Volunteers add time to the bank
Not having enough time is a complaint many people are familiar with, but not for those belonging to the Hutt Timebank.
The Timebank’s popularity has grown in the Hutt, with 215 people signed up to donate their time.
Veteran volunteer and photographer Rachel Nankivel has been with the Timebank since mid-2015.
‘‘It’s all about connections. I feel the more connections I make, the more sustainable my family is.’’
Nankivel’s first time transaction was over ironing.
‘‘I found someone who was willing to iron this basket of clothes.’’
The basket of ironing cost her two and a quarter hours of her time and sparked her Timebank career.
She said last year, her partner was over in Ethiopia and she was a solo parent in charge of four children.
Timebank members helped her out, providing soup when making dinner was a struggle and helping out with little things around the place.
Within a Timebank, people offer their time to others to help with any task and build up credits they can spend on other people’s time.
Coordinator Kirsten Gendall said people asked for help with anything, from a hand in the garden to simple IT work.
‘‘At the moment we’ve got an older woman who’s just learning how to use email,’’ Gendall said. ‘‘We’ve also got people who teach. ’’
The youngest member of the group was around 12, with the oldest in her early 80s.
Gendall has been the Timebank coordinator for the last four years. When she first joined up, there were around 30 members. That number has now swelled to 215.