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Skill swapping
Bridget Walsh on 18 September, 2011 |

When we think of the term ‘economy’ the default meaning tends to be about the state of finances in a community, city, country, continent etc. Money, stocks, prices, inflations, recessions… value. Money tends to be the dominant definer of value that one places on a resource, product, service or skill. Although money seems to be at the root of a lot of problems, it is still a fair representation of value. In order to be consistent when considering the worth of a unit within a collection, there must be a common variable, something that is predominantly unchanging. In our local modern economy this is generally a pound. £1 is £1. You can use it to buy £1 worth of something, or £1 worth of something else. Each choice we make comes with an opportunity cost, that is for every £1 we spend on apples, that is £1 less that we have to spend on oranges, and so on.

What if we challenge that variable, that consistent barometer by which we measure value? How about if that variable was instead ‘time’? Not unlike the pre-cash or communistic concept of ‘barter’, exchanging 1 hour of your time for 1 hour of someone else’s is not such a far out idea. It’s not something we often consider in this age of easy-come, easy-go consumption, but there are movements a-foot. Organisations in our very own neighbourhoods are encouraging people to swap skill for skill, hour for hour. The idea is ‘time-banking’ and it is a real-life workable example of a cash-free economy.

Matt McStravick is part of an organisation running a fully functional time-bank in Hackney, Timber Wharf Time Bank. He explains it clearly and concisely. “Timebanking is a form of reciprocal skills exchange. People sign up, register the skills they have and the help, training or resources they'd like to receive in return. For every hour a member 'helps' another, they receive an hour's credit which they can spend on something else available through the timebank. All skills are worth the same. This means that an hour's legal advice is worth the same as an hour's gardening or an hour's befriending.”

Fundamentally, time-banking draws many parallels from yogic value systems, ideas of actions and reactions, selfless giving, non-possessiveness, to name a few. Matt continues, “It means people are valued for what they can do, with the core driver being wellbeing. It helps build skills and confidence and ultimately makes our community a little better all round.” Sounds good to me, which is why I’ve already signed up.

“We started 18 months ago. We now have over 140 members who offer all sorts of things. We currently have three yoga classes (it's very popular!)”

It’s not just the ‘alternative’ or hippy types who are gravitating towards the time-bank idea. People from all backgrounds and belief systems can tap into what an organisation like Timber Wharf Time Bank offers. Matt himself made the progression to working with TWTB, from a somewhat less rewarding career.

“I was working in the music industry, managing artists for a record company, when I sustained a brain injury in a road accident. I had some great support from Headway East London and volunteered there for 6 months or so, researching new projects they might want to be involved in. One of those, Timber Wharf Time Bank became a project through which I could test out my own abilities, build my confidence whilst hopefully, enabling others to do something similar.”

The newly adopted adage “Think global, act local” is used in many contexts, and time-banking is another prime example of how making small changes within your local community can help contribute to a greater change. Timber Wharf Time Bank covers the greater Hackney area, but they work with Camden and Islington in order to expand what’s on offer, while still remaining reasonable local.

If you’re in Hackney and interested in getting involved with Timber Wharf Time Bank, their website (www.twtb.co.uk) is the best place to start. Otherwise jump on Google, chuck in ‘time bank’ or ‘skill swap’ and see what’s on offer in your borough.

“There's no catch with this. We can't guarantee we'll be able to find the skill you're after (though we usually do) but I think people get that's it's a useful resource for the everyone, that also provides a 'way in' to the community for people who are generally excluded.”