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What does it take to feel human all the time?
Time banks are mutual volunteering systems, encouraging those who are normally the subject of volunteering to get involved alongside doctors, teachers or community workers, supporting neighbours.
Time banks are designed on the basis that:
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Feeling useful is a basic human need - denied to so many in society - and can be transformative.
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Regeneration, welfare, medicine, education and community development are all impossible unless local people work alongside professionals as equal partners in their delivery.
The time bank idea came from the USA and there are now over 100 time banks in the UK based in schools, health centres and neighbourhoods - anywhere which needs people's participation to really succeed.
nef has helped to set up the national network of time banks, Time Banks UK and has developed the London Time Bank - the biggest city-wide network of time banks in the UK.
nef research with the University of East Anglia and Time Banks UK shows that time banks are a proven tool for creating social inclusion.
Additional nef research from the Rushey Green Time Bank, based in a health centre shows that time banks can make a big difference to people's health and well-being.
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