Timebanking is a commitment to transform a group of strangers into a community, where time is the principal currency. For every hour participants ‘deposit’ in a TimeBank, by giving practical help and support to others, they are able to ‘withdraw’ equivalent support in time, when they themselves are in need.

In each case the participants decide what they can offer. Everyone’s time is equal, so one hour of my time is equal to one hour of your time, irrespective of whatever we chose to exchange. BecauseTimebanking is just a system of exchange, it can be used in an almost endless variety of settings.

There are 5 Time Banks in Scotland who formed a network to share experience in setting up and running a TimeBank and offer support to anyone in Scotland who wanted to establish a TimeBank. This informal grouping has progressed to the setting up of a charity to seek funding to develop a framework to raise awareness of Timebanking and to share knowledge and skills accumulated from existing Timebanks and to help build capacity and resilience in communities.