The_New_Wealth_Of_Time_1

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The new wealth o time:How timebanking helps peoplebuild better public services


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ne is an independent think-and-dotank that inspires and demonstratesreal economic well-being.

We aim to improve quality o lie bypromoting innovative solutions thatchallenge mainstream thinking oneconomic, environmental and social

issues. We work in partnership andput people and the planet rst.

ne (the new economics oundation) is a registered charity ounded in 1986 by the leaders o The Other Economic Summit (TOES),which orced issues such as international debt onto the agenda o the G8 summit meetings. It has taken a lead in helping establish newcoalitions and organisations such as the Jubilee 2000 debt campaign; the Ethical Trading Initiative; the UK Social Investment Forum;and new ways to measure social and economic well-being.

utureeconomy

globalinterdependence

thrivingcommunities

well-being

ne centres or:


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Foreword by Martin Simon and David Boyle 1

Executive summary 3

Beyond the market: timebanking as a new orm o recession-proo exchange 3

Recommendations: growing the core economy 4

What this report is or: building better public services 5

Celebrating 10 years o timebanking 5

Timebanking as a fexible tool with core values 6

1. Introduction: public services, the core economy and co-production 8

The challenge 8

The core economy and the limits o the price mechanism 9

Beyond price: time as a currency or the core economy 9

Co-production as a new paradigm or public services 10

The policy imperative: place shaping, community empowerment and

personalisation 11

2. Timebanking dierent approaches to creating co-production 13

New approaches to timebanking 13Three broad approaches to timebanking 14

The case studies 18

Table 2. Case Study summary 19

Contents


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Contents

3. Feeling better: using timebanking to improve mental health 20

The problem: an epidemic o mental ill health 20

Case Study 1: Improving mental well-being in a South London Estate

Clapham Park Time Bank 21

Case Study 2: Timebanking and mental health commissioning

Holy Cross Centre Trust and the Kings Cross time bank 24

4. Community development and regeneration 27

The problem: the ailure o regeneration policies to engage people 27

Case Study 3: Bottom-up community development

Blaengarw Workmens Hall Time Centre 28

Case Study 4: Building a resident-led housing association Ta Housing

Association in Cardi 30

5. Complementary therapy? Reducing isolation and improving

the health o older people 32

The problem: dealing with a rapidly ageing population 32

Case Study 5: Helping out the Doctor Rushey Green GPs Time Bank 33Case Study 6: Building social networks amongst older people Community

Volunteers Time Bank, Bromley 37

Case Study 7: Visiting Nurse Service o New York (VNSNY) Community

Connections Time Bank 39

6. Improving the lives o young people using timebanking 41

The problem: young people eel disconnected rom communities 41

Case Study 8: Time 4 Young People (T4YP) projects in Wales 42

Case Study 9: Creating a school community Whittington Time Exchange 44

7. Doing time? Using timebanking to create a more eective

criminal justice system 47The problem: locking people up doesnt work 47

Case Study 10: Preventing the criminalisation o young black males

in the Time Dollar Youth Court in Washington DC 48

Case Study 11: Giving prisoners the opportunity to give back

Timebanking at Her Majestys Prison Gloucester 50

8: Making it happen: using timebanking to

achieve your organisations goals 52

9. Conclusion: creating a policy environment to

grow the core economy 54

Appendix 1. Understanding and measuring

existing social assets: conducting a time audit 57

Appendix 2. Measuring timebanking outcomes 60

Appendix 3. Further reading on timebanking and co-production 63

Endnotes 64

Acknowledgements


5/72The new wealth o time 1

But we were both searching or something capable o reviving what Edgar Cahndescribed later as the core economy, those aspects o amily and communitythat underpin everything else. We were searching or a system where everyonecould make a contribution and where everyones contribution was valued equally;a system where local people were oered incentives to reconnect with each other

and where the social networks that emerged remained shaped by those people. Itwas a revelation to discover in the USA how an idea which had seemed so simplecould be applied to rehabilitating oenders, improving public housing, rescuinginner city schools and revitalising the youth justice system.

The growth o timebanking in the UK has ar exceeded everyones expectations. Wehave been particularly successul in engaging those hitherto labelled the hard toreach, but equally timebanking draws in people rom all backgrounds, as the casestudies in this report demonstrate.

What are the reasons or this rapid growth? First, timebanking is a tool that sets inmotion a chain reaction that orms bonds between strangers and brings people

together in unoreseen and unpredictable alliances. There is an inbuilt multiplier eectas one act o kindness leads to another. Secondly, people nd it easier to ask or aavour when they know they can pay it back. And, thirdly, everyone eels more secureknowing there are people around they can trust and can rely on in an emergency.

We were also lucky to seize rom the Government so early a promise, notjust to waive time credit earnings or tax, but also or state benets it is stillrecommended, however, that those on incapacity benet tell their local BenetsOce that they are involved in timebanking.

Timebanking is a ramework or people who would not normally meet to cometogether and learn how to exercise both their powers and responsibilities as caringcitizens. For the providers o public and third sector services, timebanking is the

missing piece in achieving large-scale and enthusiastic participation in the co-production o services that can reach the whole population.

By actively promoting timebanking, our public services can once again bank on thecooperation, local knowledge and skills o local people. By asking people to make acontribution in return or the services they are receiving by helping others, they willgive their service users opportunities to grow in sel-condence and to becomevalued members o their community.

Now, more than ever, we need to understand the transormative power otimebanking, how it turned out to be a means to a much greater end. We needto understand how public services and charities can turn themselves inside out

to create sustainable change, how we can unleash the unprecedented surge ovolunteering by ordinary people, with problems and without. This is the only wayto solve the vast social issues beore us. Timebanking UK is thrilled to be leadingon the introduction o such a positive social innovation and to be supporting aninspirational national network o time banks.

Foreword

by Martin Simon and David Boyle

Our paths to timebanking started in dierent places as aCommunity Development Advisor in Gloucestershire and a journalistexploring some o the more disreputable and poverty stricken citiesand towns o the United States.



This report draws examples predominantly rom London as a review o the work thathas taken place there or the last six years. But timebanking is going on in all sortso wonderul and dierent ways across the rest o England, Scotland and Wales.This report marks the rst ten years o timebanking in Britain. It looks at the lessonslearned, the possibilities or the uture, but most o all, how an idea that was littlemore than a technique is being woven into the abric o our public services. Wehope in the next ten years it will create a revolution as big as the one unleashed byBeveridge six decades ago.

Martin Simon

Chie Executive, Timebanking UK

David BoyleAuthor and Fellow, ne (the new economics oundation) and Board member,Timebanking UK



Beyond the market: timebanking as a new orm o

recession-proo exchange

The report describes how timebanking, as a tool to stimulate co-production,is already helping to create better services across a range o areas, includingmental and physical health, services or young people and older people,

regeneration, housing and criminal justice.

Co-production is a theory based on the premise that people and societiesfourish more readily where relationships are built on reciprocity and equity:enabling people to give reely, yet also acilitating the give-and-take o time,knowledge, skills, compassion and other assets. These are not commodiedthrough allocating them a price. They are abundant, not scarce, in ourcommunities. This is not to say such activities dont have value, however: backin 1998, the total household work done in the USA was valued at $1.9 trillion,whilst in 2002, the inormal care that keeps the elderly out o homes was given areplacement price o $253 billion.

Timebanking is a practical tool that enables co-production. Unlike the moneyeconomy, timebanking values all hours equally: 1 hour o time = 1 time credit,whether you are a surgeon or an unemployed single mother. Timebankingrecognises that everyone, even those dened as disadvantaged or vulnerable,has something worthwhile to contribute. Timebanking values relationships thatare orged through giving and receiving. As such it adds a new dimension towhat Richard Titmuss called the git relationship.1

This report shows how timebanking can help give people more control over theirlives, prevent needs arising and grow what we call the core economy ourability to care or and support each other and to engage in mutual and non-materialistic exchanges and civic activity.

Much in the same way that the market economy unless appropriatelyregulated neglects and erodes the ecosystem, so it can also undermine andweaken this core economy. In the same way that the market ails to incorporatethe environmental damage caused by production into the cost o goods andservices, it also ails to value the contribution o unpaid labour. Currently the coreeconomy is taken or granted by the majority o public service interventions. Asglobalisation intensies economic competition, however, people work harderand have less time with amilies, riends and neighbours and the core economyis weakened. Time poverty leads to community breakdown, mental healthproblems and distrust.

As market economies across the world are threatening to implode, co-

production in the orm o timebanking suggests an alternative route by tappingin to abundant but neglected human resources that can help to meet peoplesneeds and promote well-being or all.

Executive summary

Faith in the money economy and our debt-based banking systemis collapsing. As a long and deep recession looms, and creditbecomes scarcer, this report describes an alternative means o

exchange to keep our communities and public services vibrant:time.

The Rushey Green Timebankinormally channels the practiceseorts towards breaking down theinstitutional aspects that may hamperpeoples care, making it inviting orpatients to access services andseek help.

Dr Alberto Febles,GP Principal and Trainer,

Rushey Green Group Practice



Recommendations: growing the core economy

This report argues that co-production should become a key component o publicservices, using timebanking as a tool where appropriate to achieve thatobjective. Thus, the values outlined above would inorm and shape mainstreampublic services.

To encourage co-production and grow the core economy, public serviceleaders and commissioners should embed networks o exchange, such astimebanking, within public organisations, including doctors surgeries,

hospitals, schools and housing estates. These institutions should become

community hubs, rather than simply service delivery vehicles, as our casestudies demonstrate. But to complement this push, a number o other actionsare also necessary or dierent parties involved in public services:

Commissioners and philanthropic unders can:

P Ensure unded programs embed and reward reciprocity, reserving aproportion o payments to enable people who use services to play a role indelivering them.

P Replace output targets with broader measures o what really matters (toservice users), to enable practitioners to demonstrate the value o co-production approaches in terms o individual and social well-being (or

example using the outcomes star described in Appendix 2).

National Government and local policy-makers can:

P Give higher priority to unding measures, including initiatives such astimebanking, that increase the resilience o individuals and communities,in order to prevent needs arising. This will reduce demand or services andsaeguard resources or meeting unavoidable needs.

P Ensure a greater proportion o unding directed at meeting needs isredirected to support preventative measures, such as timebanking, thatincreases resilience and reduces reliance on more expensive, intensiveservices.

P Ensure that the personalisation agenda takes a holistic view o people,including their strengths as a key part o the solution, rather than ocusingdisproportionately on peoples weaknesses and problems.

P Recognise that many successul interventions have value across servicesilos because they engage communities rather than individuals withpredened problems.

P Ensure greater collaboration and sharing o resources between departmentsas with the agency to agency timebanking model described in Chapter 2.

Regulators and auditing bodies can:

P Ensure systems o assessment and audit take account o how ar publicservices are co-produced i.e. how ar those who provide services treatthose who are intended to benet rom them as equal partners, not onlylistening to and acting on what they say is o value to them, but also involvingthem actively in planning, designing and delivering the services.

P Careully examine legislation around risk and condentiality to ensure it doesnot block inormal systems o mutual care and support such as timebanking.

The third sector and other sectors delivering public services can:

P Avoid the adoption o a top-down, service delivery culture which mimicssome public services and denes people as problems.

P Reocus the roles o rontline works as partners, coaches and ultimatelycatalysts or service users, not xers o problems.

Camdens services are all chasingthe same prole o people.The timebanking model worksbecause it is uncompetitive services are not competingwith each other or same peoplebut collaborating and sharingresources so we can access thegroups who wouldnt normallycome to some o these classes

and access these services. Butnow they have these time credits,they eel like they have earnedthe right to attend these classesand they eel they are part o awider community. So rather thana service paying or a member osta to go and put posters up, theyuse the money to subsidise theirservices or time bank membersand get better attendance. In thisway we can all work together

with the same client and claimoutcomes or them.

Sam Hopley,Holy Cross Centre Trust



P Rather than talking about added value, recognise that co-production, whereit occurs, is the critical ingredient in creating better outcomes and recognisethe assets o service users and enlist them as co-producers.

P Collaborate and share resources and assets rather than just compete orunding, as illustrated in the case studies o Kings Cross and Rushey Greentime banks.

What this report is or: building better public services

The report is or public service leaders and policy-makers, as well as

commissioners and providers o services in the public, private and third sectors.It has two objectives:

1. It is an argument or changing the way public services are designed anddelivered, to produce better outcomes or those intended to benet rom them.

2. It is also a guide or using a particular tool timebanking to help achievethat change.

The challenges are well documented: rates o mental ill-health, chronic diseasesand obesity are rapidly rising; the prison population is growing; the populationis ageing; the gap widens between rich and poor; and there is now strong

evidence that wealth and well-being are disconnected. Public nances areincreasingly unstable and uture prospects or public spending are insecure.How can these challenges be met?

We suggest the challenge is ensuring sustainable well-being or all. Thiswill involve three key and connected objectives: giving people more control,preventing needs arising, and engaging sustainable resources to maintaineective service provision.

1. Making people more powerul.People and communities must play a biggerrole in dening their own needs and have more power to do what it takes,individually and collectively, to improve and meet those needs. For this tohappen, they must have more control over the processes that shape and

deliver services. They must be co-producers, with rontline proessionals andothers, o their own well-being.

2. Preventing needs arising. As ar as possible, co-produced public services mustbe geared towards preventing needs arising in the rst place, maintaining andimproving the quality o peoples lives, and extending the opportunities as wellas the capabilities o individuals and communities to look ater themselves. Thisbrings a double prize o maintaining well-being and saving money or essentialservices by not paying to meet avoidable needs.

3. Engaging sustainable resources. Public services and support systems thatunderpin co-production must be robustly and sustainably resourced. We can

no longer assume that the economy will grow at a rate that can und ever-expanding services. It is more sensible to plan or low growth or no growth.So not only must we avoid unnecessary expenditure by giving priority toprevention, we must also look to the human resources that are not pricedby the market the wealth o human relations, time, social networks, andknowledge and skills based on lived experience. These assets are abundantin every community and they dont ebb and fow with the vagaries o themarket although without them the market economy could not unction.They are the operating system that underpins the private and public sectors.As such, they are more than just the non-market economy. They are thecore economy, which can be grown or the benet o all.

Celebrating 10 years o timebanking

Many o these ideas may seem radically new, but in act timebanking is longestablished in the UK as a tool or building communities and creating moreeective services. As this report goes to press, timebanking is celebrating its10th anniversary in the UK, with 600,000 hours or 71 years worth o mutualexchange behind it and 109 active timebanks.

The time bank enables us to use ourindividual skills, so Elspeth does hercomputer work, I do my poetry, andAnn does her card-making. It is agood therapy. The traditional servicesdont do enough to build yourcondence back up. The TB givesus the opportunities to help buildcondence and grow your abilities.

Clapham Park Time Bank member

The recidivism rate or theWashington Time Dollar Youth Courtrespondents is at 17% compared tothe average o 30% recidivism rateor teens going through the regularjuvenile system. Nearly twice as manykids take advantage o the secondchance that youth court provides tothem..

Time Dollar Youth Court evaluation



Yet its ull potential has yet to be realised, particularly in the mainstream o publicservices. So there is everything to play or, particularly as the economy slows.The case studies included here show how dierent models o timebanking arecurrently operating to:

P improve mental ill health;

P regenerate disadvantaged communities;

P reduce isolation and improve the health o older people;

P improve the well-being o young people; and

P create a more eective criminal justice system.

The case studies in this report show how this has been done: how younggang members in inner city Washington can become eective peer jurors; howisolated older people in London can help each other recover rom physicalillness; how people recovering rom mental health problems can co-designand deliver services to ellow users; and how a de-industrialised Welsh miningvillage can be rejuvenated through collective action.

In every case, timebanking is a way o enlisting the time and resources oservice users to help themselves and support each other in the co-production oservices, creating better outcomes and more sustainable systems o support.

Timebanking as a exible tool with core values

There are dierent ways o using the timebanking tool; public service agenciesand communities themselves should adopt models that best suit theircircumstances. Several broad approaches to timebanking are described in thisreport (Chapter 2) and illustrated by the case studies, many o which combinethese approaches:

P Person-to-person: reweaving social networks, strengthening communities.

P Person-to-agency: enlisting people to contribute to agencies missions.

P Agency-to-agency: ensuring agencies share existing skills and resources.

The report shows how timebanking works through a range o brokerage,including local community currencies, ledger books and IT programmes. Eacho the 11 case studies has unique dynamics, refecting the uniqueness o thecommunities in which timebanking has developed.

There is no generic blueprint or timebanking but there are key stepsorganisations should take to help them decide what kind o approach toadopt. These include a careul consideration o the mission and aims o theorganisation; an understanding o the existing assets within a community,including voluntary and civic activity that is already taking place; and areview o potential allies and partners. Timebanking builds on and engagescommunity networks as such it cuts across public sector silos and third sectorspecialisms. It demands joined-up activity and collaboration between agencies,rather than competition.

But while timebanking is a fexible tool, the idea embodies a set o core values.These apply in every case and inuse the broader concept o co-production. Insummary, they are about:

P Recognising people as assets, because people themselves are the realwealth o society.

P Valuing work dierently, to recognise all that people do to raise amilies, lookater those who are rail and vulnerable, and maintain healthy communities,social justice and good governance.

The culture which led to thedevelopment o bottom up socialismwas based on mutualism. We aretrying to remember and reinventthat tradition through Timebanking,reintroducing the notion omembership rather than just being abeneciary, a client or a consumer.

Geo Thomas, Director,

Timebanking Wales



P Promoting reciprocity giving and receiving because it builds trust betweenpeople and osters mutual respect.

P Building social networks because peoples physical and mental well-beingdepends on strong, enduring relationships.

As the report goes to press, global nancial markets are in turmoil and the UKis entering a recession. Here is a timely antidote. Timebanking oers a rangeoers a rangeo opportunities or growing the core economy. It taps into a complementarycurrency o abundance, unlocking human resources relationships, time, energy,

knowledge and skills which can be realised through co-production, helping tooster reciprocity, strengthen social networks and develop sustainable well-being.These resources have long been neglected by a welare system that veers betweentreating people as passive recipients o top-down services, and expecting themto behave as customers in a market-place. Now more than ever we need a betteroption.



This report has two objectives. It is an argument or changing the way publicservices are designed and delivered to produce better outcomes or peopleintended to benet rom them. It is also a guide or using a particular tool timebanking to help achieve that change. The report is aimed at public serviceleaders and policy-makers, and commissioners and rontline providers o servicesin the public, private and third sectors.

The report is laid out in nine chapters. This introduction demonstrates thattimebanking and co-production are needed to meet the challenges acing todayspublic services. Chapter 2 is an introduction to timebanking, showing dierentapproaches that have emerged in the UK and elsewhere.

Chapters 37 are inspiring examples o how timebanking has been used as a toolto create more eective public services in ve key areas: mental health, communitydevelopment and regeneration, older people and health, young people, andcriminal justice.

Chapter 8 lays out a ve-step process or agencies considering adopting

timebanking or similar tools. Chapter 9 contains recommendations or policy-makersas to how to create the conditions that will allow timebanking and co-production tofourish.

The challenge

The challenges acing our society and public services are well documented:rates o mental ill-health chronic disease and obesity are rapidly rising; theprison population is growing; the population is ageing; the gap widens betweenrich and poor; and there is now strong evidence that wealth and well-being aredisconnected. Public nances are increasingly unstable and uture prospects orpublic spending are insecure. How can these challenges be met?

We suggest there are three key and connected objectives: making people morepowerul, preventing needs arising, and engaging sustainable resources.

First, people and communities must play a bigger role in dening their own needsand have more power to do what it takes, individually and collectively, to improveand meet those needs. For this to happen, they must have more control over the

1. Introduction: public services, the core

economy and co-production

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

to raise children, make a neighbourhood sae, care or the elderly,

make democracy work or address systemic injustices the only

way the world is going to address the social problems that are

dumped on it is by enlisting the very people who are now classied

as clients and consumers and converting them into co-workers,

partners and rebuilders o the core economy.2

Edgar Cahn, 19 December 2007



processes that shape and deliver services. They must be co-producers, withproessionals and others, o their own well-being.

Secondly, as ar as possible, co-produced public services must be geared towardspreventing needs arising in the rst place, maintaining and improving the qualityo peoples lives and extending the opportunities as well as the capabilities oindividuals and communities to look ater themselves. This brings a double prizeo maintaining well-being and saving money by not paying or services to meetavoidable needs.3

Thirdly, public services and support systems that underpin co-production must berobustly and sustainably resourced. We can no longer assume that the economywill grow at a rate that can und expanding services. It is more sensible to planor low growth or no growth. So we must look to the human resources that arenot priced by the market the wealth o human relations, time, social networks,and knowledge and skills based on lived experience. These assets are abundantin every community and they dont ebb and fow with the vagaries o the market although without them the market economy could not unction. They are theoperating system that underpins the private and public sectors. As such, they aremore than just the non-market economy. They are the core economy, which canbe grown or the benet o all.

The core economy and the limits o the price mechanismAlvin Tofer, the uturist and regular speaker to chie executives on the uture obusiness, is ond o asking them what the eect on company productivity might bei none o their employees had been toilet trained.

The market economy assigns value through price. The price mechanism attachesa high value to abilities and activities that are scarce relative to demandor take timeto develop, like being a doctor or a web designer. But it attaches no value at all tothose capacities that are abundantin our society like the ability to raise children(including toilet training), to care or older people, to protest or social justice andpolitical change, to volunteer or the community, or protect the environment.

Economists have, however, begun to estimate the value o this non-market

economy. In 1998, Redening Progress, a nonprot organisation based in SanFrancisco, pegged the value o household work at a total o $1.911 trillion aboutone-quarter the size o the US gross domestic product (GDP) that year.4 Acalculation made in 1992 o the scale o unpaid labour in the United States thatlabour in the United States thatin the United States thatkeeps seniors out o nursing homes topped $250 billion dollars six times what isspent on the market or equivalent service.5

As Tofers rerain reveals, this non-market economy actually underpins andsupports the market economy. In the same way that the market is a sub-set o,and dependent on, the Earths ecosystem or its continued unctioning, so it isdependent on the unpaid labour o people and communities. Rather than a non-market economy, these activities are better described as the core economy.6

Much in the same way that the market economy unless appropriately regulated neglects and erodes the ecosystem, so it can also undermine and weakenthis core economy. It ails to incorporate the environmental damage caused byproduction into the cost o goods and services; it also ails to value the contributiono unpaid labour. Currently the core economy is assumed to exist by the majorityo public service interventions. As globalisation intensies competition or labourand prots, however, people work harder and have less time with amilies, riendsand neighbours. When public services are expected to deliver better perormanceor less money, they can put pressure on their workorce in much the same way ascompanies in the market economy.

Beyond price: time as a currency or the core economy

Unlike the market, timebanking values all hours equally: 1 hour o time = 1 timecredit, whether you are a surgeon or an unwaged single mother. Timebankingrecognises that everyone, even those dened as disadvantaged or vulnerable,has something worthwhile to contribute. It is based on the premise that giving andreceiving are simple and undamental ways o generating trust between people.



It osters mutual and equitable exchange. Trust, reciprocity and equity are theundamental building blocks or positive social relationships, strong local networksand healthy communities.

Timebanking is not a single ormula. It is a fexible, dynamic model that is used ina variety o ways to achieve a range o related aims. The 11 case studies set out inChapters 37 show powerully how dierent applications o timebanking are beingused to stimulate co-production and address the challenges o mental ill health,to regenerate disadvantaged communities, to reduce isolation and improve thehealth o older people, to prevent the criminalisation o young people and to help

rehabilitate prisoners.

In every case, timebanking is used as means o enlisting the human resources oservice users to support each other in the co-production o better outcomes. Whilstthe models are dierent, the values that inspire co-production and timebankingremain the same.

Co-production and timebanking core values7

Recognising that people are assetsThe starting point or timebanking is the recognition that people are the real wealthin any community. Every individual can contribute to his or her own well-being andthat o the local community through giving time, sharing knowledge and skills, and

providing practical and emotional support.

Redening workActivities such as bringing up children, caring or people who are rail ormarginalised, keeping communities sae and ghting social injustice have to berecognised, rewarded and counted as valuable work that contributes to a healthysociety.

Building reciprocity and mutual exchangeGiving and receiving are the simplest and most undamental ways o building trustbetween people. They are the basic building blocks or positive social relationshipsand healthy communities.

Strengthening and extending social networksBelonging to a mutually supportive and secure social network brings more meaningto peoples lives and new opportunities to rebuild trust in one another. Socialrelationships underpin good physical and mental health.

Co-production as a new paradigm or public services

Some policy-makers have begun to consider these values important to the eectiveunctioning o public services. Many have not yet done so. It is more widelyrecognised that a centralised, top-down model o public service delivery can onlygo so ar in meeting the challenges illustrated in this report, such as rising rateso mental ill-health, community breakdown, and crime. Equally it is becomingclear that a market model o public services, with people viewed as customers or

consumers purchasing services rom expert providers can be dysunctional orboth service users and proessionals.

Both models essentially rely on dening people by their decits or needs. This can,and oten does, create a culture o dependency. The dependency is corrosive andsel-ullling it convinces service users that they have nothing worthwhile to oerand undermines any system o mutual or community support that does exist. Themessage that is sent out is that i you want more attention and more help, comeback with another and bigger problem. No-one should be surprised when peoplethen behave in ways that perpetuate such needs, creating more demand andcosting more money.

In contrast, co-production recognises the hidden assets that public service clientsrepresent (people as assets), and makes public services into engines that canrelease those assets into the neighbourhoods around them. Co-production aimsto:8



P provide mutual support systems that can tackle problems beore they becomeacute, encourage behaviour that will prevent them happening in the rst place,and advise people who nd themselves in diculties;

P build social networks that can help to prevent crime, support enterprise andeducation, keep people healthy and make things happen locally; and

P provide supportive relationships that can help people or amilies in crisis survivewhen they cease to receive all-round proessional support.

Timebanking is a practical model or the application o co-production values. Itchallenges the view that people either have needs and thereore have to be relatedto as service users or consumers, or that they only have something to oer and arethereore volunteers.

The policy imperative: place shaping, community empowerment and

personalisation

Government policy increasingly recognises the importance o community andindividual empowerment, preventative interventions and the need to strengthen andanimate neglected social and community networks and capacities to create moresustainable public services.

In particular, timebanking and co-production speak to the place shaping andpersonalisation agendas being pursued by local government and the Departmento Health.9,10,11,12,13 Whilst these agendas may seem to be distinct policy strands,one being area-based and the other people-ocused, it is clear that i individualsare empowered to contribute, and to take greater responsibility or their own healthand well-being, communities too will become stronger and more sustainable in theuture.14

For example, Case Study 2 demonstrates the way in which timebanking and co-production are helping mental health service users gain the skills and abilities tosupport ellow users, co-producing better outcomes and increased well-being butalso creating a service that is more sustainable and less dependent on statutory orother grant unding.

Statutory changes may also make local services more committed to involving people,and better able to do so. The Duty to Involve local people in key decisions, whichwill be extended in April 2009 to include police authorities and key arts, sporting,

cultural and environmental organisations,15 and the Sustainable Communities Act,which came in to orce in October 2008, will place a stronger obligation on agenciesto seek new ways o engaging people, not just as passive service users but as activecitizens. Public Housing Associations are also being expected to demonstrate howthey are involving tenants in decisions and participatory budgeting. In health and

Time bank giving and receiving

Is it better to give or to receive? In act you eel o value both when you give and receive. One o the great thingsabout belonging to a time bank is that you dont have to choose. You can experience the pleasure o both.

I have an illness which leaves me very atigued much o the time and I cant go out oten. What could I do orother people in the community one might think? In act Ive been able, at my own pace, to research inormation ormembers on the computer. I have also explored the recycling o inkjets and laser jets to raise money. I have also

been able to introduce someone to the basics o computer skills. This enabled them to eel more condent abouttaking a course on the subject.

Timebanking has also enriched my lie by providing the opportunity to meet two very interesting people. Althoughmy berienders are o dierent ages and liestyles I have ound their company very enjoyable. Furthermore, I havebeen enabled to visit new places that it would have been impossible to go to without them.

Member o Rushey Green Timebank



social care, local involvement networks (LINks) are in theory i not yet in practice an example o the policy drive towards wider community engagement.

How ar and how eectively local authorities and other agencies involve citizensand service users is increasingly part o their perormance assessment orexample, through the new Comprehensive Area Agreement (CAA). More joined-upservices and the strategic pooling o budgets, through such means as sustainablecommunity strategies and local area agreements (LAAs), should also increaseincentives or commissioners o services to consider area- or community-basedinterventions that cut across service silos.

The case studies in this report demonstrate how people primarily see themselvesand are happier to act as members o communities, rather than types o serviceuser. The young people in the Welsh Valleys who used timebanking to help rebuildtheir community centre (Case Study 8) were interested in making their area lookand eel better, not in seeking help rom community workers because they eltdisadvantaged. By using a co-production approach, stimulated through time credits,both youth workers and young people have exceeded their initial goals.

At a national level, a number o major government policies emphasize the vitalimportance o active engagement by those who are supposed to benet rompublic services in particular:

P The Wanless report into the uture unding o the NHS concluded that the NHScould survive and thrive only i people took more responsibility or their ownhealth.

P Improving the Lie Chances o Disabled People (DWP, DH, DES, ODPM 2005).

P Our Health, Our Care, Our Say(Department o Health 2006).

P Local Government and Public Involvement Bill (Department o Communities andLocal Government 2007).

P Supporting people: a guide to user involvement or organisations providing

housing related support services (Oce o the Deputy Prime Minister, May2003).

P Every child matters: change or children (Department o Children Schools andFamilies 2004).

As this report shows, timebanking can be used to help proessionals, rom thepublic and third sectors, to co-produce services and grow the core economy.It shows how timebanking enables them to enlist some o the most vulnerablemembers o society as active citizens, using their time and other non-marketresources to help create better services and stronger communities.



There are currently 109 active time banks in the UK and a urther 48 indevelopment, with almost 8,000 active participants according to TimebankingUK, the national umbrella charity linking and supporting time banks across thecountry.17,18 Key policy decisions, such as making credits tax exempt in 2000,have helped the growth o timebanking.19

The rst major evaluation o timebanking in 2002 pointed to its success inengaging people rom socially excluded communities who would not normallyvolunteer, including older people, black and ethnic minority groups, people withdisabilities or long-term illness, and people with low incomes.20 The report oundthat timebanking helped members improve their quality o lie through greaterparticipation and social interaction; it improved their economic situation bylinking people to other sources o non-nancial support within communities andreeing up time or training or work, and increased a sense o active citizenship.

The report also raised challenges, however, including the need to change public

perceptions o timebanking as a marginal activity or disadvantaged groups andthe importance o encouraging members to accept time as well as giving time.The report also pointed to problems with associated with inadequate, short-termunding.

New approaches to timebanking

The original model o timebanking, created by Edgar Cahn in the 1980s andintroduced to the UK in the 1990s, was the person-to-person (P2P) or neighbor-to-neighbour approach, with time bank members exchanging time creditsadministered by a central time broker.

This approach remains predominant in England and is increasingly recognisedby local authorities and other agencies as a means o engaging the hard-to-reach and building community networks. Ten new agency-unded P2P timebanks have opened in August and September 2008.

In addition, over the past decade, many communities and agencies havebeen using the timebanking approach in other, innovative ways to rebuildcommunities and peoples well-being. Public and third sector agencies havediscovered that timebanking can complement their existing programmes, bydrawing on and strengthening existing social networks.

In South Wales, Timebanking Wales and SPICE have developed an approachwhere timebanking recognises and underwrites wider community participationand activity. Existing community centres, youth centres, and a range o other

voluntary and public sector agencies or programmes have begun to usetimebanking as a means o generating what Becky Booth, who helped developtimebanking in Wales, calls active citizenship

2. Timebanking dierent approaches to

creating co-production

Timebanking was introduced to the UK in the late 1990s by MartinSimon and David Boyle and has since mushroomed across thecountry.16 As this report goes to press, Timebanking is celebratingits 10th anniversary in the UK, with over 600,000 hours or 71 yearsworth o mutual exchange behind it.



In the United States, timebanking has been used to complement youth criminaljustice and health care programmes in New York City and Washington, DC (case

studies 7 and 10).

In London, and across England, timebanking is being used to complement existingpublic services or disadvantaged groups, including older people, people withmental health problems, reugees, and black and ethnic minority groups.

Here we outline three broad approaches that are being used around the UK andurther aeld. (See Table 1.)

The case studies in the ollowing chapters illustrate variations on these threeapproaches and how they can also be successully combined. There are no rightor wrong models in timebanking agencies should always seek to build on thestrengths and assets within the community they are working with and enable their

approach to remain fexible and evolve according to these strengths. TimebankingTimebankingis a dynamic tool, not a static one. New ways o using timebanking are constantlyemerging; however, they can always be recognised by their reerence to the coreprinciples highlighted earlier.

Three broad approaches to timebanking

1. Person-to-person timebanking

The person-to-person (P2P), sometimes called neighbor-to-neighbour model otimebanking is the best known in the UK. Individuals are part o an establishedtimebanking hub or centre, oten hosted by a third sector or public sectororganisation and run by a time broker. The role o the time broker or coordinator is

very important in the early stages o setting up the time bank to motivate serviceusers to join the time bank and help manage it.

Members exchange mutual creditin the orm o hours and a time broker tracksthese credits. Every unit o currency in this model is created by an agreement andan exchange; each unit is earned back by an equal obligation to pay back bythe beneciary o the exchange. According to Martin Simon, Chie Executive oTimebanking UK which has pioneered the P2P model, it creates a chain reaction ogiving and receiving as members bring riends and others in to the time bank.

Members with debits need to be encouraged to do jobs and earn them, whilstthose with credits need to be encouraged to spend them in order to increase thecirculation o currency. Timebanking UK has issued detailed guidance on the setting

up o mutual credit timebanks.21,22

Organisational membersNot only individuals but organisations themselves can exchange time credits in theorganisations themselves can exchange time credits in thethemselves can exchange time credits in theperson-to-person approach. Rushey Green time bank (Case Study 5)has been

Table 1.

Approach Role o agency Key outcomes

a) Person-to- Person(P2P)

P Host

P Funder o time bank broker/administrator

P Individual organisational member

P Builds social capital and community networks

P Engages hard-to-reach

P Creates multiplier eect o giving and receiving

b) Person-to-agency(P2A)

P Catalyst to engage people in designand delivery o services

P Issuer o credits and creator orewards with partners

P Builds social capital and community networks

P Engages hard-to-reach

P Transorms service delivery through co-production

P Sustainable and community-led services

c) Agency- to-agency(A2A)

P Collaboration

P Shared learning

P Shared resources and assets

P Better services through more ecient use oresources

P Greater eciency in terms o use o agencyassets

P More sustainable uture



Edmund did

office-workand gardening

for Gwen.

Annie led thesewing classattended by

Francesca.

Gladys gave a

lift to HamidaMollie edited

the RGTB

newsletter forthe office

Sue-Ellenbaby-sat for

Annieschildren

Ron repaired a

door-handle forGladys

Francesca fedRons cat

whilst he wason holiday.

The RGTB

organised theyoga class for

Sue-Ellen

Hamidataught

crocheting to

Florrie

Florrie

crochetedbaby clothesfor Edmund

Gwen

accompaniedLunette ondaily walks.

Lunettetelephone-befriended

Mollie

Time Broker

very active in creating organisational members with whom it exchanges mutualcredits. So, or example, some o their members teach crochet at a local school atlunchtime. In return, the school provides its Assembly Hall or Rushey Greens AGMand also writes some articles or Rushey Greens newsletter. Kings Cross Timebank(Case Study 2) has developed a partnership with Age Concern Camden where itAge Concern Camden where itprovides Age Concern with its premises (inside a church) in return or access toAge Concerns minibus and driver.

For guidance on implementing P2P models please see www.timebanking.org

2) Person-to-agency timebankingIn person-to-agency approaches, people can earn time credits through theircontribution to the aims and goals o an agency or community, whether public or thirdsector. The agency itsel is the bank and issues time credits in recognition o the timeand eort given to their goals. The agency also provides a range o options or peopleto spend these credits. These typically include community-based activities, trips,services and events organised that help to urther build social networks and create asense o collective identity. These are requently underutilised existing resources, suchas sporting acilities, empty rooms or access to IT.

The agency issues credits according to an estimate o the time volunteered bypeople in a community or the time it projects will be given in uture. This model was

pioneered by the Timebanking Wales/SPICE in South Wales and is illustrated incase studies 3, 4 and 8. Timebanking Wales/SPICE have developed a simple six-step model or setting up person-to-agency systems to stimulate what it calls activecitizenship.24

Figure 1: Person-to-person model with time broker organising exchanges23



Young peopleexchange credits, e.g.trip to bowling alley, arugby game or a visit

to the cinema

1. Discuss and agree goals with host organisation and the local community.organisation and the local community.and the local community.

2. Carry out a baseline audit o existing community activities and levels o activecitizenship (a time audit).

3. Agree uture activities and areas o growth; estimate the numbers o hours onew active citizenship required to achieve the agreed goals.

4. Underwrite the required hours with time currency that is backed by time-basedsocial and cultural events, activities and services. This ensures that there is anequal balance between the number o time credits going out and coming back in.

5.Start accrediting all active citizenship with time credits.

6. Monitor and evaluate.

In person-to-agency models then, time as a currency exists as more than just theexchanges between people; it is a complementary circulating currency that caninvolve a wider set o people and organisations.

For guidance on implementing person-to-agency models, pleasesee www.justaddspice.org or Timebanking Wales, www.timebankingwales.org.uk

3) Agency-to-agency timebanking

Timebanking is a tool that can help acilitate exchange between organisations

with a common purpose as well as between individuals. There are very eworganisations, including commercial organisations that ully utilise the assets andsta capacity at their disposal. Empty meeting rooms, stationary mini-buses, down-time when sta or volunteers have little to do, wasted ood and energy, old ITequipment: the list is potentially endless. How many organisations consider sharingsuch underutilised assets?

The third sector, as the Government likes to reer to it, is made up o organisationswith a social mission or purpose. Their overarching goal is to improve the liveso people or the environment, rather than making prot or shareholders. Giventheir shared purpose, one might expect such organisations to work together andcollaborate. But not enough such collaboration occurs, perhaps because manyorganisations see themselves as cash-strapped, competing or unding rom the

same donors and, increasingly, the Government and local authorities in the orm ocompetitively tendered (or commissioned) public service contracts.

The drive or competition and accountability can discourage collaboration andragment the way that public services work. Public services have outputs to meet

Figure 2: Person-to-agency timebanking young people earn credits or their contribution to the community

and earn time credits to exchange or trips and events organised by the host agency.

Young peopleplant trees in the

local park andearn time credits

E

E

Young peoplehanging around

with nothing to do E



and limited resources with which to meet them. Timebanking is a useul toolto motivate public services to share people and resources, without needing toacquire additional unding in order to do so and still be ocused on achieving each

organisations targets.

The benets o the agency-to-agency approach are numerous. As well as access tophysical and human assets and resources, the approach benets sta themselvesas they experience a range o dierent services and share knowledge and expertiseacross departmental silos.

This kind o approach is well suited to the drive or more holistic and joined-upservices, particularly in areas such as social care, mental health and childrensservices where too oten public and even third sector service providers have ailedto share knowledge and put the service at the centre o their interventions. Agency-to-agency timebanking could complement more devolved area-based budgeting

through the LAAs and improve the perormance assessment o local authoritiesunder the new CAA.

For guidance on agency-to-agency models, see www.justaddspice.org

Dierent orms o brokerageIn some o the case studies, exchanges o time are recorded in ledger books (aswith CPTB) or using IT systems and sotware such as Time Online as used byTimebanking UK which views time credits as community loyalty points. Having arecord o the number o hours exchanged and or what activities, is a useul wayo tracking the progress o the time bank and planning its uture but can also beimportant in demonstrating to unders and host organisations what activity is takingplace. O course the exchange o hours is only an indicator o improved outcomes

serious evaluation o timebanking programmes should also look at outcomemeasures, such as those described in Appendix 2.

Time exchanges can also be acilitated by time credits being issued as printedcurrency, which then circulates between organisational members and may even

Mainstream

activity

Local authority day care service

with underutilised rooms

Mainstream

activity

Mainstream

activity

Local Help the Aged

with spare capacity

on mini-buses

Local caf with little

mid-morning

weekday custom

By sharing resources

and capacity, each

organisation can

further shared goals

of improving the livesof older people

Figure 3: Agency-to-agency timebanking



be combined with cash depending on the requirements o the organisation. Inboth Blaengarw (Case Study 3) and Rushey Green (Case Study 5) time credits areused in combination with cash in a local ca which belongs to the organisation.organisation..In Ta Housing (Case Study 4) in Cardi, members can use their time credits togain access to leisure services at local sports centres and the local arts centre. Thecurrency serves to enable exchanges and also make the network o participantsvisible or those involved.

The key point here is that time as a currency embodies very dierent values romnormal currencies such as pounds sterling, which values scarcity through the pricemechanism, as discussed in the introduction. From a more practical perspective,using notes rather than tracking exchanges using only an IT system can signicantlyreduce the administration costs involved in time banking and enable the currencyto be ree-fowing.

The case studies

The 11 case studies in this report are summarised in Table 2. They have been

chosen to illustrate the utility o timebanking as a tool to stimulate co-productionacross a range o dierent sectors and in very dierent areas, rom inner city Londonand Washington in the United States, to the Welsh Valleys and Gloucester. Formany more excellent examples o timebanking in the UK, see the Timebanking UKwebsite www.timebanking.org and, or America, see Timebanks USA atwww.timebanks.org

The Welsh Assembly Government and agency-to-agency timebanking

Agency-to-agency approaches are relatively new but in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Governments Public ServiceManagement Wales (PSMW) programme is currently piloting an agency-to-agency timebanking project supportedby the Social Enterprise, SPICE.

The scheme is set up or public services to collaborate and exchange resources easily and airly. The principle isthat every hour, day or week that a public service gives by loaning a sta member to another organisation, is time

that is earned and can then be banked as credit and spent when needed.

This timebanking uses a sotware system called Cyclos, developed by Dutch NGO STRO.25 Public serviceorganisations open a secure online account. Whenever external support is needed, adverts can be posted onlinevia the sotwares social networking acility. Categories or exchanges include the ollowing:

P Personal development (coaches and mentors )

P Communications

P Equality and diversity

P Proessional services

P Training and learning

P Sharing practice

The governance o the timebanking project is determined by each organisation to ensure that the system sitsalongside existing governance procedures. For example, the organisation will decide who the most appropriateaccount holder is and how many hours the organisation would like to commit to the time bank.



Table2.

CaseStudysummary

No.

Page

Thechallenge

Name

Approach(es)

NameandroleofAgency

G

eography

Mentalhealth

1

21

Improvingmentalwell-beinginad

eprivedhousing

estate

Clapham

ParkT

imeBank,

SouthLondon

P2Ppublicsector

SouthLondonandMaudsley

NHSFoundationTrusthost

In

nercityestate

2

24

Enablingserviceuserstoco-produ

cethedesign

anddeliveryoalocal-authoritycommissioned

mentalhealthday-careservice

KingsCrossTim

eBank,

NorthLondon

P2A,

P2Ppublicand

thirdsector

HolyCrossCentreTrusthostIn

nercity,m

ixedarea

Communitydevelopmentandregeneration

3

28

Buildingsocialnetworksandregen

eratingaormer

miningvillage

Blaengarw,

Sou

thWales

Valleys

P2Athirdsector

CreationDevelopmentTrust

Formerminingvillagein

W

elshValleys

4

30

Reducingdependenceandincreasingcommunity

participationamongstvulnerableyoungwomenin

supportedhousing

TaHousingTim

eBank,

Cardi,W

ales

P2Apublicsector

TaHousingAssociationhost

andunder

C

ardi,W

ales

Olderpeopleandhealth

5

33

Reducingisolationandbuildingso

cialnetworksor

olderpeople

CommunityVolu

nteers

TimeBank,

Bromley,

SouthLondon

P2Pindividualand

organisationalThird

sector

AgeConcernBromley-host

SuburbanLondon

6

37

Creatingasocialsupportnetworkorpatientsata

communitydoctorssurgeryinade

privedarea

RusheyGreenT

imeBank,

SouthLondon

P2P&P2A

Organisational&

Health

RusheyGreenGroupPractise

In

nercity,d

eprivedarea

7

39

Creatingasocialsupportnetworkorpatientsina

deprivedarea

VisitingNurseS

erviceso

NewYorkTB

P2Pwiththirdsector

healthprovider

VNSNYnot-or-proft

homecareagency

In

nercitymetropolis

(N

ewYork)

Youngpeople

8

42

Engagingyoungpeopleincommu

nitydevelopment

inadeprivedarea

Glyncoch,

SouthWales

Valleys

Agencytoclient

themed

GlyncochCommunityCentre

(CommunitiesFirst)

D

eprivedestatein

W

elshValleys

9

44

Creatingasenseocommunityaro

undamixed

innercityprimaryschool

WhittingtonTimeBank,

Islington,

North

London

P2PandP2A(school)

WhittingtonSchool

In

nercityLondon

CriminalJustice

10

48

Preventingthecriminalisationoblackyouthinthe

innercity

TimeDollarYouthCourt,

WashingtonDC

,United

States

Agency-to-client

themed

WashingtonDistrictCourt

In

nercity,U

Scity

11

50

Enablingprisonerstogivebackto

theircommunitiesGloucesterPriso

nTime

BankandFairsh

ares

P2A

HMPrisonService

G

loucestershire



The problem: an epidemic o mental ill health

Mental health is one o the most serious challenges acing the NHS and publicservices generally in the UK. Mental ill health counts or a third o all illness in theUK and some 40 per cent o all disability (physical and mental) is due to mentalillness. Ten per cent o the British population suers rom serious depression at anyone time and nearly a third o all GP consultations relate to mental health problems.More than 900,000 people are claiming sickness and disability benets or mentalhealth problems.26

National policy on mental health is moving rom a model o diagnosis and cure,towards a social model that values recovery and social inclusion. This recognisesthat recovery is an ongoing process which enables individuals to take controlover how they meet the goals they have set themselves to improve their livesand involve those around them in their choices; it results in clear improvementsto mental health. Clinical evidence shows that peoples involvement in socialnetworks, their housing and work are just as important as medical treatment in theirchances o making a recovery.27,28

As the two examples in this section and many o the other case studies in thisreport demonstrate, timebanking is an ideal tool or helping people on the path torecovery rom mental health problems. Timebanking can provide both new contactsand social networks or people eeling isolated and alone but also the opportunityto give something back, creating a sense o eeling valuable and having meaningin lie. Crucially in relation to social inclusion, timebanking has the capacity to bringpeople who have been classied as having mental health problems together with adiverse range o other residents o a given community a vital asset in attempts tobreak down the still strong stigma that exists around mental health.

As the Camden example shows, commissioners o mental health services areincreasingly seeking ways o involving service users more actively in the design anddelivery o services.29 Timebanking is an ideal tool to stimulate such co-productiono services.

3. Feeling better: using timebanking to improve

mental health

Clinical evidence shows that peoples involvement in socialnetworks, their housing and work are just as important as medicaltreatment in their chances o making a recovery.



Case Study 1: Improving mental well-being in a South London Estate:

Clapham Park Time Bank

Summary

Key aims: Improve mental well-being amongst residents o a deprived estate

Timebanking approach: Person-to-person

Host: Clapham Park Estate

Funding: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Clapham Park New Deal or Communities,Government Oce o London

Key fgures: Since inception in 2004, 708 residents have participated in the activities and over 5000 hours havebeen exchanged

Context

Clapham Park is an estate in South London with high levels o unemployment and mental ill-health. It is a verydiverse in terms o population, with 35 per cent o residents stating that they are White British, 19 per cent WhiteOther, 18 per cent Black Arican and 12 per cent Black Caribbean. Clapham Park alls within the 10 per cent mostdeprived areas within Lambeth.

Clapham Park Time Bank (CPTB) was set up by the South London & Maudsley Foundation Trust (SLAM)30 topromote the mental well-being o residents in the area and it is also unded by the Clapham Park New Deal orthe Clapham Park New Deal orCommunities (NDC) with unding rom the Government oce o London/Department o Communities and LocalGovernment..

Timebanking in Clapham Park addresses the gaps in provision o statutory services and brings local people, groupsand organisations together to improve the mental well-being o residents by:

P Enhancing social networks to address issues o isolation and depression aced by any people living in the area.Clapham Park not only has high levels o unemployment but is a transitory estate with a 30 per cent annualturnover o population.31 Both actors make countering eelings o isolation and exclusion key challenges.

P Identiying and building on the positive contributions individuals can make to addressing problems identied in

the local community.

The time bank took me out rom being in my home and enabled me to go out and meet other people,attend training courses and meet people who are genuinely in need and appreciate the support I can givealso. I look orward to going to the social club Steve has started. And I like earning credits. By earningenough credits I was able to travel to the U.S., get home maintenance, painting, gardening, nding a place tolive, got ree advice.

Cypher, time bank member

CPTB is a person-to-person time bank with a membership o 130 people, most o whom live on the Clapham ParkEstate and two ull-time time brokers and administrators, Funmi and Roz. There is a core group o 50 people whoregularly attend sessions and exchange time; 510 per cent o members are in ull-time employment and 80 per

cent are rom ethnic minority groups. Clapham Park recruits people mainly by word o mouth and rom the localPrimary Care Trusts, SLAM and local housing associations.

Since the project started in 2004, 708 residents have participated in activities created by the time bank and a totalo 4996 hours have been exchanged.

Timebanking activities

Activities are developed through listening to members and taking notice o how they want support rom the timebrokers. Popular sessions where credits are exchanged include tea and chat, a Friday night social club (initiatedand organised by Steve, a time bank member), belly dancing classes, gardening, walk and talk and beriending.Time bank members are encouraged to run their own projects and also help the time brokers to sta the oceand take phone-calls. For the tea and chat and social sessions, credits are both earned, because the time bankmember is giving support to others, and spent, because the time bank member is also receiving support. Time

credits are recorded in ledger books (see below).



Timebanking as a complement to traditional mental health

treatment

For many o the time bank members, the time bank has been aneective complement to the medical treatment they have beenreceiving. Members comments on this issue included:

Ive been in the time bank or six months now and it reallyhelps me because although I do take medicine you also needsomewhere to go and people to talk to.

The doctors give these care-plans which can be too rigid.Everyones needs are dierent and this is recognised by thetime bank. The doctors are dealing with so many people and somany problems with the care coordinator you only have 15minutes with them and youve got to t in everything in such ashort space o time.

And how long do you have to wait to get therapy and thenthey only give you six weeks or twelve weeks. The time bank ishere all the time, its better therapy.

When you see the proessionals its very ormal. Withtimebanking its quite unique, much more open-minded.

Timebanking and confdence

For CPTB members, one o the key benets o being part o the timebank is that it has helped them to rebuild their lives and increasetheir condence, both by learning new skills and by providing themwith a eeling o value and sel-worth, as Cypher suggests:

The time bank enables us to use our individual skills, soElspeth does her computer work, I do my poetry, and Ann doesher card-making. It is a good therapy. The traditional servicesdont do enough to build your condence back up. The timebank gives us the opportunities to help build condence andgrow our abilities. And it doesnt interere with our benets.Earning time credits is dierent rom having a job. You donthave this ear o crashing out. I you can see that every threemonths you are earning 50 credits you think to yoursel, well,maybe I could go an earn 50 as well!

I you have an emotional problem there is a lot o derisionand name calling in the real world. You dont have that kind ostigma in the timebank.

Timebanking or young people at risk

Youth crime is a major problem in Lambeth and CPTB also works with vulnerable young people, using timebankingto oer them positive relationships and role models and opportunities to pursue an alternative path, avoidingtruancy and petty crime.

Clapham Park outreach

Roz and Funmi and time bank members do a lot o outreach work, attending and speaking at events in the UK andurther aeld. A group o time bank members recently travelled to the USA to give a presentation to the InternationalTimebanking Conerence in Madison, Wisconsin; this was partly paid or through time credits they had earned.

For Roz, the biggest challenges acing CPTB are nding venues or various projects, obtaining outside unding andthe diversity and dierence o the members who come rom a wide variety o cultures.

Future plans

For the longer term, it is envisaged that the time bank is led by local people. The intention will be to coach keyleaders with good listening skills and a good knowledge o local support networks within the Clapham Park area,who will then establish links with other organisations in the area to build a more sustainable network o timebanks.

Clapham Park time bankers cleaning up the local estate

Clapham Park time ledger book where members trackhours



Other plans include establishing a council-block buddying scheme and a members-led DIY project and extendingactivities to evening and weekend sessions. The time bank also recently applied or unding rom the Home OcesConnected Fund Round 6 to work with young people in Clapham Park who have been or are at risk o becominginvolved in gang culture by promoting and encouraging positive attitudes and a healthier liestyle and participatingin community activities. I successul, partnerships will be developed with the Bonneville Christian Centre, the SaerNeighbourhood Teams, the CPP Generation Radio, CPP Neighbourhood Wardens, and Clapham Park Homes toinvolve the young people in various activities including discussion groups, and creative sessions.

Contact details:

Roz McCarthy or Funmi Olowe Tel: 020 8671 4809 Email: unmi@[email protected]: http://www.timebanks.co.uk/nd_a_timebank_details.asp?id=936

Arans story

Roz and Funmi, CPTB coordinators, rst came into contact with Arans amily when his mother, Anne, wasreerred to them by the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinic at the Maudsley Hospital. The ather in the amilyhad been sectioned and Aran, his 15-year-old son, lived alone at home with his mother.

Anne became a member o the time bank and earned over 100 time credits by oering her gardening skills toother members o the time bank and to a local community garden. She ound this immensely enjoyable andullling and it dramatically reduced her hospital re-admissions.

Unortunately, as his mothers mental health improved and he no longer had to care or her, Aran was gettinginto trouble with the police and had been excluded rom school. He was on a court order and the magistratehad made it clear that this was absolutely his last chance o avoiding custody.

Anne asked the time bank or help and used her time credits to buy in the help o local people. The time bankworkers linked up with the Young People in Crisis Project and the Social Services Children and Family Unit. Theunit had been attending to Aran but was not having any impact on his drit into antisocial behaviour and truancy.

It was clear to the time bank workers that Aran needed a positive role model and they ound a male member othe time bank to become a mentor to support him. The mentor earned time credits or ringing Aran twice a dayand seeing him regularly.

The time bank then made an agreement with Aran that he would attend the Young People in Crisis Project andstay out o trouble. In exchange they arranged or a local gym and an ice skating rink, organisational members

o the time bank, to let Aran use time credits or sessions instead o paying in cash.

Aran earned his credits by participating in the time bank and holding to his promise o not going out with hismates, by being in home by 9pm and by ringing his mentor. Other time bank members agreed to call by thehouse every three hours to check he was in.

This reward system worked well and with a local circle o support that he cared about Aran was also able tocope with crises in his lie. The rst crisis came when Anne had a relapse and had to go into the acute ward orthree days and another occurred when she needed a weeks respite.

These events could have been catastrophic or Aran i not or the relationships he had built up with other localtime bank members. With his permission, two emale time bank memberslooked ater Aran while his motherwas away on both occasions.

However, the most eective contribution made to Arans recovery by time bank members and sta was toregularly hold the various agencies in his lie accountable to his needs. This was particularly needed with theoverworked sta on the Social Inclusion Programme and the Children and Family Team. The time bank workersand some o the participants all contacted the agencies at various points to make sure Aran was not orgottenand that communication channels were kept open.

Arans riends saw what was going on, liked it and some o them joined the time bank and contributed to thewell-being o their local community one o them has earned over 80 time credits.

Anne applied or a home transer and she and her son have now moved out o South London to Hastings.Anne has been out o hospital now or two years and Aran is attending college and has continued to stay outo trouble.

By using timebanking, local people were mobilised in both prevention and in crisis intervention and were able

to surround Aran with a circle o support he trusted and that extended beyond the 9am5pm hours providedby statutory services. Everyone worked in his best interests, setting a good example and he responded bychanging and becoming aware and sensitive to those around him and his local community.



Case Study 2: Timebanking and mental health commissioning Holy Cross

Centre Trust and the Kings Cross time bank

Summary

Key aims: Improve mental well-being and builds social networks amongst residents o Camden

Timebanking approach: Person-to-person and person-to-agency (third sector)Person-to-person and person-to-agency (third sector)

Host: Holy Cross Centre Trust (third sector)

Funding: London Borough o Camden

Key fgures: 1643 hours exchanged since inception in November 2007

Background

Kings Cross time bank (KCTB) is based in Camden, an inner city London borough o 220,000 people with highlevels o mental ill-health, above-average levels o alcohol addiction and suicide, and large numbers o reugeesand asylum seekers.

KCTB is hosted by the Holy Cross Centre Trust (HCCT), established in December 1988 by members o the HolyCross Church to provide support to the rapidly growing number o homeless people in the Kings Cross area oLondon. HCCT is now an independent, secular organisation which works alongside over 1400 individuals a year.

HCCTs primary work involves supporting mental health recovery and promoting the active participation o thehomeless and reugees and asylum seekers within the wider community. Organisations supporting these groupsare members o KCTB, as are students rom Camden schools and colleges, creating a diverse mixture o peopleand breaking down stigma around mental health within the Camden community.

Co-production and timebanking are at the heart o the Trusts approach to services and community development.Its approach ocuses on

eliminating the labels and hierarchies that have plagued the third sector, and reasserting the basic needwe all have to both give and take. We recognise that the skills, knowledge, and experience our serviceusers, volunteers, and sta possess are assets that should not be wasted. Service users, volunteers andsta all come here to learn, to explore, and ultimately to shape the prole o our projects.32

Together with two other locally based organisations, MIND in Camden, a long-standing mental health care provider,and Camden Volunteer Bureau, HCCT ormed a consortium to bid successully or a 2 million tender to provideday-care services to people with mental health problems.

The commissioners o the service ormed a consortium with providers and with ne to design a servicespecication and a sustainable commissioning model, which placed a strong emphasis on co-production.33,34 Thiswas in keeping with the Department o Healths recovery approach and the Departments drive or greater socialinclusion and service user involvement. For example, under the service vision, the tender specied that:

Co-production requires proessionals and service managers to move out o traditional roles as expertsand providers into partnership models that work with clients and communities real and lastingchanges are possible with approaches that build or strengthen social networks and in turn motivate people

to learn about and exercise their powers and their responsibilities as citizens. Networks o riends andamilies should also be considered positive co-contributors to success in this approach.

In its response to the tender, the Consortium openly advocated a co-production approach to running the day-careservice, led by Holy Cross Centre Trust which has a dedicated co-production and time bank coordinator. In theirtender, the Consortium stated that they will:

achieve social inclusion and recovery outcomes according to the aspirations and needs stated by adiverse range o individual services users by:

P enabling service users to take responsibility or achieving their own goals and support other people in achievingtheirs through co-production mechanisms like time banks, beriending schemes, mutual support groups, peersupport and volunteering; and

P by continuously developing involvement and partnership rom diverse communities, mainstream and specialistservice providers, thereby increasing the number o stakeholders in mental health day services across theborough.



Timebanking as key vehicle or co-production

Led by Holy Cross, the Consortium has successully integrated the existing KCTB into the day services programme,working across three building-based day-care services.

Holy Cross takes a fexible but ambitious approach to timebanking as a tool to help the organisation make itsservices sustainable and community led. Sam Hopley, Director o HCCT, is very clear that it is not creating a mentalhealth time bank but rather using timebanking as a community development toolto improve the well-being oclients o the day-care centre and integrate them in to a wider Camden community o support:

The time bank and other activities HCCT carry out are designed to encourage clients to take greater controlo their lives and own their service.

KCTB use the person-to-person timebanking model, with participants earning credits or their engagement with theservice and or helping each other. Participants can also build up a stock o credits with the time bank (The agency-to-client model) and use this or various activities or events created by Holy Cross and its partners, or examplea regular open-mike night. A total o 1643 hours o time has been earned in this way so ar. Current time bankactivities include:

P Biographies: Time bankers spend their time credits on acquiring the skills to record short lms about theirlives. A public viewing is being arranged or later in the year where the event organisers will earn time credits ororganising the event.

P Cultural events: Time bankers earn timecreditsby developing a co-production model or the local communityto take responsibility or the concept, design and execution o 12 events to celebrate the diversity o cultures,languages and histories with the Kings Cross and Camden Central Neighbourhood.

P YourSpace sessions on Wednesdays in all three mental health day centres. Your Space allows people todevelop their own priorities rather than simply receiving a system designed by proessionals who think they knowtheir needs. There is considerable fexibility as to what activities are adopted provided they are sae and improvepeoples well-being. Projects which have come out o Your Space vary rom a coee morning, organised by users,to a mental health support group or gay men. The sta act as mentors ensuring that everything runs smoothly buthave a hands-o approach. Time bank members earn credits or active participation in these groups.

Using time as a currency to build a sustainable community-driven service

HCCT has developed a time currency and arranged or time bank members to spend their credits on a wide rangeo services with Holy Cross and other organisational members [see picture]

HCCTs key programme is its Flexicare training programme. Thisoers a range o opportunities including rontline work experience,City & Guilds certicates in mental health, vocational training,supervision, and the chance to get leadership experience. Asa member o this training programme, individuals learn aboutinnovative methods to create sustainable public services, such astimebanking and co-production.

HCCTs long-term plan is to make the organisation and its services

sustainable by training clients and volunteers (both o whomare members o the time bank) to become Support Time andRecovery workers, recognised by statutory authorities. In this way,even i statutory or philanthropic unding or the service runs out, alocal community o sel-trained experts in mental health recoverythrough co-production will be created. In line with this ethos, HolyCross has also built into sta contracts that 10 per cent o their timeshould be contributed to KCTB.

Kings Cross time bankers on a trip to Broadstairsbought with eight time credits


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The problem: the ailure o regeneration policies to engage people

For many decades, regeneration policy in the UK has been ocused onattracting large, inward-investment projects, oten in the construction o housing,with the assumption that this will automatically create jobs and other benetsor disadvantaged areas. The physicalcommunity has become the ocus ointerventions to improve the economy, as opposed to the human community in thearea.

The thinking behind this appears to be that i the physical inrastructure isprovided, everything else will ollow with community development there to dealwith social problems. A whole regeneration and community development industry including the third sector has grown up around these enormous investmentso public money but there is very little evidence that people who actually live indisadvantaged communities have much say in what happens to such unding orbenet in a way which means inequality is addressed through regeneration policies.Regeneration has become something done to rather than done with people andwithout a change o approach we are likely to see increased polarisation.

In reality, many o these trickle-down projects have resulted in gentrication, risinghouse prices and costs o living, and considerable out-fows o cash to consultants,

developers and skilled workers, none o whom are locally based.

The values underpinning timebanking and co-production that people are assetsand that social networks should be used and strengthened to create betteroutcomes apply equally to regeneration. Local people should be at the heart oany regeneration eort and investment should build on their creativity and passion,rather than viewing them as problems or which external solutions should beimposed.38 Real regeneration involves building on existing networks o trust andcommunity as well as investments in construction.

In Wales, Timebanking Wales and SPICE have developed a range o person-to-Timebanking Wales and SPICE have developed a range o person-to-developed a range o person-to-agency approaches to timebanking which do just this. They are all based on theidea o active citizenship, which recognises and values peoples contributions tothe community. WICC aims to create the community. The aim is to create a newthe community. The aim is to create a newconversation social capital.

Timebanking puts the ethos o mutuality at the centre o this new conversation.Case studies 2 and 3 illustrate the approach to regeneration and communitydevelopment that is developing in Wales. In both cases, the agency involved theCreation Development Trust and Ta Housing Association made a consciousdecision to use timebanking to enlist the beneciaries o their services in improvingtheir services and regenerating their communities.

4. Community development and regeneration

Billions o pounds o public money are spent every year onregeneration deprived areas in the UK, rom central, local andEuropean sources. Yet inequality continues to grow between

dierent areas o the UK whilst social mobility is in decline.35,36,37



Case Study 3: Bottom-up community development Blaengarw Workmens

Hall Time Centre

Summary

Key aims: Revitalise a ormer mining village in South Wales, building social netw

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