighbourhood time bank using a small group of friends and neighbours. It covers the background to time banking, how time banking works and various checklists and information sheets to help people to get started quickly. Martin Brennan TBUK trustee and time broker at The Time Exchange in Arthur�s Hill, �Time banking has been around in the Anyone interested in starting a neighbourhood time bank can get a free copy of the guide by calling 0800 6941391 or download it from www.timebanking.org.uk ENDS For further information contact For more information about time banking in action contact the time broker, Martin Brennan on 0191 245 0663 at The Time Exchange in Arthur�s Hill,
Responses to public consultations Martin Simon's reponses to public consultations Click here to read about the select committee and public services consultation (46Kb Word document) Click here to read the covering letter to the Commission for the Future of Volunteering (300Kb Word document) Click here to read call for evidence 1 - Commission for the Future of Volunteering (416Kb Word document) Click here to read call for evidence 2 - Commission for the Future of Volunteering (329Kb Word document)
2007 JRF Evaluation of the co-production process Over the last two years action researchers, the Welsh Institute for Community Currency (WICC), the Gorbals Initiative and the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust have worked with the new economics foundation to find current practical examples of co-production and opportunities for the future.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published an evaluation of the co-production process.
Hidden work: Co-production by people outside paid employment by David Boyle, Sherry Clark and Sarah Burns, looks at the concept of co-production, the process whereby public service clients work alongside professionals, often in the local community to make their work more effective, to see how it works, how much it helps clients and public services, and how public services can best be broadened in this way. As the debate on the future of public services increasingly looks to the participation of ordinary people alongside professionals, this is the first comprehensive piece of research in the UK to look at co-production as a possible way forward. Hidden work: Co-production by people outside paid employment is available now as a free PDF download or as a paperback report, priced �16.95, from http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/details.asp?pubID=796. A free summary can also be downloaded from the JRF site http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/pdf/0356.pdf.
May 2006 Time Online- new timekeeper software for Full Members Time Online is now operational for Full Members. Just go to the Members Login Page and key in your usual login in the green box. The manual will take you through it all step by step at your own pace. It's very different to the old Timekeeper so take your time to get used to it. Support and training are available by contacting [email protected]
The new online version of TimeKeeper, tailor made for Security is always an issue when doing anything online, but don�t worry. We are implementing the same level of security as banks use .By using the usual members� unique login, each member time bank can only see their own data online, and no-one else has access to it. The database will be in one central place online and our providers take regular backups. The next stage of development will be getting the national time exchange up and running. We welcome your input as to how this will work but it is hoped that time brokers will be able to exchange hours not only with TBUK, but with any other time bank member in the
Time Banking in Action � the power of social networks The fourth Time Banks UK conference was held last week on 4 and 5 May in Cardiff. It was a complete sell out, and very well received by everyone. All of the materials used during the conference will be available here on the website shortly for downloading.
Click here for conference materials Click here for conference feedback (36Kb Word document)
April 2006 21st century volunteers give and take A new breed of 21st century volunteers is emerging who want to give and to receive from their involvement and time banking is the simple method they can use to fulfil their needs. Paul Goggins, UK Minister for Volunteering said this week: �A recent report on volunteering by Joe Saxton* asserted that in the 21st century, volunteers are increasingly motivated by what they can personally achieve through giving their time to a charity or other volunteer involving body. �Some initiatives such as time banking put this motivation at the heart of the volunteer experience. I welcome this trend. Those who give their time have every reason to expect to be able to make a difference to the organisation and issue that they choose to volunteer for � every right to see volunteering as a way of achieving their own ambitions.� Time banking started in the UK in 1998 where the first time bank was set up in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire under the name of Fair Shares. Now there are 80 time banks nationwide which are all linked together by the umbrella charity Time Banks UK based in Gloucester. Most time banks involve between 100 to 200 people. Chair of the Trustees, Martin Farrell said: �The time banking movement is taking hold all over the country. Setting up a time bank can unlock the often untapped resource of time, skills, wisdom and care already there in any community just waiting to be invested. �Giving and receiving binds us together in communities. And the even better news is that this simple mechanism � time banking - delivers this reciprocal giving and receiving in a safe and reliable way which respects what each individual can offer for its value to other people rather than its cash value.�
February 2006 Community and Time Banking the �Tool� and New �Vehicles� Helping to Change the Direction of Prisons and the Probation Service On February 6th the Fair Shares Gloucester Time Bank and HMP Gloucester Seminar held at the Civil Service Club, Cheltenham was very well received by Prison Officers and Time Brokers, who came from as far a field as South Wales, Exeter, London and Glasgow! It was an opportunity to see just how ideal time banking is as a �tool� to help the National Offenders Management Scheme initiative due to be launched in April this year. This scheme will transform the current Probation and Prison Service dealing with resettlement and sentence management. Community linked work will be strengthened and time banking has been recognised and acknowledged as a means of support for inmates and their families in and outside of prison through the use of an alternative currency and community support mechanism. Prisons can access more services and support in the prison and in their Family and Visitors Centres to assist with the Family Pathways related work. Essentially time banks can help with family cohesion, resettlement, reintegration, and the reduced likelihood of re-offending. In Is their a prison near your time bank? Want to know more? Call Julie Baxter 01452 415900 or email [email protected] A workshop exploring this will be available at the Time Banks UK Conference on May 4th and 5th,
Success for time banking in prison volunteer scheme A leading volunteering charity was today gearing up for a major event which will highlight the result of a groundbreaking partnership with Gloucester Prison. The Gloucester Time Bank is staging a free workshop on Monday, February 6, to show other prisons and time banks across the country the success of a new scheme which helps support both prisoners and their families. Under the innovative new scheme prisoners can learn new skills and provide for their families by volunteering to restore old bicycles so they can then be delivered to poor communities in the developing world. In exchange for their efforts, every minute of the time they volunteer is held with the time bank and their families on the outside can then "cash in" the time to get help from volunteers with jobs ranging from decorating to shopping. The initiative, which has been funded by a Sure Start Strengthening Families grant, has proved so successful that chiefs at Gloucester Prison and the Gloucester Time Bank are hoping it will be adopted across the country. Gloucester Time Bank manager, Julie Baxter, said: "The project is working really well and now we are at a point where we want to share our success with others to encourage them to set up similar schemes. "The Prison Link Project is done in partnership with HMP Gloucester Resettlement team and the Castle Gate Family and Visitors Centre and enables prisoners and their families to give and receive help. "This combats isolation and makes people feel part of the wider community as well as giving them a positive contribution to make." Under the project the time bank is also working with the prison discharge board so prisoner's can be referred to their local time bank following their release. The workshop, which is being held at the Cheltenham Civil Service Club, will cover how prisons, time banks and the probation service can form vital links and examine how time banking can work with the National Offending Management Schemes and the Regional Offending Management Schemes. February 2006 Georgia in the Snow
TBUK development manager Joy Robinson�s diary 25 Jan
�It is 2.10pm now and I have been working with the World Vision people who will be running out the training programme with me. We will be doing a full days training here at the World Vision headquarters in Tbilisi tomorrow (26 January) and are expecting around 15 people.
Diary entry 26th January (27Kb Word document) Diary entry 27th January (21 Kb Word document) Diary entry 28th January (24Kb Word document) Diary entry 29th January (26Kb Word document) Diary entry 30th January (22Kb Word document) Diary entry 31st January (22Kb Word document) Diary entry 2nd February (21Kb Word document)
Georgia on our mind - press release (27Kb Word document)
October 2005 People�s Poetry on National Poetry Day, October 6th 2005 �Poetry is about little things. Fleeting moments, unimportant corners where we rarely look. Time banks are about little things too. Using skills we forget we have, maybe just to phone someone up to see how they are, knowing that little things can actually change the world. I hadn�t predicted it, hadn�t expected it but that�s the beauty of time banking, it�s about creating a space for people to decide what they can and really want to do, instead of having things done to them or for them.� David Boyle � Co founder of London Time Bank, the capital�s time banking network. London Time Bank Poetry Project The London Time Bank Poetry Project was launched on National Poetry Day two years ago (October 3rd 2003).
Angelltown�s Book of Poetry (to get hold of a copy, please contact Karen directly) London Time: Poetry from London�s time banks (PDF file 466kb)
Putting on a performance at The Poetry Society�s own Poetry Caf�, on National Poetry Day with the Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion kick starting our People�s Poetry Event. The project has not only provided inspiration for the poets amongst us but it has also provided inspiration to those who have been working in the background � time bank brokers, project managers and event co-ordinators. We�ve not only seen and heard poetry of an impressive standard but we have also seen and felt some of the support; understanding; shared learning; empathy; pride and admiration that are being exchanged within the sessions. Poets from 10 London time banks took part in the performance � do have a look at some of the photo�s. poetrysociety.org andrewaitchison.com
Contact Karen Lyon, Project Coordinator, on 020 7820 6331 or [email protected] December 04 Yorkshire & Humberside Networking Event 6th December Time For Hemsworth, the West Yorkshire time bank hosted a networking event for current Yorkshire and Humberside regional time banks or time banks in planning. The day was used to promote best practice in time banking, to share ideas, to discuss positive and negative experiences and generally to provide a network of support. November 04 Islington Time Bank Network Conference : 8th November 04The Islington Conference took place at The Resource Centre in Holloway Road. It aimed to:
The key themes were:
Each workshop was facilitated by a Time Broker and a professional in the field a nd the afternoon session focussed on fundraising with a panel to provide an introduction to their funding criteria. For more information please visit the Islington time bank network website. October 04 Dr Edgar Cahn�s speech at Social Services Conference, 20 October 04At the invitation of the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), Dr Edgar Cahn was key note speaker and TBUK ran a supporting workshop at the ADSS National Conference in Newcastle on 20 October. The Association of Directors of Social Services represents all the directors of social services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the conference hall in the Civic Centre, Newcastle was packed for Edgar's powerful speech building on his theme of �No More Throwaway People�. Martin Simon and Kika Williamson from Time Banks UK ran a workshop called �Co-production: re-engaging the missing pieces� in the afternoon which drew on the experience of time banks as a practical way to involve those normally regarded as �clients, target groups, beneficiaries and recipients� as co-producers of their well being and the well being of society at large. Time Banks UK leaflets were distributed in every conference pack and Martin Simon wrote a think-piece within the ADSS magazine which ended with this quote: �A blunt truth is that most of the hard cash from government targeted on social welfare is used on infrastructure and on the cost of employing professionals helpers. A great deal of energy is then used, quite sensibly, by these professionals on building their own social networks to enhance the quality of their work and their own well being. You can read the full text of this article here. May 2004
February 2004 Time banks and public services New article published in the New Statesman magazine on how time banking and co-production can help provide a possible solution to the failure of public services by David Boyle, a trustee of Time Banks UK and an associate at the New Economics Foundation. See Articles section for the full text. November 2003 Birmingham SeminarA very successful meeting was held for time brokers across the country in Birmingham. You can read here the impressions of a new time broker, Laura Murgatroyd of Time for Action in Barton Hill, Bristol. The opening address by Martin Simon, Acting Director of Time Banks UK is given in full in our Presentations Section. March 2003 Time Banking Time Banks UK hits 100,000 hour milestone! A lifetime's worth of community self-help catalysed by UK time banks In just five years time banks have exchanged 100,000 hours of time credits - the equivalent of 50 years of full time work. In an age of political apathy and disillusionment, the 80 community time banks currently operating in the UK make it easy for people to get involved and to make a difference. They encourage community participation and actually reward participants, and so strengthen community activities. The success of time banks comes from the fact that they evolve in response to the needs and skills of participants, and the environment in which it is based - which makes time banking a flexible tool that can respond to local issues. People are able to participate informally, close to home. Reaching 100,000 hours of community self help exchanged is a real success for UK time banks.
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