12 Nov Timebanking Case Study
We got involved with Time Banking initially through work we were doing with SAVS. The over 65 group had a 90 year old Gentleman, John, who was looking for more than just sitting talking with ‘old people’, as he put it! We had some work for him to help with, fixing a Little Free Library that we make on to a wheeled base. It was for use at the Children’s Contact Centre in Delaware Road. John did a fabulous job with it and on our next meeting with Catherine Hart he suggested we could transform our back room, a large room for storage, into a workshop for people to use under his guidance.
Together with a young amputee, Kris, who was finding life hard adapting to his disability and was looking for something to keep himself busy, these two men transformed the old storeroom into a workroom! With machining skills (John owned clothing factories) and Kris being an engineer this work was completed to a high standard and is being used for repair cafes and other such projects. Together with Time Banking this project is very successful
SAVS Timebanking connected us with a Folk Like us Member, John. John, who is 91, was looking to help out and use his machining and DIY skills he had picked up during his time as a clothes factory owner. Initially he helped us design and make a wheel base for our ‘Little Free Library’ box that was being used at the Childrens Contact Centre in Shoebury.
It wasn’t long before John had ideas about how we could improve our Shoebury Hub space. He suggested transforming an old storeroom at the back of the building, into a work space that could be used to teach people DIY & trade skills. We asked Southend Timebanking if they could find someone who could assist John with the physical work. We were introduced to Kris, a young man who was finding life hard adapting to a new physical disability, and was looking for a challenge and a focus.
Those 2 men completely refurbished and created an incredible workspace, that we are now using to hold Repair Cafes and can offer out to other projects. Southend Timebank matched us perfectly with 2 people who were looking to share their skills and time to benefit the community.
