Timebanking UK are working in partnership with the DWP via the Job Help campaign site and the DWP’s District Provision Tools and Partnership Managers.

Time banking—help others and help yourself at the same time  

Fancy spending an hour washing someone’s car, doing some housework or gardening for them – and then getting that hour back from somebody else in a way that helps you? If so, time banking could be for you.  

Time banking is growing nationally and can give you the chance to help others and help yourself at the same time. For every hour of time you give helping someone in your community you receive one time credit. You can then ‘spend’ that time credit when you need help from someone else. Best of all there is no regular commitment – you can choose when you get involved and gain time credits.  

This could really help with your jobseeking as there may be time banking members that can help to give you advice with your job applications and CVs – or even to practice interview questions. Others may have IT skills they can pass on to you, or help you improve the appearance of your CV. There could be people who are self-employed who could offer ideas and advice if you are thinking of setting up your own business – or just someone you can sit and talk with if you feel your job search is going round in circles.

Don’t feel you haven’t got anything to offer as everyone can do something. You may not have some plumbing skills that mean you could offer to fix dripping taps, but you could walk a dog or two, help out at a local community event or even do some. It could also help to increase your skills at some tasks, build your confidence with people and get to know them and you’ll feel good about helping your local community. What’s more, doing voluntary work like this always looks good on your CV.  

If you are claiming Universal Credit or other benefits and are required to look for work for 35 hours a week, this can count towards that time – but make sure you speak to your work coach about it first.

Timebanking UK is the national charity that supports time banks.  

You can download a copy of the DWP statement here.