The event opened by Plymouth City’s Deputy Lord Mayor was a huge success with 40 local people attending throughout the afternoon and many joining the Time Bank. Individuals and community groups shared some of their skills including: gardening tips, nail art, beauty therapy, cake decoration, rug making, knitting, IT skills, badge making, and many more as a taster to what Time Bank can offer.

The St Budeaux Time Bank office will be open for business at William Sutton Memorial Hall, Shelly Way, St Budeaux starting:

Monday 16^th April
10.00am – 12.00pm.

Tuesday 17^th April
9.00am – 12.00pm
1.30pm – 3.30pm

Friday 20^th April
10.00 – 12.00

So please pop-in to see us and find out more about Time Banking and how you can get involved. The Brokers will be happy to come and talk to you or your community group if you are based in St Budeaux. Please contact Liza Packer on 07925 848431 or by e-mail at liza@zebra.coop

They’re looking for people to get involved with events such as the annual Kite Festival. Might you be able to offer a craft stall, help with publicity or source equipment for the event? Maybe you could spend some time delivering leaflets near where you live? Whatever you do, you’ll earn Time Credits for each hour that you contribute. You can then spend your Time Credits on getting someone to do something for you. Skills on offer include cake-baking, ironing, language tuition and drama workshops amongst many more.

The Friends of Devils Point Park are also looking for people to identify, photograph and publicise flora and fauna in the park and for walking tour leaders. Training will be provided for both activities.

If you’d like to know more about any of these things contact the Time Bank by emailing stonehouse-time@hotmail.co.uk or call Zebra on 01752 395131. For more about Devils Point Park visit the Friends of Devils Point Park website.

The meeting produced a detailed set of recommendations to MVV about how members of the Community Trust should be elected, the geographical area it should represent and how the fund should be allocated. MVV will use these recommendations to submit a draft plan for the Community Trust to Plymouth City Council who will check that it meets the planning conditions and that it is in keeping with what community members want. The plan needs to be approved before MVV can start the main work on site.

If you live in the affected area and would like to get involved in planning the Community Trust, contact Michelle Virgo, michelle@zebra.coop and 01752 395131 or Plymouth City Council Planning Services, ldf@plymouth.gov.uk and 01752 307893.

Plymouth Herald report on the event is here

A summary of what was agreed at the event can be downloaded here.

Answers to questions put to PCC and MVV here. (Updated 23 March 2012)

Thank you letter from PCC.

Thank you letter from MVV.

You can comment directly via Plymouth City Council’s discussion forum here.

The core principle of St. Budeaux Time Bank is “one good turn deserves another”, where everyone’s skill, time and contribution is equally valued. Everyone has something to contribute, whether it is walking a dog, DIY, computer advice or gardening.

St. Budeaux Time Bank is progressing well with members of the community working together to set the project up and others giving it their full support.

Four local residents have come forward to take on the shared role of volunteer Broker and will be ready to start after their initial training in mid-March. The Brokers will organise the skills and time exchanges, bring people together, log people’s time credits, recruit new volunteers and organise local events.

Promoting Time Bank in St. Budeaux square

The launch will be an opportunity for local residents, community groups and businesses to meet the Brokers, find out more about Time Bank, how it works and how they can get involved. There will be lots of Time Banking activities on offer to discover and a chance to meet up with friends old and new.

The St Budeaux Time Bank supported by Affinity Sutton Housing Association and funded by Plymouth City Council will be based at William Sutton Memorial Hall, 6 Shelley Way, St. Budeaux after the launch.

Volunteers Anastasia and Kalpana signing up a Time Bank recruit

The launch was a success with lots of people joining up and a variety of skills being offered. These included driving, dog-walking, chef-ing, DIY, drama classes, sewing and photography. The Beat Bernie Chess Challenge was a hit, convincing both Stonehouse MP, Oliver Colvile and Cabinet Member, Cllr Grant Monahan to sit down for a game. Meanwhile, volunteers decorated visitors with face paints and henna tattoos, people learnt new IT skills and enjoyed the delicious buffet provided by the Oasis cafe.

Emma inspecting the draft Time Bank leaflet

The first skills on offer at Stonehouse Time Bank

Playing chess at the Time Bank launch

Zebra is working with local residents, groups and businesses to develop the Time Bank. The project is supported by Plymouth City Council and launches in St Budeaux, Barne Barton and Honicknowle will follow soon.

Time banking can be a way of recession-proofing communities by releasing the abundance of resources, skills, talents and energy that exist and often go underused.  Simply put – for every hour that someone spends doing a task, they can get back an hour’s worth of work from someone else. Everyone’s skill, time and contribution is equally valued so it’s a way of exchanging time and talent where money is scarce.

Time Banking isn’t just for individuals – businesses, charities and other organisations can join too. For example a local service such as a gym or theatre could offer places at non-peak times in exchange for time credits. Community-based organisations can offer meeting space or computer facilities. In return they might want people to participate in market research, other engagement activities, or to contribute to local environmental improvements. There are lots of ways to participate and with a little imagination and creativity the possibilities are endless.

Zebra is offering a valuable package of training and support to community members who want to get involved in running the Time Banks, and there are still opportunities for new people to get involved. Contact us if you’d like to know more.

You can also keep up to date with the Stonehouse Time Bank on twitter @stonehousetime or by visiting the Stonehouse Timebank Facebook page

The group arrived at the Maker Junction Cafe in Maker Junction late in the evening, after a four hour bus ride from the Heathrow Airport. Dormitory type sleeping arrangements, a large dining area, a recreation room with table tennis and pool table, and friendly staff welcomed the volunteers, who enjoyed the countryside – with its rolling-meadows and rugged coastline. The Sunday morning walk to villages of Kingsand and Cawsand and the Christmas style dinner the same evening provided an excellent opportunity for everyone to relax before the demands of the new phase.

On Tuesday 19 January, everyone but Marc, who will have the luxury of living in his own flat, moved into their host homes. Moving into their new families made a number of volunteers jittery. For the Nepali volunteers, it meant having a chance to get immersed in a new culture. Despite the uncertainties and new environments, everyone settled in well and are beginning to enjoy the phase.

On Saturday 14 January, Kalpana, Rafaela, Ryan, Navraj, Surya, Marc, and Yogesh went to BBC Radio Devon for a radio show with John Govier. Despite the limited air time, they managed to share some of their experiences. Surya, in particular, was thrilled to visit the studio as he too works for a radio station back in Surkhet. Interestingly, like BBC Devon, the radio that Surya works for also uses103.1 MH frequency.

The Community Welcome for the Plymouth Phase took place on Wednesday, January 18th.  The event was attended by about 100 guests. The volunteers worked hard to set up the programme and besides the speeches, all the other segments were run by the volunteers. Rafaela hosted for the event.

Ed Whitelaw from Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) opened the programme with a welcome speech. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Peter Brookshaw, was the chief guest. Among other things, he talked about social inclusion   and encouraged the volunteers to explore Plymouth.  Deepak Dhakal, who is a Plymothian of Nepali origin, also welcomed the volunteers. The evening also provided Marc a platform to reflect on the time in Nepal; whereas Yogesh talked about looking forward to the phase.

After singing the Nepali National Anthem, everyone stood alongside their counter parts and introduced themselves. Ryan and Pawan gave volunteers’ account of the work and experience in Surkhet. They also showed optimism for the upcoming phase. However, the lasting memory of the event was the Nepali dance performed by Nirmala, Pawan, Sunita, and Arati. They danced to a song from an old Nepali film. The song talks about the fondness that a woman feels for her ‘Maitighar,’ which is her parents’ house that she left after moving in with her husband.

Anastasia had prepared photo slides of the Surkhet Phase. The rolling slide show was presented after the end of the formal bit of the event when refreshment was served. The programme lasted for little over two hours.
On Friday 20 January, Berny and Nirajan organised the first Global Citizenship Day on “Refugees and Media Bias ” in Devonport Guildhall. Speakers included Nick Reid from Plymouth Access to Housing (PATH), which works with refugees to provide them with affordable housing and Lal, who is living in the UK after fleeing Sri Lanka because he was targeted in the state.  Valapdas, a British passport holder living in Uganda, gave his personal account of events that led to the eviction of Asians in Uganda in the 1970s by Idi Amin. Rupert and David from the British Red cross delivered a session on International and European Asylum Laws. Towards the end, Nirajan and Berny also gave a presentation on related topics relevant to the UK and Nepal.

On Sunday 22 January, the team used the GX social fund to take a train to St. Ives, which is located on the Western coast of Cornwall. Everyone enjoyed the train ride that took us through an idyllic journey through the fields of rural Cornwall. The coastal town greeted the group with pleasant weather interspersed by gusts of wind from the Atlantic. Marc led the group to a pile of rock that overlooked the ocean. From there everyone dispersed exploring the beach and rest of the town.

27 January, was the day for the second Global Citizenship Day. Set on the Holocaust Memorial Day, the day started with a ceremony at a garden in Mt. Edgecumb. The event then moved to the Plymouth College of Art for a reflection on an opera performed in remembrance to the Holocaust victims. Then the venue shifted to Plymouth Centre for Faiths and Cultural Diversity, where Sunita and Ele, the volunteers leading the Global Citizenship Day, are placed.

The Global Xchange team have been in Plymouth now for little over three weeks; and everyone is looking forward to exciting and meaningful days ahead.

‘Voice’ is a framework which helps community groups and networks to assess and improve the influence they have on agencies and partnerships. The two axes in ‘Voice’ plot existing capacity to influence against how influential members of the group feel it is. It can be used to: assess and monitor community influence, prompt discussion and debate within groups and help plan how to become more influential.

It is usually delivered in three half-day workshops, but you can do just the introductory one and see if you want to continue to work in more depth, or Jacky can discuss with you the best way for your group to assess how to be more influential.

Contact Jacky on jacky@zebra.coop, or find out more by going to  information