One of the organisations The Tindall Foundation has been funding through our Emergency Response Fund is Project Lyttelton, a non-profit grassroots organisation committed to building sustainable, connected community.
Project Lyttelton supports a number of initiatives in and around Lyttelton, one of these is The Time Bank, which has gained momentum since the Canterbury earthquakes.
Time Banking is a way of trading skills in a community. It uses time, rather than money, as the measurement tool. Members of a Time Bank share their skills with other members within the community and are given time credits for the work they do. With credits they gain, each member can ‘buy’ someon else’s time, and get the service they need. Time Banks build social capital.
Margaret Jefferies, Chairperson of Project Lyttelton said “We in Project Lyttelton, together with the increasing number of time bank communities around New Zealand, believe that time banks provide an amazing tool for community development. In lyttelton we know what a significant role a time bank can play in a time of disaster. It can quickly mobilise people to various tasks, but it also cares for the needs of people as we learn to share and look after one another.”
Project Lyttelton used earthquake recovery funds from The Tindall Foundation to support the Lyttelton Time Bank, as they were inundated with additional demand by the community following the Canterbury earthquakes. There are currently 435 members of The Lyttelton Time Bank, which is run and led by three part time project co-ordinators. The Lyttelton Time Bank continues to offer support to new and fledgling time banks around New Zealand. A new version of Community Weaver software allows New Zealand communities to adapt the programme for their particular time bank use.
Email: Margaret Jefferies
Website: http://www.lyttelton.net.