SIGNPOST HOUSING REPORT

Time Banks and their Supporters REPORT OF TELEPHONE CONFERENCE 24th January 2007 Facilitated and led by Sarah Bird Telephone conferences aim to give participants the opportunity to:  Network with others Share ideas and experiences  Discover solutions  Feel less isolated and to get more support  Feel motivated and more confident in their quest  Receive written information about the chosen subject  Be able to pass on this knowledge to others  Give choices where they may not have been in the past  Help give a voice to those who may not have felt heard  Sarah Bird – telephone conference co-ordinator and event organiser Sarahbird7@yahoo.co.uk – Tel 0777 5936 333 or 01761 412495 Introduction Time Banks UK want to explore alternative ways to link Time Banks around the country and decided to see how telephone conferencing might benefit them as an alternative communication method. The hour long discussion enabled participants to talk about local and national supporters of their Time Banks and how these supporters might benefit all Time Banks across the country. This summary of the discussion will be available on the Time Banks UK website. The participants were all Brokers or staff members from Time Banks around the country. Gloria Murray Sue Holden Lucy Curtis Karen Weston John Towers Joy Robinson Jo Goldie Katrina Boyle Maria Pont Sarah Bird Glasgow Time Bank Richmondshire Time Bank Chesterfield Time Bank Bath Time Bank Plus Time Banks UK, Glos Time Banks UK, Glos North Cotswolds Time Bank West Lothian Time Bank Lewisham Time Bank, London Bath Time Bank Plus Sarah Bird, the Broker from Time Bank Plus in Bath chaired and led the discussion. She welcomed everyone to the conference and ran though some house rules before asking each person to introduce themselves and tell the others a little bit about their own Time Bank. There were a variety of Time Banks, who had been operating from between 1.5 years to 5 years. All the Time Banks had staff and/or volunteers who helped run them. Memberships ranged from 60 to over 400 volunteers. The Time Bank in North Cotswold had a Board of Trustees. Joy Robinson of Time Banks UK reminded everyone that there were around 80 active Time Banks in the country with another 40 or so in development. Who are our supporters? Participants had lots of examples of who were their supporters. However some Time Banks felt they had no specific organisational supporters, and that it was the time and commitment of the volunteers which was making their Time Banks a success. Supporters mentioned were: Local and district councils and housing associations. These provide funding support or resource support (meeting rooms/photocopying) for several Time Banks. Other funders mentioned were:  UnLtd  Countryside Funding  Help the Aged Sarah Bird – telephone conference co-ordinator and event organiser Sarahbird7@yahoo.co.uk – Tel 0777 5936 333 or 01761 412495 Supporters who gave ‘freebies’ (free tickets, discounts) or help in kind (premises, photocopying and other resources)  B&Q (equipment, training sessions)  Remploy (free wheelchairs)  Co-op (food, vouchers, prizes for raffles)  Blockbusters (money off coupons)  Odeon/UCI cinema (free tickets)  Bowlplex (free tickets)  Paintballing centres (free tickets)  Football and rugby clubs (prizes, free tickets, premises)  Sports centres (free tickets, discounts)  Dozens of local community groups (premises, assistance, photocopying)  Churches (premises, meeting space)  Schools (use of rooms, resources, assistance from pupils)  Local shops close to the Time Banks (prizes, discounts, vouchers) Who supports us continuously and who prefers ‘one-offs’? What kinds of things do people donate?     B&Q were noted to prefer one-off support, giving trees, decking, DIY training sessions, chippings etc. Remploy also gave one off gifts of wheelchairs. The Co-op gave food donations for one-off events and vouchers Local councils were said to have given one-off funding for Time Bank set up costs. Continuous support were said to come from local community groups, churches and schools. However, Bath Time Bank did say that they were getting continual support from The Odeon cinema, another local cinema and the theatre. All of these organisations were giving free tickets to the Time Bank which they could swap with Time Bank members for time credits. How do we calculate time exchanges when people want to swap time for ‘freebies’? We used examples such as swapping a cinema ticket for 2 hours time credits as this was simple to understand in time terms. 1 cinema ticket = 2 time credits (2 hours) 1 theatre ticket = 3 time credits (3 hours) 1 swim pass = 1 time credit (1 hour) However, when discussing actual items, rather than a time based activity, things got more complicated. For example, Bath Time Bank has been given 4 working inkjet printers by an organisation who is keen to gain some time credits. Sarah Bird – telephone conference co-ordinator and event organiser Sarahbird7@yahoo.co.uk – Tel 0777 5936 333 or 01761 412495  “We worked it out by saying each printer would give 10 hours of usage over a period of time, therefore the organisation should be credited with 40 time credits.” Others agreed that this kind of exchange is very difficult to manage properly. Perhaps the goods should be donated to the Time Bank and then the Time Bank should credit that person or organisation with time credits from a central ‘poole’.  “The Time Bank is about time, so I feel we should steer clear of exchanging goods for time and vice versa.” Who are the national organisations we could all benefit from? Participants agreed that the support of the following national organisations could benefit all Time Banks:      B&Q Cinema chains like Odeon or UCI Paintballing Centres 10 pin bowling chains like Bowlplex National sport centre chains like Fitness First What kinds of things do we want? Participants agreed that cinema tickets, swimming vouchers and other time based activities could be great for the time bank. In addition, to have educational activities or training for Time Bank members would be another incentive to get involved. For example, B&Q were said to have laid on DIY sessions for Time Bank volunteers. Contacting potential supporters Time Banks UK – what they can do to help John Towers and Joy Robinson agreed that where possible Time Banks UK would contact some national organisations to see whether the head offices would be open to supporting Time Banks around the country. It could be that as a Time Bank member (no matter where in the country), that member would be eligible for discounts (or freebies) from that organisation. John was keen not to disrupt any agreement or arrangement that individual Time Banks may have with their local store or organisation, but participants agreed that if the Head Office of a national organisation was open to the idea of supporting Time Banks, then approaching the local store may be easier. How do Time Banks approach organisations? Participants talked about how we might contact organisations and what kind of things should be mentioned in the phone call or letter.  “Enclosing our own Time Bank leaflet which explains who we are and how we work saves time on repeating things in a letter and also keeps the letter to a reasonable length.” Sarah Bird – telephone conference co-ordinator and event organiser Sarahbird7@yahoo.co.uk – Tel 0777 5936 333 or 01761 412495 What’s in it for the organisation? In what ways might Time Banks give back to the larger organisations who offer support and free tickets or discounts? What’s in it for the organisations to link up with a Time Bank?  “Many organisations are told that they need to be working more closely with the local community. They often are not sure how to go about this. The Time Bank can offer a mechanism for this to happen. By working with the Time Bank, offering resources or discounts, they are contributing to the objectives of the Time Bank and improving community cohesion.” Participants agreed that some organisations can ‘tick the box’ by supporting and working with Time Banks, however, it was argued that organisations may also want something more tangible in return. Suggestions were:    The Time Bank giving volunteer assistance to organisations. The Time Bank providing local publicity (via the press, in the Time Bank’s newsletter, advertising within the Time Bank etc) Even national publicity could be a possibility via Time Banks UK What’s in it for our Time Banks? All Time Banks would benefit from extra resources and support. Freebies are a great incentive to get new Time Bank members on board. Bath Time Bank use incentives like cinema tickets to involve young people. Joy Robinson of TBUK agreed that it can be difficult to get young people involved as they often do not want to exchange time credits in the usual way. Being able to swap time credits for freebies is a great incentive to get youngsters involved in volunteering. Evaluation and The Next Steps All participants felt it had been an interesting and useful experience and were keen to take part in future discussion on topics such as:    Funding opportunities Keeping Time Bank members engaged (see Appendix – The Favours Game) Getting people involved Sarah Bird January 2007 Sarah Bird – telephone conference co-ordinator and event organiser Sarahbird7@yahoo.co.uk – Tel 0777 5936 333 or 01761 412495 APPENDIX – THE FAVOURS GAME – Session outline Aims This session is designed to  Introduce simple everyday skills we all have and may not value  Help us recognize that we all have needs  Develop ideas of how we can exchange our time  Help participants to get to know each other  Help to build participants confidence to participate Outcomes By the end of the session the participants will  Be aware of the skills we give freely that could be used in a time bank  Be aware of needs we have that could be satisfied through time bank  See beginnings of how exchanging time can satisfy our need  Start building relationships  Start building confidence to speak and participate Methods  Pair work  Feedback  Discussion Resources  Two flip charts and pens Session Plan 1. Facilitators give example of favour they have done for free in past week, write on post-it then stick on flip chart 2. Participants work with person to their right 3. Ask that person to identify a favour and vice versa, write on post-it 4. Each participant feeds back short details of favour their partner gave 5. Facilitator – add post-its to flip chart 6. Facilitators give example of a need, something they would like someone to do for them, write on post-it or flip chart 7. Same exercise but change partners (entail moving seats) 8. This time ask partner to identify a need, something they would like some one to do for them 9. As before, add to flip chart 10. Facilitator now sees if there are matches – encourage participants to point these out 11. If there are needs unmatched, ask participants if anyone could satisfy that need 12. Conclude session by explaining that what we have here is the very basis of a time bank so long as everyone is prepared to give and receive on an equal basis 1hour = 1 hour and no money changes hands Sarah Bird – telephone conference co-ordinator and event organiser Sarahbird7@yahoo.co.uk – Tel 0777 5936 333 or 01761 412495 Session Plan Grid Time 10.35am Activity Start Length 25mins 2. Trainers’ notes – Favours game – 20 mins This is a game I developed to use with groups who are new to time banking and/or considering starting up a time bank. I also use it with time banks who have reached a lull in trading. As well as giving attendees a basic idea of how a time bank works, this also helps them to gain confidence in public speaking. I do not intend to run a session specifically on public speaking or presentations because this can feel intimidating. My method to start to build these skills is to encourage people to speak from the front where possible, feeding back information – a more gentle way of building confidence.   Explain to everyone that the sort of skills that can be used in a time bank are the sort of everyday skills that we all have and probably just take for granted, things we might do for some one as a favour. Start off with your own favour – something simple you have done for a friend, family member, neighbour etc. Write your name on the top of a post-it and the favour below this. (Again everything will have to be duplicated and done in 2 languages Give them maximum of 5 mins to do this Give out post-its to group and ask them to think of one favour they have done for someone within the past 2 weeks. Write their name on a post-it with the favour below (one word is fine ie cleaning, cooking, driving). Invite them to discuss favours with their neighbour once it is written up if they want to. Ask each person to come to the front with the post-it displaying their favour and explain briefly what the favour was and give to trainer to stick on wall/flipchart (whichever is appropriate). Trainers try to arrange favours in groups ie childcare, lifts, DIY, cooking etc Trainer should now point out the number of skills identified within this room from asking people about just one favour . Trainer should also emphasise that all of these skills could be used to help others in a time bank. A time bank can be that simple. Next, we want everyone to identify a need. (This is often more difficult, there is something in human nature that makes us want to be givers). Ask everyone to move out of their seat and pair up with someone, preferably someone they have not met before. Give them 10 mins max to identify any needs they might have. Discuss this with their partner. Maximum of 3 needs but one is ok. Again, write on different colour post-it with name on top and need below. Pairs to come to front with post-its and briefly explain them to group. Trainers to take post-its from each pair and try to match with skills on favours board If there is no match group on one side. When everyone has fed back look at matches (hopefully, there will be some!). Point out that here we have the potential for a time bank. Look at needs that are not matched and ask group if there is anyone who could satisfy that need. Ideally, we would end with every need matched (would point out that rarely happens but it doesn’t matter) Sum up. Explain to group that what they have created through their collective contributions is the basis for a time bank. We have achieved this by recording Sarah Bird – telephone conference co-ordinator and event organiser Sarahbird7@yahoo.co.uk – Tel 0777 5936 333 or 01761 412495                  what is already going on in people’s lives. Point out that a time bank does not have to be an add on but a way of recording what is already happening to the benefit of all. Point out that each step of this training is a bit like building a wall, and to make that wall strong we need to get the foundations firm before we put in the bricks. Most of the work we will do this morning will be to ensure that we have good foundations. In other words a good understanding of the elements that must come together before we can start to build our time bank. Thank group and introduce next session Joy Robinson Development Manager, TBUK Sarah Bird – telephone conference co-ordinator and event organiser Sarahbird7@yahoo.co.uk – Tel 0777 5936 333 or 01761 412495