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When we heard that Spice was looking for support from local authority partners to showcase
Time Credits in England we were really keen to work with them as this fits perfectly with
our vision to create stronger communities in Wiltshire We want people to be more involved
in volunteering and local life join in with their communities give something back and
also have fun whilst their doing it We thought this was a great opportunity and are delighted
to be part of this vibrant and inspiring programme Time Credits have benefited The Stroke Association
in two ways Firstly it allows us to reward volunteers who do so much work for us everyday
and secondly it allows us to encourage volunteers to volunteer more regularly with the groups
and the one to one volunteering especially Chippenham library are involved with Time
Credits because we have been working with partners and volunteers for years and something
like the Time Credit scheme which rewards volunteering in the community is a really
good fit for us while the volunteers are coming in to spend their credits we can tempt them
with the other activities and events we have to offer
When Time Credits came along it just appeared that we would be able to find a match there
with what we were trying to do i.e. demonstrate that we are a part of the community and we
could be on to a bit of a win-win situation The Wiltshire Leisure Team are delighted to
be involved in supporting the Wiltshire Time Credits Our aim is to increase the number
of people coming in through the doors and taking part in physical activity and therefore
any opportunity to engage and promote with the community is really positive for us
Redlands School has been part of this initiative since the beginning of the year now and it’s
a way of us saying thank you to our local volunteer parents
As far as the Time Credits are concerned they’ve been really beneficial because not only have
they encouraged people to come along because they know they are going to earn something
but we have also been able to send out the brochures to community groups so that they
have a menu and they can see how they can get rewards back from the Time Credits
Unity House became involved in the Time Credits scheme because as a project we were looking
for different ways to encourage and motivate our service users to make positive changes
within their lives and to feel a part of the local community
Time Credits work on the simple principle that for every hour of time that you give
to the community you earn one Time Credit and then you can use those Time Credits either
to go along to very local community activities maybe a tea and dance event a bingo night
a film night or you can go along to a network of partners that accept Time Credits that
might be a leisure centre it might be a bowling alley might be an art centre and you give
one Time Credit for each hour that you give Or you can use your Time Credits to get help
from one other person so somebody might come and help you in your garden and they give
an hour and you give them your Time Credit So across the board it’s you put an hour
in and you get an hour out The benefits of Time Credits to Unity House
as a whole have been enormous really
because we support some of the most marginalised people within the community it’s given us
an opportunity to say that we do recognise that what you are doing has value
you are very important in making sure that our activities run properly that the community
does value what you do appreciates your time and the Time Credit scheme has been excellent
to provide them that incentive to want to do more aswell
I’ve been earning Time Credits through Unity House because I am a resident
I’ve been doing cooking cleaning sandwich making any other jobs that they have got just
get involved and earn Time Credits Yeah I enjoy it I like getting involved as it gives
me something to do during the day because I’m not working and it occupies my time
and gives me Time Credits that I can use to go to the gym or swimming so it takes up more
time for me to use I’ve took my daughter to soft play area in Swindon she enjoyed that
and we went laserquest trip not long ago go to the gym three times a week swimming twice
a week so I’m using at least seven to eight Time Credits a week I think Time Credits are
a brilliant idea because it’s giving us something for putting something in to the
community We get a bit back for putting something in really so I think it’s ideal
I help out in different group settings I did pre-school I helped out in The Springs Nursery
Through the Time Credits they have helped me hopefully to go do my NVQ childcare course
to work with younger children I think it’s wonderful it’s a great idea
it’s needed We are very pleased to be involved in the
Time Credits Scheme I think it’s a good scheme because although we can give our thanks
to volunteers but giving them something they can exchange for something they would like
to do I think the Time Credits scheme is a fantastic
idea finding a way to reward volunteers is always difficult but the credits and the fact
you can take them away and you can spend them elsewhere doing other stuff it’s just a
fabulous scheme I earn my Time Credits at Redlands by reading
with the children and helping in the classroom and doing activities with them I think the
Time Credits are a brilliant idea I go to the swimming pool with them I’m saving up
to take the children to Bowood with them We do things we perhaps couldn’t afford to
do otherwise so it’s brilliant for me I think Time Credits are a really good way
of showing that your work is valuable and your work is highly thought of It’s a really
good bonus on top of enjoying my work here Time Credits allow me to get out and about
take the grandchildren places They enjoy it I enjoy it
It brings in a new audience to us and we recently had a trip that brought in I think it was
up to ten members of The Stroke Association and for a lot of them it was the first time
that they had been here but hopefully they went away having a really positive experience
and will be back again spending more of their Time Credits
I earn Time Credits here at Redland by listening to readers helping out in classroom scenarios
fulfilling duties similar to a Teaching Assistant I spent my first Time Credit just the other
day and got a game of squash out of it at the Olympiad
I think they are a really good idea I’ve used them with my children and just for me
so it’s helped me do more things that I know I wouldn’t have been able to afford
to do if I didn’t do the Time Credits It was a fantastic really exciting experience
when we met the Duchess of Cornwall at the Rise Children’s Centre recently and the
Duchess was very very excited and keen to learn more about us and our service users
were very excited that somebody so high profile in The Royal Family were taking an interest
in what they were doing so it really lifted them and felt that what they were doing was
really important so it was a really really good day
You’ve seen some of the projects and some of the great work that is already happening
through the Spice Time Credits programme We are now looking at how we can expand the scheme
This will happen first in the north and the south of the county and we will also be exploring
how we can work with key partners in areas such as public health unpaid carers and the
military We are looking forward to building on the success of the existing Spice Time
Credit network in Wiltshire and growing the scheme across the county in the years to come