TimeBanking UK
TimeBanking UK are the only UK organisation dedicated to helping people set up timebanks, through which they can share valuable time, knowledge and skills with other people in their community. Timebanking is essentially an agreed exchange of time, with no money involved. For example, if you help someone for an hour by mowing their lawn, you earn an hour's credit for someone else's time. There are countless benefits as a result of time banking; it provides opportunities to learn new skills and meet new people. It also provides people who are less able or live far from family with easy access to assistance and a community of people willing to help.
The Spectacle Makers' Charity is supporting a pilot scheme dedicated to setting up timebanks specifically for people with vision impairment in the Greater London area, which TimeBanking UK hope to launch UK wide once the necessary infrastructure is in place.