Vision -Lower Mainland, B.C. TimeBank

TimeBanking has been around since the 1980's, alternative currencies, barter and LET's programs too. Each has struggled to succeed and survive for various reasons. Each has benefits to the community. TimeBanking offers the strongest and simplest form of community building.

What makes TimeBanking so viable today and what's different now?

There are many factors. The internet is one big one. As communities got bigger and spread over larger areas, creating community became more difficult. People suffered from lack of connection and a sense of community, didn't know their neighbour and often did not feel safe.

A wind of change is blowing across the country. People are actively seeking more connection, more feeling of community, and safer connections, but we are still spread out. The internet helps close the gap and become a vehicle for making the connections safely and easily.

Members of TimeBanks share common values of community, caring, compassion and respect. The golden rule still rules... do unto others as you would have them do unto you, offer a helping hand, guidance or wisdom and be open to receiving also. Sounds like a good group of friends waiting to be made.

Don't know what you want? That's OK, many of us don't know what we want and have a difficult time receiving, which closes off the opportunity for another to share their gifts with us.

Remember each gift requires a "giver" and a "receiver", it's OK to do both, it's more than OK it's what works best. You don't owe that person anything (thanks is enough) because you'll be asked to return the favour (or you'll offer) sometime in the future by someone else. TimeBanking makes being a "receiver" just as OK as being a "giver" in an exchange.

Growing Community - Help Your Community Grow a Local TimeBank

The Lower Mainland, B.C. has a 13 cities/regions, each has numerous neighbourhoods/communities.

Each city has on the LMTB exchange website a place to be searched for people in your specific area or you can access Offers and Requests from anywhere in the lower mainland.

For those proactive people who wish to volunteer to build a strong TimeBank community in their city or neighbourhood you are invited to work with LMTB to "make it so".

LMTB will provide the designed materials for education, promotion and TimeBank operation to the local community coordinator and a special section on the LMTB TimeBank website for their specific community information, potlucks, community events, announcements... whatever you want.

Each city or community will eventually have 1-3 coordinators and find 3-5 kitchen cabinet members to help run and promote the local TimeBank community branch. It all starts with one person who catches the vision in a community and grows from there, how about you?.

Contact us to help establish a TimeBank branch in your community. Because each community is linked through the LMTB exchange website every member will have access to doing exchanges with any member wherever they live in the Lower Mainland or just in their community.

gvrd cities map

Please email inquires to us.