In mid-July the Lyttelton Timebank held its first party. 25 members gathered at my family home to enjoy a meal of sushi rolling and tiramasu. It was the first time we gathered and enjoyed each others company. Margaret Jefferies, our inspiration for our timebank and Chair of Project Port Lyttelton facilitated a discussion around trading. This blog explores the promise of a timebank and our biggest challenge – TRADING.

Our timebank has been growing organically and most weeks a couple of members have been joining. Our vivacious member coordinator has introduced another 15 members since our party and there are now 45 signed up for the timebank. Trading has been growing too, but here we have realized trading does not often happen all by itself in the early stages of development. So we are employing a timebank buddy.

Taking a step back, it is important to note that our original members we enlisted are from the first generation of Lyttelton timebankers and also from the volunteers who delivered a local newspaper, the Lyttelton News. From the start two explicit purposes have inspired members to join – those who joined to trade time and those who wished to record their volunteer hours in the community. So our aim is explicitly twofold, not only are we building a true blue timebank but we are also aiming to record and analyze the number of volunteer hours across community groups in Lyttelton.

So when I pull off the data from our Timebank database using the tools that the Community Weaver software offers I can show that there have been 5000 hours of trading....4900 are volunteer hours at Project Port Lyttelton and the Lyttelton Info Trust....100hrs are members engaging in timebank trades. This dual focus is complimentary, engaging and recording volunteer activity has also helped boost the timebank, clearly some community volunteers have participated in timebank trades. Another important outcome of using the timebank in this way is to begin formalizing a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) to demonstrate the importance of community involvement in the core economy.Although recording and developing social accounting for our community is important the focus still remains on the Timebank and how to foster and encourage members to share their time with each other.

Another challenge is that many new members have consistently been excited at the prospect of someone coming over to garden or clean. From 35 service requests 12 are for cleaning or gardening. Now that we have a good pool of members, it is time to face this reality and find out how the timebank can be involved in helping our members to get their homes clean and their gardens weed free. The next step we have taken is to employ a timebank buddy, this member will actively join in to get people together and participate in trades. It is a small step, however now that much of the nuts and bolts of the our timebank are in place it is time to focus on the needs and wants of our members.

In mid-September we held a film night at a local school, almost 60 people turned out to watch “La Double Face De La Monnaie” an excellent documentary about complimentary currencies, Timebank featured prominently. The event was a combined gathering of the Lyttelton Timebank, Canterbury Community Dollars, the Banks Peninsula Greens and Living Economies. There is definitely an interest in how we understand and use money, for anyone interested in purchasing this video here is the link;

http://mareauxcanards.ouvaton.org/films.php?choix_film=31&&affiche=synop...

Chris Twemlow - Lyttelton Timebank Coordinator

Hi, I'm Tiri Pharazyn and I'm thrilled to be the Member's Coordinator of the Lyttelton Time Bank.

People are my main interest and the core values of Time Banking match my core values, so this is a fantastic opportunity for me to do work that I really love, help people connect. I'm looking forward to meeting all our members and helping find creative ways to get all our needs met.

I care about people in the community and I worry about people being isolated and vulnerable, especially the elderly. There are many people alone out there, vulnerable, isolated yet too proud to ask for help. I believe the Time Bank is the perfect vehicle to build bridges of connection, a way for people to get the help they need while retaining their dignity.

A way to empower the whole community.

A lot of people want to give but not receive. I think its very important to let others help you, the gift of giving is empowering to all and we all need to receive so people can give. I think its just a matter of thinking creatively about what you need.

Everybodies needs are different and the Time Bank can facilitate everybody. I think Maslows Hierarchy of needs gives a good guideline on the different stages we are all at,

The 1st stage SURVIVAL essential needs being met, air, food, drink, shelter, warmth. sleep, etc

The 2nd stage SECURITY protection from elements, order, law, limits, safety, stablility, etc

The 3rd Stage SOCIAL family, affection, belonging, love, relationships, work groups, etc

The 4th stage SUCCESS self esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, responsibility, reputation, etc

The 5th stage SELF ACTUALISATION personal growth, fulfillment, realising personal potential, peak experiences.

Time Banking is for all of us, where ever we are at in our lives. Generally people stick with their peers, I think Time Banking is a way to transcend those boundaries, thereby enriching our lives by expanding our horizons and connecting with new people.

There are no limits to what we can do.

The Ground Work is Paying Off

I have been subsidized by Project Port Lyttelton (PPL) to get the Timebank running, but I soon began to feel overwhelmed by all the roles I was expected to perform. I also envisaged a time when I would be overworked as well!

Understanding the team approach to time banking has been fundamental and the guidelines offered by Timebank in the US have been invaluable.So I decided to reduce the number of hours I was subsidized, from 10hours /week down to 3 hours and pass 1hr of administration back to PPL leaving 6 hours to share between a Member’s Coordinator and a Promotions Organizer. These hours are flexible; there have been a couple of spikes when we decided to go over our budget to do work when we needed to. However, overall our budget for the 6 month period to the end of June was $6000.00; we have only spent $3000.00!

We decided to advertise for two people and a wonderful local woman, Tiri Pharazyn, has taken on the role of Members Coordinator. She is a wonderful people person and began with gusto 2 weeks ago visiting the current members and previous members of our Timebank. Our records are being updated and members have had time to sit and discuss how they would like to use the Timebank system.

Being conservative, I would say it is too soon to call ourselves a fully established Time Bank, nevertheless we are operational. We have a Management Team that includes; Ambassadors, an Administrator, Members Coordinator as well as me, Timebank Broker. Most of the day to day protocols are in place. There are now 19 individual members with 10 hours of interpersonal trades having been conducted as well as two member organizations clocking up over a 100hours of trades. The software is very powerful and we are able to pull off detailed reports on all transactions within our Timebank.

We will celebrate this milestone in a month’s time with a party at my home inviting everyone around for sushi making and an opportunity to meet each other, organise trades and talk timebanking.

Our next step is to ensure that members are able to conduct trades easily. We will be looking to have a public notice board where members can stop and see what can be traded. This will work in a complimentary fashion with the Timeweaver Software. We are almost ready to organize a marketing campaign to promote the Timebank with the aim of reaching our next milestone of 40 members and to signup 10 local organizations.

Is this statement true, or a truism...

I believe it is a bit of both and this is a good issue for a Time Bank to think through

Being true, then a time bank needs to be able to “save time” for its members. When a service in the everyday world in the everyday world is purchased the currency of exchange is money for time. Using the Time Bank system the currency of exchange is time for time. Purchasing a service is perceived as being convenient, so the Time Bank needs to be equally easy to utilize. A Time Bank can help its members save money, because we are not using any cash to purchase a service, working longer hours can be less necessary. The adage of “working smarter not harder” applies in the case of Time Bank. The Time Bank must be a place where we want to spend time.

As a truism, it is easy to imagine we have no time, being busy becomes an automatic response to a greeting, and a badge of personal identity that may not always be true. Living in a modern economy is participating in the hype and speed of the latest and greatest. It is easy to find ourselves running around trying to get everything done. Life = Busy. Occasionally it is constructive to audit our lives to see how much time we spend doing what we do. Can our busi-ness be more thoughtful and socially constructive? Time Bank challenges members to think differently about the time we use.

Time Bank offers a model of exchange that promotes a lifestyle of building cohesive communities. When we invite a Time Bank member to help with an activity, trust is established and our understanding of our community increases. We discover who can share in taking our kids to school in the morning. We get to know a trustworthy person to collect our mail and keep an eye on our home when we go on holiday. We get to offer skills we want to provide. In building communities in this way we become more self sufficient, potentially taking pressure off tax subsidized services.

Using a very simple economic equation, the Time Bank system can be as easy to utilize as money, our challenge is to find ways to realistically help members use the Time Bank well. On a larger scale the Time Bank needs to deliver on its promise of strengthening communities so that national agencies can measure the cost saving benefits.

At Project Port Lyttelton we believe Lyttelton is becoming a model for how communities can be personal and supportive places to live. Evidence of this was 'Imagine: Lyttelton and the Harbour basin a conversation with the future and the Harbour basin – a Conversation with the Future. 81 people living in the small Christchurch suburb of Lyttelton and its surrounds spent the whole day of a national holiday work-shopping together to build visions for our place. This is just one arrow in the quiver of community-building and the Lyttelton Time Bank is another. Our actions to rebuild community through sharing and participatory democracy are a key to mitigating the remote technocratic and impersonal corporatizing of our social landscape. To discover more about our approach visit us at http://www.lyttelton.net.nz

The initial focus, or stage one was taking the desire for setting up a time bank, researching what was involved, finding a broker, gaining tax exempt status and seeking support from organisations. You can read previous blog entries to see how we arrived at that point , now I wish to explain the next steps in setting up.

My current role is the person responsible for getting a local Time Bank operational and I see this blog space as mapping the trail along the way. So there are 3 signposts I will erect in this posting

• 1.Setting Up Software – isn't a broker enough?
• 2.Establishing a Core Group – priming the pump, start trading
• 3.Next Steps – promotional material, needs survey, organizational involvement

TimeBank Software - Isn't a broker enough?

I am funded for a few hours a week to run our Time Bank and if I was to be involved in brokering every trade I could be completely overwhelmed. So software allows members to trade between each other and keeps a record of the exchanges that take place, further to this I can completely manage our Time Bank software and can organise accounts for members who do not have access to the web.

The software package from TimeBanks, is a neighbourhood license suitable for a Time Bank of up to 35 members sponsored by Relocalize. The subscription to the Community Weaver software also includes ample support material such as user manuals, and access to coordinator forums. Setting up the Community Weaver software was very easy as it is remotely hosted in the United States and only requires a login address.

An issue arose during the enrollment process and the software had to be “localized” so that Lyttelton members could use the postal address format standard in New Zealand. The Community Weaver development team in TimeBanks made the appropriate modifications so that by the middle of March we were able to begin trading using the software. I have some experience with website development and have made a frontpage for our Time Bank that links to the Project Port Lyttelton website and gives members an entry point to the Community Weaver software Lyttelton TimeBank. We are still coming to grips with the software, but on the whole it is very user friendly and meets our current requirements.

My personal preference would be to have our own software package that could be installed on our organisations computer so that we were not completely dependent on Timebanks USA. However currently I can find no other option that is anywhere near as professional. Most importantly is that Community Weaver enables the broker the necessary independence to get on with promoting our local Time Bank while allowing members to trade between each other freely.

Establishing the Core Group.

If you have not read anything else about Time Bank then from my perspective the following information needs to be added to a checklist of “Essential Ingredients for a Successful Time Bank” That is, the establishment of a core group.

I had just been talking to our steering group and initial 3 or 4 members about getting a committed team to start trading when a timely package arrived in the mail during the first week of April. It was confirmation of our software licence from TimeBanks and included a 40 page booklet the Start Up Manual for Member Led Time Banks! Whew, what a relief! I was feeling a bit like I was starting something new without much to go on and to receive the booklet that has the distilled knowledge of 20 years of experience from TimeBanks is helping us focus our energies.So I will quote directly from the Manual,

"Our experience has taught us that Time Banks nearly always fail when they are staffed by one person who has lots of enthusiasm and vision, but still is only one person! In truth, Time Banking is all about ‘team leadership’ so creating a Time Bank where members are fully engaged and invested in its operations and management is vital to its success."

This is our current challenge, establishing a core group committed to running our Lyttelton Time Bank. In the manual 6 roles are outlined. Obviously one member can take responsibility for more than one role, however the basic philosophy of Time Banking is sharing, if all the tasks are shared between members the sense of belonging and responsibility is fostered and our Time Bank is made stronger and more relevant.

• Role I Time Bank Ambassador - Member Recruitment
• Role II. Membership Coordinator - Member Orientation, ‘Keeping in Touch’; Making matches
• Role III. Events Coordinator - Focuses on all group activities of the Time Bank
• Role IV. Webmaster - Training New Members on On-Line Time Banking; Running the on-line community page
• Role V. Admin - Collecting dues, Financial/Budgeting, Fund raising
• Role VI. Team Leader - Makes sure that everyone is happily taking responsibility for their role.

In fact the really exciting challenge for our group now is to find new member keen on taking one of these roles or supporting one of the members responsible. I think we need 20 Members! And so this is our immediate goal, I believe this is a critical number to create a sustainable Time Bank, with the core members committed to regular trading.

Next Steps – Promotional material, Needs-Skills Survey, Organizational Involvement.

Now that we have so many of our protocols in place we can design promotional material and use a range of publicity to raise awareness of our Time Bank in Lyttelton. Combined with this is to design a survey to help us understand what the residents of Lyttelton indicate they need help with and what in turn they can offer their neighbours. We are also trying to promote a way in which local community organisations can participate in our Time Bank.

In all this process I keep in mind our goal is to strengthen our community connections, to build new pathways for relationships to flourish and for our town to become a place where we come to know each other better.

Margaret Jefferies, Chair of PPL, has the final say in this month's Blog with some real and personal comments

I have had a real interest in alternate or complementary currencies for some time. I know that for creating a sustainable world we need to recognize the nature of money, how it is created and be aware of its effects on every aspect of our lives, our world. We need new forms – such as Time Banking. I am a board member of Living Economies www.le.org.nz ,a New Zealand group formed to address money issues in ways that reflect natural systems. I’ve attended a conference in NY on various complementary money systems. It was at this conference that I recognized that a Time Bank system would be ideal for our Lyttelton community. Chris has explained how he is going ahead with organising this.

Now a down to earth challenge that we face is that in this community people are keen with the Time Bank principle, keen to offer their services, but appear reluctant to ‘buy’ services. A golden opportunity opened up showing us how we might start to shift this furiously independent self sufficient view! Recently I discovered I need urgent heart surgery, this is a shock to the system! My needs are increasing around this time. A lot of people in this community wish to support me in various ways, so I am using the situation to be a little petulant and accept their help to me only if they are willing to do it through the Time Bank. A little manipulative, but it means I am modeling the ‘buying’ of services. It is forcing my friends to look more closely at the implications of Time Banking and what it can achieve if we engage in the process. And it is fun. I have been a little anxious being in my house alone, so people come with their own work, reading, whatever, so there is someone around which gives me a sense of security. I get driven to appointments, I get to feel surrounded by love at the same time knowing that we are creating the basis of a system where everyone in this community can gain in a similar manner.

Time Banking here in Lyttelton has the ability for us to move away from being fiercely independent to discovering the joys and ease of doing things co-operatively. Quite a shift in culture!

A couple of years ago PPL started this innovative project, a first for New Zealand. It is a way that people in a community can share their skills.
However the Lyttelton Time Bank has been sitting in a position of “unrealised potential” – waiting to really take off. But now this has all changed!

Since the Time Bank principle is new to New Zealand, there have been some hurdles that have needed to be crossed before the project could fly.

• A ruling from Inland Revenue was required to clarify the tax position. Would people doing these “favours” for one another be liable for tax? PPL has received a favourable ruling from the IRD stating,

As long as the primary purposes of the organisation are not changed by the activity of the Time Bank, the Time Bank comes within the constitution of Project Port Lyttelton, and anyone using the Time Bank facility is not doing so as a part of their taxable activity or business, Project Port Lyttelton will retain their approval for tax exempt status under section CW 33(1)(a)(ii) of the Income Tax Act 2004 as a District Improvements Society.
So as long as the work you offer to do within the Time Bank is not your income generating work then there is no tax involved.

• Central to success of a Time Bank is the role of Time Broker – the person who organises the whole time bank system locally.

This person keeps the records, arranges the exchanges, promotes the concept, introduces people, enrols members, organises social gatherings so that members and prospective members can get to know one another.
The Time Broker is a busy person. In fairness this role needs to be a paid position rather than a voluntary one. So here was the next hurdle – getting funding bodies to understand a concept that had not been used in New Zealand before and provide funds for the role. Generally, funders tend to be risk averse, wanting to be 100% sure that any grant they give will provide the goods that the applicant suggests it will. And up till now without a tax exemption ruling, funders haven’t been willing to support the project. So there have been delays while waiting for funding round outcomes.

• The Tindall Foundation – the philanthropic body set up by Stephen Tindall of The Warehouse is excited about the Lyttelton Time Bank.

This Foundation funds projects that support families and social services; that encourage enterprise and employment; that care for our environment and the preserving of biodiversity; that strengthen the third sector and that promote generosity and giving. The Time Bank concept fits all these desires of the Tindall Foundation, so it is keen to support the PPL project.
The Tindall Foundation wants to see Time Banks take off in New Zealand. The Lyttelton Time Bank is a prototype for New Zealand. So funding is being made available for the part time broker’s salary for three years here in Lyttelton. This is a huge bonus for this community. This means the project can really start to move ahead. It will mean that the support team and the broker will be unencumbered by having to look for funding each year. By the time the three year period has passed, PPL’s income from the Farmers Market will be able to continue supporting the role.
So the outcomes the Tindall Foundation expects to see in three years are a well functioning Time Bank in Lyttelton and a growing awareness throughout New Zealand of Time Banking with its many advantages to all sorts of communities.

• Meanwhile another bonus. -The Post Carbon Institute has chosen PPL to trial the new Time Bank software developed by Time Banks US.

This means there will be two ways for Time Bankers to access help from the Time Bank – by a phone call and the broker arranges the details of the task, or those with internet connection can do it that way.

This Lyttelton Project is being watched by many people in many different places. We are thankful to all the support we have recieved and excited to boost our trading in Time Dollars to strengthen our community!

Time Banking in Lyttelton

A preamble is required to explain how Time Banking became a Project Port Lyttelton (PPL) activity and the best person to explain this is Margaret Jefferies.

My first engagement with PPL was because my daughter was creating a garden with youth in Lyttelton and I began to show an interest in the community project, this evolved during 2006 to a place where I am pleased to call myself part of the PPL team. I found No More Throw-Away People by Edgar Cahn in the Lyttelton Library while thinking about an unrelated volunteer project, Margaret then told me she put it there!

From June of 2006 I have been reading, researching and talking to people in order to deepen my understanding of “communities working together” so as to more explicitly know the many ways interconnections and interrelations play a huge role in community wellbeing. Without going off into a meandering tangent I think it is fair to describe post industrial communities as having a strong technocratic fabric, (rates, roads and rubbish collection) but we often a weaken the social fabric (by spending too much energy driving all over the place to get what we want). I think Time Banking might help us to find what we need from our neighbours and so build stronger community relationships!

What is Time Banking?

• The first premise is that Time Bank is a system by which neighbours in a community can post and respond to requests for assistance.
• The second is that by using the Time banking system the activity of giving and receiving in a community will increase.
• The third premise is that Time Banking will improve the social fabric of a community.

Our First Steps

In October 2006 PPL offered me the opportunity to be the Time Broker for Time Banking Lyttelton and I will be paid up to 10 hours a week. In December PPL secured funding from a Foundation to subsidize the role of Time Broker for a period of three years.

We began with a brain storm to identify where Time Bank Lyttelton is at and how we will get it moving! Then we established a steering group to assist the broker. I received the membership list and was shown the computer with the Time Banking software...Immediately I felt the current software would eventually place a huge administrative burden on any Time Broker. Thankfully there is newer software which allows members to make exchanges without the Broker having to be involved in every transaction.

I would like to spend as much time as possible discovering what people would like help with, who in the community has the time and skills to give, and be avaliable to facilitate exchanges. To Join people and groups, to promote the time bank and to record how we began our Time Bank and how it becomes part of our community is equally important to administering the system.

At years end the appropriate software is still to be decided but a very interesting discussion is emerging and there is optimism that from a variety of options we will be able to make an informed choice.

In a couple of weeks we need be ready to begin trading for 2007 and there is still plenty to do!

Project Port Lyttelton aims to build a sustainable community by promoting a consensus model of community involvement. We know from experience everyone has something to offer, something to teach as well as often a need for help from each other.
The word ‘sustainable’ is in our community vision statement. This is always in the forefront as we explore ideas that emerge from the community.
Current aims include:
1. Getting our Time Bank flying.
2. Developing the conversation around energy matters completing the household questionnaire; producing an information kit for people on how to retrofit houses and ideas for new buildings – this will include techniques available, and local businesses who could install; completing our warm wall project – providing a free warm wall to a householder and using that as a demonstration of its effectiveness.
3. Running an adult education class on “Discovering your leadership skills – in a community context”
4. Have one of our volunteers stand for election for the Community Board in Council
5. Deepen our connection with the community by continuing to use Appreciative Inquiry methods
6. Develop the lower floor of our community building as an art space available for the whole community
7. Maintain our newspaper as an 8 page supplement (has been 4 pages till this current issue) Getting buy in from advertisers to make this possible.
8.Continue to develop our waste minimization scheme – at present composting kitchen waste from local restaurants. Moving towards education for getting people to compost on their own sections.