Tuesday 3 July 2007

Time Bank

I read an interesting article this morning in a Middle Eastern newspaper online. It was about a Time Bank that had been set up in a major city. It works by offering time / gifts / talents in exchange for the same from another person. An example, one person taught a group creative writing on a weekly basis, “They have become family to me” and in exchange, another person walked her dog for her when she was out at work. This has meant that people from all over the city have got to meet each other and serve one another.

I am really pumped up by the examples given and how it has changed so many lives. It saddens me that we have lost so much “sharing and caring” in our world, and I am considering floating this as a project amongst my friends. I am sure it would catch on. The immediate challenge would be what could I offer? Baking, vacuuming, taxi service, cat butler? I’ll pass on dog walking and baby sitting, both too terrifying for words. What would you offer? Let me know your ideas.

1 comment:

Caroline said...

I could sleep, to free someone up from sleeping and they could get on with a whole lot extra work...zzzzzzzzzzzzz