WHAT IS TIMEBANKING?

www.volunteernow.co.uk

History of Timebanking

What is a Timebank?• Share skills with others and be

rewarded for it

• For every hour you give providing help to another member you receive one time credit

How it Works

• One hour = One time credit;• Principle of ‘giving’ and ‘receiving’- 2 way

exchange;• Time Broker / Co-ordinator / Organiser (can

be more than 1 person);• System to record;

Core Values

• Recognising People as Assets

• Valuing Work Differently

• Promoting Reciprocity

• Building Social Networks

• Respect

Timebanking in Northern Ireland

Redburn Loughview Community Forum

Redburn Loughview Community Forum

• Timebank Established in 2012

• 178 members

• 2,842 hours exchanged

Exchanges at Redburn Loughview

Benefits identified by Housing Executive from RLCF Pilot

• Operates outside financial systems – real benefit to those on low incomes

• Encourage residents to learn new skills, assist in the labour market

• Way to engage with socially excluded who may not otherwise become involved

• Energises communities – recognises people as assets rather than imposing top down area based solutions

Benefits identified by Housing Executive from RLCF Pilot

• Fosters a sense of community, creates a sense of belonging and promotes respect, tolerance and diversity

• Reduces ASB by providing a mechanism through which young people become more integrated through the reciprocal nature

• Build social networks• Encourage greater participation from a greater

number, and broader cross section of tenants than some traditional models of engagement.

Carrickfergus Community Currency

Small Grants Programme

Organisation Timebank

What makes it different to ‘traditional’ volunteering

Reaches out to people who wouldn’t normally volunteer

Time of Our Lives, Dr Gill Seyfang, University of East Anglia (2002)

‘No society has the money to buy, at market prices, what it takes to raise

children, make a neighbourhood safe, care for the elderly, make democracy work or address systemic injustices.

The only way the world is going to address social problems is by enlisting the very people now classified as ‘clients’ and ‘consumers’ and converting them into coworkers, partners and rebuilders of the core economy.’

For news, resources and information

www.volunteernow.co.uk

Sinead.Quinn@volunteernow.co.ukfacebook.com/TimebankingVolunteerNow

Upcoming Events19th June – Moving the Coproduction Conversation Forward (in partnership with the New Economics Foundation)

2nd October – Setting up a Timebank (Free)