Bank of Time project

The Bank of Time (BT) is a network of citizens who spend part of their time to share activities or services (without the intermediation of money) with others (members of BT). It is a time -sharing network that has its origins in the ancient "barter" in rural areas. The BT project in Parla works from October 8, 2010.

Objectives:
• Improve the quality of life of citizens through the exchange of services, networking activities.
• To promote positive values: self-esteem, confidence, communication, participation, reciprocity, equality and interculturalism. • Create meeting places where people approach and exchange knowledge, skills, experiences etc.
• Achieve social networks and emotional ties between the neighbours to contribute to the prevention of social isolation, loneliness…

Of the 90 members 21% are foreigners from Colombia, Ecuador, Guinea, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. The set of exchanges that take place, 37% have been produced between mixed couples (national and foreign).

Among the services offered people find actions related to care for people with special needs, education, leisure and sport, languages, sewing, housework, transportation, computer repairs etc. In our meeting with responsible BT and some users told us that one of the weaknesses of this project is that often find many offers but few demands. People still do not know the project and do not demand services. There are others BT in the country and they are part of the BT’s network so that they can share best practices and new methodologies. Unlike other BT experiences driven by social entities, in this case the council promotes the BT and anyone can join. Some users told us how rich the experience was for them and the need to make it known to more people join. The BT coordinator has a foreign origin and we found that despite the need to increase the number of partners, this is a project that really promotes intercultural relations in Parla.