A brief history of timebanking in the UK
It all began in 1998 when Martin Simon introduced the concept to England after visiting the USA. In 2002 Martin created the charity Timebanking UK as a membership organisation to support the development of time banks across the country.
To this day, we continue to support our timebanking membership and help organisations large and small set up and run time banks and have seen a surge of interest as a result of the pandemic. We are the national voice for timebanking influencing policy makers and government departments.
The past year has been a special one for us and all our member time banks, because in March 2021 we recorded the six millionth timebanking hour since we started keeping centralised records. All of our time banks across the country joined in the celebrations, as each and every one of them has been part of this achievement. Each of those six million hours represents more than an exchange of time: it’s a hour of kindness, a boost of self-esteem, a bond between neighbours, and a step towards a stronger and more connected community. We are now looking forward to our seven millionth hour.
“We are thrilled to be hosting the International Timebanking Day and also celebrating our own 20th birthday!”
Sarah Bird, CEO Timebanking UK
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