≥Public Service Delivery with Time Currency Time Banking was founded by Edgar Cahn in 1980 and has now spread to 24 countries. A Time Bank is a local scheme that measures and rewards the effort that people put in to help others in their community. The scheme allows people to earn time credits for each hour they help out in their local community, work on a project or work for other organisations. They can then use the credits they have built up to access services and support offered, in time, by other scheme participants. Time Banks are able to build a sense of community by using time as a medium of exchange. They create reciprocal relationships between people and allow almost anybody in society to give something back.
Time Banking is an innovative tool designed to increase active citizenship, equality and encourages individuals to value theirs and others’ skills. The first Wales Public Service Time Bank is being developed in partnership between Public Service Management Wales (PSMW) and social enterprise organisation, Spice. This project involves developing and adapting Time Banking methodology to promote the equitable exchange of skills across organisational boundaries. Such a scheme has significant potential to enhance efficiency and achieve measurable cost savings for organisations across the Welsh public service.
≥Edgar Cahn During the 1980s, Professor Edgar Cahn, a prominent lawyer and co-founder of United States (US) national legal services conceived a concept now known as Time Dollars and in his own words ‘committed economic heresy’. Following a severe heart attack, Edgar was surrounded by caring medical professionals and worried family members who catered to his every need. Edgar, used to being in charge of events, felt an overwhelming sense of uselessness, consigned to the scrap heap; he was told that there was nothing he could do. This document has been published by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Public Service Management Wales (PSMW). www.wales.gov.uk/improvingpublicservices