Q: Is there a charge?
A: No. No money changes hands. TWTB is completely free.
Q: Are all skills worth the same?
A: Oh yes. Every hour is worth one hour’s credit. We can’t emphasize that enough.
Q: What happens after I sign up?
A: Your info is entered onto our database, an account is created and you are ready to offer your skills or request help through the website. If you’d prefer to, you can call us on 020 7749 7797 or email us.
This is the beginning of a conversation. You ask and offer and we post these on the site and field responses. Put as much detail as you can in your requests and offers as this helps ‘sell’ your skills to those who might well need them and lets a potential helper know clearly what is required of them.
Q: Can I get help straight away?
A: Yes, all members can ask for help from day one. We ask that you try to put it as much as you take out and vice versa.
Q: Can organisations become part of the time bank?
A: Yes, we have now developed Hackney Shares which is a time bank for organisations who trade their time, resources and assets in exactly the same way: 1 hour = 1 hour.
Q: Doesn’t time banking do people out of their jobs?
A: No it doesn’t. TWTB will only provide ad hoc, occasional staffing to organisations and works largely with those who have established volunteer programmes that they’d like to incorporate into the time bank.
Q: Can I access resources from other time banks?
A: Yes, we are pleasantly shackled to friendly time banks in Tower Hamlets, Islington and Camden and soon, we’ll be hooked up with all the time banks in the UK. Mind boggling.
Q: How are credits logged?
A: At the end of each exchange, both parties agree the amount of time spent/received and inform the time bank, usually through the Completed Exchange form. One member’s account is debited and the other is credited. You can email or call to find out your balance at any time.
Q: Can I donate my credit?
A: Yes, if you find yourself earning and not spending, you can donate your credit to someone you know or to the time bank itself. Just drop us an email. FYI, we use credit to subsidize workshops, to run events, to design our promotional material and help with our admin.
Q: I want to run a workshop but I need space to do that. Can the time bank help?
A: Yes, most of the time we’re able to find a space in a centre or meeting room in a business centre that can be hired out for time credits.
Q: Can time banking help my business?
A: Probably. If you’d like to promote your business you can provide a certain amount of service or other asset/resource (say, massage) for a certain number of hours per month for time credits, introducing new people to what you do, charging thereafter. You can put limits on to how many or how often you accept requests from particular members so it works best for you.