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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!
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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. |