Time Bank
Give your time-Live with Solidarity-without money
In creating new forms of solidarity with the main objective to combat alienation, individuality and the crisis in our society, we have created the Time Bank. The Time Bank is an exchange network of services and knowledge supported by its own unit of transaction-TIME. In this way, the content of services is equated thus, for example: -one hour of Spanish lesson is equated to one hour babysitting -one hour visit to a doctor is equal to one hour of self defence lesson - one hour guitar lesson can be exchanged for one hour cleaning a house. These are a few examples of how useful Time Bank can be. Let us remember that we all have something to offer and something that we need to improve our lives. The Time Bank gives us the opportunity: - To become a neighbourhood again. -To give and take without thinking about money. To improve our lives, we must first change within ourselves! To change attitudes and act collectively! To work to our advantage and not for the benefit of markets and profit! We are all equal, important, and we have the same value! We invite you to actively participate in this effort! Who are we & Why A Time Bank?
THE STARTING POINT We created the Time Bank in Sydagma Square in May 2011. Even though we were people that didn't know each other at the time, we all had the same or similar ideas of creating an exchange network. Some of us had already been members of a time bank abroad, and since the idea of time banking wasn't sufficiently developed in Greece, we decided to create our own Time Bank. THE CORE STEPS TO CREATE THE TIME BANK WERE: (local level) 1. Group formation (at least 6-10 people that are passionate about the idea and have time) Discuss together the principles of our group. Find the key people (programmer, graphic designer, etc.) 2. An open meeting - organise an event to promote the idea and inspire more people to participate voluntarily in the group. 3.With a group of 20 you can start organising the time bank and share responsibilities - create an online platform (YOU CAN USE CYCLOS) - create an e-mail account - use social media to promote it - organise an event for people who want to participate and start performing exchanges. 4. Plan events to promote the idea - connect with other similar initiatives and join forces. HOW DOES IT WORK Find people who are passionate and have time Find the key people who will help voluntarily. Work together as a group without any hierarchy. Share responsibilities. Don't give up! THE PROJECT'S POTENTIAL Our goal is that many (smaller) Time Banks will be created in neighbourhoods around Athens-Greece and in other countries. We would like to help them by sharing our knowledge, our ideas and our know-how. We really believe that Time Banking can : - (re)build neighbourhoods and communities - satisfy important needs of people - use services without thinking about money as an obstacle - create or strengthen relationships and help people not to feel so alone - help people to be strong, independent and to feel useful PARTICIPATION & GOVERNANCE In Time Bank Athens, local citizens/ordinary people make the decisions and work together. There is no hierarchy and our assembly is open to anyone who wants to participate and make decisions. All the work that is carried out is on a voluntarily basis. We don't have, and don't want to have, any relationship with the State or other public authorities/institutions, mainly because we want to be independent and free. CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMMUNITY Below are all the services exchanged: Arts & Crafts Building Trades Business Administration Computers Education Entertainment Event production Food Gardening & Yard Work Gifts Goods Health & Healing Home Improving Household Services Legal-Law Mechanical Trasportation Social care Urban Homesteading Writing Pets Future perspectives Spread the idea of time banking throughout the neighbourhoods of Athens Connect with all the initiatives based on economies of solidarity in Greece, Cyprus and Europe. Improve our website and try to make our members more active How to set up an account
Step 1: Sign Up
In order to sign up, the steps you have to follow are: Basic Info — State your e-mail (never made public, will be verified) — Write your name (username- will be displayed only to other signed-in members and better be your real name) —Write your password —Confirm the password Alternatively, you can sign up using an OpenID. Create a profile —Choose a category of service you would like to offer. Hold down the Control Key (ctrl) to select multiple categories. If you use mac hold down the command key (select). You can also create additional categories, if something you offer does not exist. —Let the other members know something about yourself and the skills you bring to our Time bank. Write a text. You can edit the text anytime you want to change or add something. — Choose the areas where your transactions can be made. —Read and accept the member agreement —Click on ‘Sign Up’. Check your e-mail account. You will receive ‘e-mail verification’, click on the link to activate your time bank account. Attention: if you don’t receive a message in your Inbox (e-mail verification), check your ‘Junk’ and ‘Spam’ folders. Step 2: Sign In — Write your e-mail and password You are now ready to edit your profile, write a text about yourself and upload a picture. You can also take a look at the profile of other members and contact with them to start a transaction. Step 3: Create an Offer or Request Time bank exchanges work with request and offers. A request is when you need a service, or good. An offer is when you have a service, or good you want to share. In order to create an Offer: —Click on ‘Offers’ —Click on ‘New Offer’ —Write the title of your offer, give an estimation of the time you need and write a text to describe your offer. —Click on ‘Create’ Your offer is now ready. You follow the same steps for creating a new request. Step 4: Transaction Procedure When you wish to start a transaction with a member, you contact with him /her through a personal message. Go in his/her profile, click on ‘send message’ and send him/her a message. You can now contact members directly and agree about the time and place of the transaction. Step 5: Give Credit The person who received the service transfers the agreed upon number of hours to the person who shared the service. · Go to the Profile Page of the person you want to transfer hours to. · Under the profile picture, click on "Give Credit" · Write the number of hours, the name of the service he offered to you and then Click on ‘Submit’. · If you want you can send some words of thanks and write your comments in his wall. |
Banco del Tiempo
Regala tu tiempo-vive en solidaridad y sin dinero
En el marco de la creación de nuevas formas de solidaridad y con el propósito principal de luchar contra el alejamiento, el individualismo y la crisis que está experimentando nuestra sociedad, hemos creado el Banco del Tiempo.
El Banco del Tiempo es una red de intercambio de servicios y conocimientos que se sustenta en su propia unidad básica de transacción: EL TIEMPO. De esta manera, los servicios se corresponden, por ejemplo, así: -una hora de clase de español equivaldría a una hora de canguro para niños; -una hora de visita a un médico equivaldría a una hora de clase de defensa personal; -una hora de clase de guitarra equivaldría a una hora de limpieza de una casa. Los mencionados son solo algunos ejemplos de lo ventajoso que puede resultar el Banco del Tiempo. Démonos cuenta de que todos nosotros tenemos algo que ofrecer, y además hay siempre algo que necesitamos para mejorar nuestra vida. En definitiva, el Banco del Tiempo nos da la oportunidad: -de volver a ser vecinos. -de dar y recibir sin tener que pensar en el dinero. Para mejorar nuestras vidas, ¡tenemos primero que cambiar por dentro! Cambiemos de mentalidad, y estaremos cambiando colectivamente. Trabajemos en nuestro propio beneficio, y no en beneficio de los mercados y las ganancias. ¡Todos somos igual de importantes, y tenemos el mismo valor! Por eso… ¡os invitamos a participar activamente en esta iniciativa! |
