2023 was a Timebanking 'blast' and as choppy as navigating the new website/app and its many new technologies was, the many hours of decision finding that our admin teams around New Zealand were busy with have proven to be absolutely spot on and have brought all us coordinators much closer together.
You'll have seen Anna's post about a couple of vacant coordinator roles so, as a local coordinator I can't recommend it highly enough to "come and join the whānau'. You might have heard me say this before but I'll repeat it (again) that over the next years I would imagine alternative ways of 'paying, trading, helping and supporting' are going to be BIG topics.
Here just a short December update, as I'd' like to put together a little synopsis of our 2023 here in our Whangaroa-Kerikeri rohe.
Timebank member Tracey kindly ran a sequel to the first astrology workshop and we loved finding out a whole lot more about - from an astrology standpoint - the importance of our own charts for ourselves, the 12 houses and what our planetary system is currently going through - similarly to the 1500's when major paradigm shifts occurred. Exciting times indeed - but you know that already.
Organisational member "Far North Resilient Communities" and their new initiative 'Garden Rovers' since its inception have indeed created quite a few tidy gardens, happy faces and yet closer knit connections in the community. It is Timebankers helping other Timebankers with their gardens - and is heaps of fun. The garden owner sends TC (Timecredits) to each participant and we then go looking for "things to do, items to get" on the Timebank app "TimeOverflow". What's there not to like about that, right?
In a recent discussion with other members I asked what they liked most about Timebanking this year 2023 and I'd like to share a few answers:
KaiFest & Unity Picnic
Ninja Gardeners in Kaeo
A fabulous red fabric to cover my couch
Help with disposal of an old washing machine
TLC for my little dog when I'm at work
Meeting beautiful new people
Appreciated old and new friendships
Seaweed delivery from TTT member in the Hokianga
and so on.
We don't always stand still long enough to appreciate what Timebanking enables us to do in the community, so it was a lovely little exercise. If you can, do join any of these groups. I'm happy to help you find them, just email me.
Repair Café Kaikohe
The team established quite a good connection with the Pioneer Village people and the word has started to spread in Kaikohe - Thank you Heike for the kind donation of a new street sign !! - and what it is and what it isn't.
Repair Café Aotearoa has been super helpful with this too and their team keeps tabs on stats and figures which at the end of 2023 are actually looking amazing. Check out their website here.
I'll be writing about 2024 as events occur and hope to find some time to start with a blog about "In with the new" - and just in case I'll mention the workshop on Wednesday 3Jan again, a 2 hour offering of "Strategies for Stress & Anxiety", for you to re-discover your resilience, your calm. You'll get an understanding of what anxiety is and what steps you can take to regulate your nervous system and tap into our brain's amazing 'neuroplasticity' toward a happier, more resourceful YOU in 2024. 2 Timecredits from TTT members, $10-20 for non-members or koha what you can and feel like it.
The workshop is part of my new programme "The Art of Living Well" - and isn't that really what this world needs most of all, to Live well?
To come to an end here I want to point out that members AND non-members are able to access Timebank's "requests" and "offers" - of course only Timebank members can get past the headline of the offer or request, where you can then contact a Timebank member and create yet another awesome exchange.
I'll post the links here for you to check out what is currently on offer - and check out if there isn't anything that you'd actually love to contribute yourself.
Oh, and did you know that your Timebank will give you Timecredits for helping your Timebank, sharing your stories with us, trialing the new apps, telling others about us etc. I'd say if we each get 5 more people interested in joining the 'movement' in 2024 we'll have New Zealand's BEST community 'bartering' system !
If you need inspirations I'll share a link here from an article that I found interesting a while back.
" Swap time, not money: Discover the benefits of Timebanking - Timebanking is a brilliant way to get help with what you need and use your skills to help others, without money changing hands. - https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/swap-time-not-money-discover-the-benefits-of-timebanking "
Well, thank you all for your patience and perseverance this year and for making the jump to the new website with us. I'll share more about new activities, meet-ups, plans and other exciting stuff in the next blog "In with the new" - have a look out for it.
I hope you are enjoying the Festive Season and are getting to relax on a well deserved holiday. May the year 2024 be everything we wish for - and you know that that depends on what we make it.
Ngā mihi aroha, Barbara