Time Online is available free to members of Time Banks UK and is a purpose built online system to help you keep a record of people, their skills, their availability and the tasks that they do for one another. It also matches people to particular requests for help and acts as the collective memory that used to be there in local communities. It also issues time bank statements noting how many hours each individual has earned and spent.

TimeKeeper is also available for you to use; it performs the same jobs but is much older and comes as a software package that requires Microsoft Access.

Both systems are simple to run and straightforward to use. As is the case with any information systems, there may be issues around confidentiality so it is best if just one person records all the information. (It is of course quite possible to do all this with pen and paper.)

Keeping in touch is often done electronically these days and you may want to set up an e-group. A telephone call or a visit is still best but if these are not possible and enough of you have email addresses, then regular brief messages will help people to feel involved.

WordPress, MSN, Skype and other systems are there to be used for just such purposes. Blogging is an important means of communicating with lots of people so get someone pumping out your news.

There are also quite a few time banks on Facebook now sharing stories and photos, so sign up for an account today and search for us!

Local knowledge is a valuable commodity and you will soon have a regular supply. By recording it and making connections for people you will be able to offer a useful service that will attract new people and that can be a great help for new people arriving in the area.

Our website - www.timebanking.org - is a major source of information and if you become a member you can have your own web page and visit the members’ section which holds a massive store of time banking gems. Again one of your number needs to take responsibility for managing your input. We also run a national e-group.

A National Time Exchange is available to members so that time credits earned in one time bank can be spent in another. For example, you look after someone in your area and the time credits you earn can be spent by other members of your family, who live miles away, on getting the local help they need. To join in you will have to become a more formal time bank and adopt certain safety procedures - talk to us if you are interested.