Latest News and Events
December 2002
Time Banking Training
Two day training in setting up and running a time bank
London 6/7 Feb
Rhondda 27/28 Feb
Newcastle 20/21 March
There will be a charge this time - to attend people must agree to spend four hours after the training talking to colleagues, neighbours and friends about time banks and planning a time bank in their community or workplace.
To book a place contact Martin Simon on 01452 541337 or email [email protected]
Regional meetings 2003
Practitioners forum meetings
London 15 January 2.00-4.30pm (lunch 1-2pm)
Nottingham 12 March 1.00-5.00pm
Practitioners forum meetings are informal get togethers for people who are active in time banking to exchange stories and tips. They will also be opportunities to give feedback on TBUK and its services, request any additional support you need, and to find out more about developments in TBUK as a new independent organisation.
Regional Mentors meeting
London 21 February 11.00am-3.30pm
Open to regional mentors only
Lunch will be provided for all events. There is a miniscule budget for travel costs - contact [email protected] for more info and to book a place. Come along, meet other time bankers and have some fun!
Hi, Gloria here from Castlemilk Timebank
The primary school children at St Martin's School, a local school in
Castlemilk have earned their time credits by keeping their play area tidy,
buddying and mealtime monitoring. They have exchanged their time credits
for juice from BRITVIC soft Drinks (they are going to see Harry Potter at
the cinema, thirsty work) and a REAL christmas tree for their assembly hall.
Have a nice time over the holiday period take care regards from Castlemilk.
November
West Euston opens its Soup Caf
What better way to beat the winter blues than get together with friends and
share a hearty lunch?
Every Friday at the West Euston Time Bank participants sit down together and
enjoy a bowl of soup.
Time credits are earned for preparing the soup, bringing the bread, serving
and washing up. And the caf has had a really positive reception too, "It's
not just about the food. Instead of eating on my own I can now share a meal
with friends and find out what's happening in the community" says Flo
Knight, a time bank member.
Call Maria Duha on 020 7383 4922 for more details
West Euston Soup Caf
October 2002
Major thumbs-up for time banks in research report
Time banks are succeeding in re-building trust and social capital, and are attracting into volunteering the very people who normally take part least including claimants, disabled people, those with a long term illness and non-white British ethnic groups.
Those are the findings of the first nationwide study of time banks in the UK, carried out by the University of East Anglia with funding from ESRC.
The research gives time banks a thumbs-up for their work in deprived communities building the capacity of communities, providing informal local services and making an impact on long-term, isolation, illness and depression. But it says the same model should be applied to other issues, to support political participation or consultation.
The report The Time of Our Lives will be published formally by Time Banks UK and the New Economics Foundation (NEF) at the annual gathering of time bank activists in Glasgow on November 7/8.
It comes as the number of time banks in the country tops 50, with examples in schools, health centres, housing estates and community centres a way of measuring and rewarding peoples time as equal partners in the business of delivering services.
The report also found that time banks are:
- Successfully attracting participants with have an income of under 10,000 (58%) and people outside formal employment (72%) the very groups least involved in traditional volunteering.
- Having an impact on underlying problems like alcoholism and mental ill-health by successfully creating social interaction. As many as 91 per cent of time brokers felt that participants in their time bank were building friendships and trust.
- Successfully crossing social divides by linking schools and residential homes, bridging territorialism through peer-tutoring projects (three Tower Hamlets schools are encouraging peer-tutoring through time banks).
- Meeting some of the needs of participants through practical means help after coming out of hospital, a primary school being able to get gardening done, a kitchen repair. The time bank can help people to get services done that they would not have received at all, or would not have been able to afford.
Building employability by freeing up time to go to work, for example providing childcare, by linking with training providers, and by developing skills for future employment.
Download a pdf copy of the Executive Summary of the report here (140kb), or for a copy of the full report (64pp) price 11.95 contact Central Books 020 8986 5488.
September 2002
Time Banks Tour by Karina Krogh
Going to time bank events generally brings me into a state of excitement over all the amazing things people do through time banks. It seems that every time I hear of a new time bank, it also means hearing about a new way of doing time banking.
Working on putting the time bank handbook together I had the chance to go and visit time banks across the country! That brought me as far as the Cotswolds, Leicester, Rutland, Newcastle and Glasgow. Here a little briefing on what I saw and heard:
- Fairshares has recently embarked on a new project, Time For Childcare, which works towards expanding the availability of local child care and increasing the access to child minder training.
Kate and Keri who are developing the project, respectively in Gloucester and Leicester have managed to keep up to date with all the new and overwhelming legislation in the area. They are both working with several child related agencies to explore how taking good care of our children can go hand-in-hand with building communities.
- In Arthur's Hill Time Bank in Newcastle I met with 6 participants, who despite only having known each other for about a year seemed like they have been best friends for ever. They all took time to tell me about their time bank, in between writing the newsletter, working in the community caf next door, redecorating each others flats, etc. Tina and Zafia, two participants have used the time bank to get work experience and are now working with community health projects.
- In Glasgow, Colin, the time bank broker, took me for a big tour of Gorbals. This included a summer club play for children set up by the local community theatre. I also met Bernard, a core participant in the time bank. Bernard, who is autistic, has earned a huge amount of time credits by helping out at the time bank, leafletting for community groups, etc. Bernard has recently spend some of his credits to get support to go through a computer course and has now passed the first part of the European IT Driving License. Well done, Bernard!
It has been absolutely fantastic to see all the time bank buzzing across the country, and to know that this is just a small part of all that is going on!
August 2002
Fair Shares and Active Citizenship in Schools
Julie Baxter, the Fair Shares Participants Co-ordinator, has been conducting partnership work with a number of community groups, businesses, voluntary agencies and schools in the county. The focus of the work has been linked with active citizenship and the government's educational directives for Key Stage 3. The needs-led development work has naturally evolved the adaptation of the application, contract and agreement forms for the inclusion of a wider social participation.
Maidenhill Secondary School, in Stonehouse, has joined Fair Shares as an organisational participant and selected a group of non-GCSE pupils to perform a variety of assignments as part of their accredited ASDAN vocational work experience. Tasks were undertaken with residents of an extra sheltered housing scheme in their neighbourhood. The help they provided included assistance with wheelchairs during trips to the shops, which for one resident had not been received for several months. Other pupils were involved in leaf clearance, writing Christmas cards, laundering cumbersome items and baking mince pies for a Christmas concert, which took place at the school. In recognition for the dedicated and responsible conduct performed by the young people, the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham donated Pantomime tickets. The Fair Shares were donated back to the housing scheme and arrangements made for a summer trip for all those who took part on the pilot.
On the strength and success of the Maidenhill pilot, Wycliffe College have joined the scheme and will be engaging on Fair Shares as a major part of a new GCSE in Community Citizenship. Older pupils will be taking part with a community service programme. Their work will commence from late September. The work will primarily focus on the prevalent needs for befriending and companionship in the town.
The Young Peoples Fair Shares and the schools involvement has proved so successful we will shortly be introducing the proven scheme to other secondary schools in our county.
July 2002
Innovative education pilot project celebrates first year
On July 9th 2002, from 6.15-8.15 pm, in the Redgrave Suite of the Barbican Centre, participants in an innovative project aimed at improving school attendance and grades will celebrate the first anniversary of the Tower Hamlets pilot project, OPT 4 IT. Miquita Oliver, the popular childrens television presenter, will give a keynote talk and present reward computers to the peer tutors.
Three schools in Tower Hamlets are participating in the two-year project, which is managed by Community Education Development Centre and the New Economics Foundation, and supported by the Shine Trust.
Opt 4 IT uses the idea of time banking with older pupils who share their time tutoring younger pupils. Older pupils (peer tutors, Years 10 and 9) learn how to tutor others, and help younger pupils (Years 8 and 6) with numeracy and study skills, using specially designed learning materials. The pupils chosen to be tutors are those having difficulties with school work, who have behavioural problems or poor attendance. The tutees are those who need 1:1 support, or are from a local primary school and are starting to make a transition from one school to the next.
The project was pioneered in Chicago, where it was found that the peer tutoring improved grades for the peer tutor and tutee alike, has a positive effect on attendance of participants and influences their general well-being and confidence. The project also provides access to a computer for pupils who may not have regular access.
Activities take place in school out of school hours, for 1.5 hours a week, over 20 weeks. Peer tutors earn time credits for the time that they spend tutoring younger pupils. When they reach a target number of time credits they receive a refurbished computer (paid for in the project funding bid). A school coordinator in each school manages the project.
Around 30 peer tutors will receive a refurbished computer as reward for 30 hours completed tutoring. Parents, teachers and local councillors will attend the ceremony, as well as representatives from the SHINE trust and the Community Education Development Centre. A theatre troupe from the Morpeth School, one of those involved in the project, will put on a dance performance involving children of all ages.
For more information contact Karina Krogh at NEF on 07887 992479,
[email protected]
Peer tutors with TV presenter Miquita Oliver at the Opt 4 IT celebrations
June 2002
We had a wonderful visioning event last month in London - 40 time bank enthusiasts looking forward to many varied time banking successes. Here's some of the things that they wanted to see happening in 2005:
- The NHS runs better because patients, staff, carers and the public ALL feel heard and involved in local decision making
- Success of regeneration is assessed by how it has improved communities/life
- People have more time for each other
- Begun to heal the divides between the haves and have-nots
- Built safe, inclusive and tolerant communities
Read the summary report!
(63kb PDF file)
Ash-worth Time Bank in Cheshire celebrates the Jubilee
May 2002
Good news for May Congratulations to Bromley Age Concern, who attended a Time Banks UK training event in London this year. They planned their time bank at the training, developed the idea and found the resources. They are now advertising for a time broker. If you'd like more information on the post contact
[email protected] this month. Well done Bromley!
April 2002
New Photo Project for LTB
The London Time Bank is starting a photo project Back to the future: a snap shot of hour time. Participants from Angell Town and Rushey Green Time Banks will be busy with digital cameras snapping photos of what time banking means to them, aided by professional photographer Jax Murray. The photos will be exhibited and will form part of a time banks photo library. For more information contact Claire Navaie on 020 7089 2823.
We held regional meetings in February and March -
read all about it!
Visioning event for time bankers in London on Friday 24 May 2002.
March 2002
International meeting sparks debate on worldwide time banking organisation
UK delegates contributed to an international meeting of time bankers in March, held in the US. The main focus of the weekend was to look at how to strengthen, support and sustain the growing global time banks movement. Ideas discussed included setting up a worldwide organisation to network time banks, share resources and to campaign for social justice more effectively on a global stage.
March 2002 International Meeting
February 2002
New 273,000 grant for Time Banks UK
Time Banks UK is set to expand after the exciting news of a 273,000 grant from the Community Fund.
The TBUK consortium, which supports the growth and development of time banking in the UK, now includes the Gorbals Initiative (Glasgow), and Valley Kids (Rhondda Valley), besides time banks pioneers Fair Shares (Gloucester) and 'think and do tank' the New Economics Foundation.
The three-year grant will be used to:
- Increase outreach work to individuals and groups who want to set up their own time bank
- Further develop the network
- Employ a business liaison worker to interlink time currency with businesses, social enterprises and communities.
For more information contact Fair Shares on 01452 541337.
January 2002
Regional Networking Meetings for regional mentors, plus active and developing time bank coordinators
Time Banks UK aims to facilitate the growth of time banking, and to do this we need the help and experience of those active in the field. The only true way for the growth of time banking to continue is if the people in the know, that's those who are doing it already, share your learning with each other and those who want to set up time banks, rather than relying exclusively on a central body.
We already have a fledgling network of regional mentors.
We'd like to find out how best to develop and sustain this network.
We are holding four regional networking meetings in February/March 2002, open to participation by all active time bank coordinators, those involved in developing a time bank (ie. you have or are in the process of applying for funding) and regional mentors.
The dates for the meetings are as follows. There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided.
| Place |
Venue |
Date and time |
| London |
New Economics Foundation
Cinnamon House, 6-8 Cole Street
London SE1 4YH |
Wednesday, 6th February 10-1pm |
| Central |
Ability
Mencap Centre, Victoria Street, Newbold, Chesterfield S41 7LP |
Wednesday, 13th February 10-1pm |
| South West |
Greater Bristol Foundation
Royal Oak House, Royal Oak Avenue
Bristol BS1 4GB |
Wednesday, 27th February 1-4pm |
| North East |
Newcastle Healthy City Project
14 Great North Road, Newcastle NE2 4PF |
Wednesday, 6th March 1-4pm |
The aim of each meeting is threefold:
1) To find out how Time Banks UK can strengthen the regional network of mentors.
What support would people have liked regionally and locally when they were setting up their time banks? What do mentors currently do? How much time do they spend doing it and how do they do it?
2) To vision how this regional network will inform democratically the work of Time Banks UK
Time Banks UK is an unconstituted organisation. The aim is to constitute Time Banks UK this year. This will enable us to better resource the network through increased fund raising opportunities (if Time Banks UK becomes a registered charity) and also to involve the regional network of mentors democratically in decision-making.
We need your visions.
What would Time Banks UK or a UK time banking institute be like? What would it do for you? What services would it offer? What could you offer in return?
In ten years time, what would you like to see time banks achieving in the UK?
What is the best legal structure to make sure that time bankers own Time Banks UK, so they can inform and direct its work and development? Your responses will inform how we legally constitute Time Banks UK, so that in the long term you will be able to say how Time Banks UK is run.
3) Using time credits to resource the network
Looking at setting up a means to exchange time credits between time banks around the UK through a central TimeKeeper, and how that might be used. For example, it could be used to share skills between time banks, to pay people for attending meetings, and to enable individuals to take their time credits from one time bank to another.
How can we build time credits into the heart of Time Banks UK so our time is valued, we share skills and we walk our talk? The Maine Time Dollar Network produced a video just with time dollars, what can we do?
There will be time on these days to share experiences and tips, and to give any time banking requests or moans to Time Banks UK. There will also be an update on what is happening with the Charity Commission and on time bank constitutions.
If you would like to attend one of these meetings please contact Karen on 020 7089 2849 or email
[email protected] for more information, by Tuesday 22nd January.
If you are not an active time bank coordinators, involved in developing a time bank, or are a regional mentor but would like to attend please get in touch.