Author Archives: Time Bank Plus

March 2024: We are currently recruiting for 1 post.

The Lunch Club Co-ordinator will work alongside, co-ordinate and support a small group of volunteers in providing a 2-course cooked meal and a varied programme of activities to older residents in the Twerton area. Volunteers play an important part in this project and direction will also be provided by a small steering group comprising volunteers, Lunch Club members & staff.

Tasks will include:

  • Recruiting, supporting and working alongside volunteers to facilitate and oversee the operational management of the lunch club
  • Co-ordinating lunch provision, including meal planning, budgeting, shopping, cooking, kitchen tasks & customer service
  • Co-ordinating the provision of activities such as quizzes, games, raffles, speakers, singalongs, gentle exercise, annual outings, etc
  • Publicising the project, recruiting and liaising with locally based older residents attending the lunch club
  • Co-ordinating the provision of transport to those people in need of it
  • Project administration, including keeping digital records of attendance, finance, etc

We are looking for someone with previous experience of working or volunteering with a community-based project and with older people, and an understanding of the needs of vulnerable people and the value of volunteers. We are looking for someone with both good people skills and good organisational skills.

This is a part-time (1 day per week) fixed term post initially to 30/9/24 but with a good chance of extension. The salary is £26,000 pa (pro rata).

 

We’ve got a jam packed schedule coming up for December and into the New Year. With Christmas socials, new groups and activities we’re certainly going to be very busy.

Christmas Opening Hours: The Time Bank offices will be shut the week of the 25th December. The offices will open again on Tuesday 2nd January 2024.

Friday 15th December – Feel Good Fridays Warm Space 10am-2pm

We’re secured some funding from National Grid to provide a warm space on a Friday running through December until the end of March. FeelGood Fridays will be held at the Time Bank offices Fridays from the 15th December. We’ll be offering a warm comfortable space, with FeelGood activities such as knitting or board games, hot drinks and some delicious soup available for free to anyone who would like to come and join us. We’ll be offering monthly energy advice sessions in conjunction with the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE), plus free energy saving items such as LED lightbulbs.

19th December - Make your own Christmas Cards and Decorations Workshop (in association with BANES development department)

We’ve teamed up with Bath Council to help run a series of Winter Events in Twerton. On Tuesday 12th and 19th December we will be offering a Make your own Christmas Cards and Decorations Workshop at Quebec Community Room, Dominion Road, Twerton, BA2 1DJ from 10:30-12:30. It’s a drop in session so please do come along if you’d like to make some festive crafts or cards.

NEW activity - Guitar sessions

We have found a very talented session leader, Nick, for our new group, Guitar Socials.

We’re hoping this will be a fun, informal but informative session where there will be teaching, listening and learning about all things guitar.Time Bank Plus has 3 guitars that will be available during these sessions, but if you have your own please do bring it with you.

We’re going to trial run this to gauge interest. The provisional days for this will be a Thursday. If you’d like to register to attend these sessions please get in touch. We are hoping to run an initial meeting to allow the participants to decide the format of the sessions, so we can really tailor it to the wishes of the group.

For information on our weekly schedule and other updates, please look here.

We're renewing our mailing list.  We'd love to stay in touch, but new regulations mean we need your permission before we can contact you.  Please take a moment to complete our Contact Consent form, and let us know if you would like to receive our monthly newsletter, updates about our other projects, such as Borrow It, or info about other groups and activities that may interest you.  Thank you.

Since it first opened its doors last Spring, Borrow It has now made over one hundred loans to almost fifty individuals. From carpet cleaners to hedge trimmers, sleeping bags to ice-cream makers, Borrow It has lent numerous items to local residents and community groups.

Borrow It: A Library of Things is open to all residents local to Bath. It is run by Time Bank Plus and funded by a grant from Bath & West Community Energy. There is no charge for borrowing items, though small donations are welcome.

Viv Talbot, Manager at Time Bank Plus explains that, “In order to borrow items, people simply need to pop along to the office with some ID and register their details. They are then free to borrow anything they need for up to a week, or longer by arrangement.”

The concept & model for Borrow It came from the inspiring SHARE project, a similar initiative which is based in Frome. SHARE also kindly donated the first few items to the Borrow It collection. Since then, local people have donated over 120 items to the scheme. The project has a growing number of registered members as more people find out about it.

“We have had really positive feedback from the local community, and members really appreciate having access to items that they might only use once or twice a year. The carpet cleaners have been really popular this winter, and we are expecting to receive more requests for lawn mowers and hedge trimmers as the weather warms up”, anticipates Project Coordinator, Rowan Wynne-Jones.

Borrow It member, Richard benefitted from the scheme when his lawn mower stopped working, and he was also able to help his neighbour. “The mower has been really useful. My neighbour’s mower broke the same week, so I was able to cut their grass at the same time,” he explained.

100th Borrow It loan: Debbie borrowing gardening tools.

If you are interested in becoming a member of Borrow It, contact the Time Bank Office, on 01225 442813, by emailing: timebankplus@googlemail.com, or drop into the office at, 86 High Street, Twerton, Bath, BA2 1DE. The opening hours are: Monday, Tuesday 10am – 4pm, and Wednesday 10am-7pm.

Visit : Borrow It Catalogue to view the latest catalogue of items available to borrow, as well as the project’s ‘wish-list’ of items.

If you live would like to join others in growing veg and sharing the produce, the Time Bank Plus Community Allotment group may be for you!
We meet on Friday mornings, at the Bath City Farm allotments.
The Community Allotment is a social space for people who want to grow fruit and vegetables and share the harvest.
Everyone is welcome - no experience is neccessary, and there is nothing to pay.
Seeds, tools and tea will be provided.
An experienced gardener will be on hand to guide and advise.
If you are interested in joining us, contact Time Bank Plus on: 01225 442813, email : timebankplus@googlemail.com, or just pop along for an informal chat.

Our fabulous new crafts group will be starting in a couple of weeks' time on Monday mornings in Twerton.

Whether you'd like to have a go at willow weaving, mosaic making, crochet & knitting, fermented foods & chutneys, card making, sewing, soap making, flower arranging, cake decorating, felting or making your own cosmetics,  we'll try and make it happen.

Email us for more info at timebankplus@googlemail.com or call us on 01225 442183.

Bath Borrow It is a new project which we are setting up thanks to funding from Bath & West Community Energy.

Borrow It will offer people in B&NES the opportunity to borrow a range of useful items which are needed only for occasional use, such as tools, household and gardening equipment, catering utensils, camping items, children & baby equipment, etc – it could be anything from a hedge trimmer to a sewing machine, a gazebo or a chocolate fountain!

Did you know that the average drill is only used for 13 minutes during its entire lifetime? The Borrow It project will provide a way to reduce waste and clutter, make better use of resources and help people to save money.”

The Borrow It ‘store’ will be located at the Time Bank centre in Twerton High Street and will be open on Mondays 10am - 4pm and Wednesdays 10am - 7pm. People wishing to borrow items will need to register with the project and are asked for a small donation towards costs (eg 50p or £1).

We are looking for donations of items to stock the Borrow It ‘store’.  Alternatively please let us know if you would like to offer a ‘virtual’ contribution to the project, ie loan of an item which you will continue to own and keep at your own home.

Here is our wish list of useful items we are currently looking for (click on it to read).

WishlistPlease contact us on 01225 442813 or email timebankplus@googlemail.com if you are able to help. Many thanks.

Growing Together is a community project that will provide free training and support to families and individuals who would like to grow their own food at home or in a shared allotment. An experienced tutor will help train people in the necessary skills to successfully grow and harvest their own fresh and delicious produce.  The project will also run a Buddy Scheme to connect local people together, thus enabling them to give and receive mutual ongoing support with growing, harvesting and sharing produce.

food growing (from internet)

We are holding a launch event on Saturday 27th Feb at 2:30pm on our allotment at Bath City Farm.  We are inviting anyone who would like to find out more about the project to join us for "Food, Fun and Campfire Cooking".

From early March, we will meet every Tuesday at the Bath City Farm allotments from 1:30-3:30pm.    It is open to anyone at any skill level, and will be a welcoming environment.  A gardening mentor will also be available to meet people at their own gardens at other times by appointment, to offer help, guidance and encouragement.

Last week, on a cold winter Sunday, 14 amazing volunteers spent the day transforming a small area of neglected wasteground in Twerton into a fruitful community garden. We cleared brambles and nettles, cut the grass, dug out flower beds, collected about 8 bin bags of rubbish and planted soft fruit bushes and other plants, all of which had been donated to us.

site at beginning resized

At lunchtime, we warmed up at the Time Bank office with hot soup and tasty vegetable stew prepared by some of the volunteers.

lunch at TB+ resized

We made and painted a wooden sign - and Hanna Close Community Garden came into existence. This is a space for the local community, where anyone passing by or living in the local area can get involved or help themselves to the odd raspberry, apple or globe artichoke.

finished 2 resized

Bath Guerrilla Gardeners were actively involved with this project and have created several other beautiful community growing spaces throughout the city.