Time4Leicestershire

Time4Leicestershire is a free skills exchange initiative from Leicestershire County Council, where members can sign up to share their skills and knowledge and support others, and can request skills they would like to learn in return. 'Timebanking' differs from volunteering as it allows people to swap skills at a time that suits them, with no minimum commitment needed. For every hour of time somebody gives, they receive an hour's time credit to bank and give to another Timebank member in exchange for supporting them with another skill. Anyone over the age of 18 can become a member, as long as they can provide two personal references and attend a welcome meeting.

Exchanged skills can be anything from mowing a lawn, learning to cook or trying a new sport, or they could be something more focused like teaching or learning a language or an instrument, or even something as unique as giving someone a taster of an unusual hobby, like beekeeping, or geocaching! People do not necessarily have to meet in person to benefit from the scheme either; they can also help each other online, for example by helping someone with their CV or digitally editing photographs. A skill that one person takes for granted may be invaluable when passed on to someone else.

Timebanking initiatives such as this one benefit local communities and residents by providing a safe and positive environment in which to meet new people who can help out by sharing their skills or help to develop a person's skills that may not have previously been available. The unuqe thing about joining the Timebank Community is having access to that network of people and skills that you may not having in your existing networks.

The County Council's Public Health team have started the programme as part of the national Timebanking UK initiative, and residents are being encouraged to sign up to Time4Leicestershire to exchange skills with the hope of fostering a greater sense of community, reducing loneliness and isolation, learning new skills, increasing physical activity and improving emotional wellbeing for all.

Full details can be found here: time4leicestershire - Time 4 Leicestershire