Friends and Neighbours

As part of the Banking My Time Too project, we have been piloting a serices of workshops about Friends and Neighbours.



Lots of people with a learning disability have been sharing what it means to be part of their community. This is a group from the Friends and Neighbours workshop in London.



We also produced some posters about what we think community means. Here are some of them.

Conference in London

Yesterday we had our second conference in London. Almost 70 people came. Jemma wrote some words and pictures to help us remember what had been said. We have put pictures of the sheets here.

We have put the powerpoint presentations from the conferences on the ARC website

This is what one person said about the conference in London:
Excellent informative conference - really pleased I came. Lovely food - thank you - and friendly people to work alongside. Will take back much to my place of work. Real Communities workshop was very good.

We would love to hear from other people who came to the conferences or are involved in timebanking.

Project Conference in Gloucester

We held the first of our two conferences to share our experiences at City works in Gloucester. We had a 'sell out' attendence of around 60 people, almost half of whom had a learning disability.

Everyone who came was pleased with the day, some said they learnt a lot of new things. We now have lots of suggestions to go away and think about for the final few months of the project.

Trip to West Midlands Safari Park

The Gloucestershire Time Banks recently organised a social trip out to the West Midlands Safari Park. The Fair Shares minibus is a great asset at such times!

Alice, a participant with learning disabilities who lives in the North Cotswolds, went along for the day out. She says "it was really nice and I really enjoyed it." She met some new people and they were "very nice". She thinks the Time Bank is "a really good idea" and the weekly lifts she had to her riding lesson were "really useful".

Alice earns time credits by offering ironing, helping with social events and dog-walking.

Banking My Time Too Workshop

All the project pilots got together today to talk about what they had been doing.

George and Mark talked about what they had been doing in Gloucester Fair Shares, supported by Shelley.

This is a picture of them.

Neal talked about attitudes to people with a learning disability.

ARC Three Counties Branch meeting

The following piece was hand-written by a participant who attended the ARC Three Counties Branch meeting along with myself and Tracey to talk about his participation in the Time Bank. It has been typed up exactly as written. He does not wish his name to be used online.



Thursday 27th September 2007

I was picked up by Jo and Tracey from Fair Shares. We drove down to a college outside Stroud. It was a small one. First buffet lunch. Joined a group called ARC. Tracey and I were the only helpers with Jo there. Films were shown picture of me in Jo's garden. Another one doing communaty work in the town in Moreton when there was an open day. Glos radio were there. Office Tracey working in it.

There are a few round Gloucester. A man came all the way from Devon to atend to the meeting as there is nowhere in Devon.

It was basicly about people with learning disobillaty rights to be imvolved with a time Bank thing. We were in a small group Tracey Jo myself asking how we got to know Fair Shares how it has helped us. Spoke about me doing gardening for Jo and the retired tutor who lives in Moreton Plus delivering Moreton Times. Followed up to me having paid job delivering Obsurver round my airea. Nice coments about my gardening at Jo's that she could do with ten people like me. One walks her dogs.

There were about 20 people who is in ARC Group who came. Then we had a game playing with them. Asking if they have helped anyone lately and if they have helped them. Some of it was the same sort of thing in what we did at a hotel outside Oxford and Chipping Norton where I went with Kate and Tracey at the day service at Chipping Norton. It was said driver who took one of my people horse rising had artheriters so could not take them.

Us all have had police checks.

I did say that working for Fair Shares is like being with another family how I work at Jo's house then I am given a drink sit with her and the children. We chat. Work comes first. It was said Jo and Lyn works 14 hours a week. We were there a few hours. But confrence was longer. Pitty it was short and sweet as I would have loved to have spoken to people who works for ARC with diffrent kinds of learning disoblillaties. One I did chat to works in an office.

Jo had to be home on good time.

Fair Shares is for all kinds of people.

When I first met them was when we had Madd day in Moreton. Short for make a difference day. That was back in Oct when I was living at Roseville it was in Oct about Year 2004 the year when it was 40th birthday of The Home Farm Trust. Due to the one off events I decided to go home shorter to my family then come back for it. I did not know that I was going to work for them.

Radio Glos was there. There were more staff working for Fair Shares. I did go to there cinma before when I was at Roseville. Madd day sort of had events at St Davids School did something in the garden. I think we had an HFT Store. By having one we must have helped to have got our selves known and home now helps them.

Plus in Madd day was involved with my people living in places in there own.

The College aparantly takes young stewdiance with learning disoblities. It did not look like a big one. The afternoon was so nice I was sorry that it ended buffet was soup chease salad.

Fair Shares has lots of meetings hear and there. Next one that I won't be going to is Oxford it will give more people a chance to go plus away at my famlies.

Healthy walk around Ladywell Park

Wayne and his support worker Noella have been coming to Ryshey Green's healthy walks every Tuesday morning. Our members meet at the surgery at 11am and Phyllis (member) leads the way to Ladywell Park where we do a couple of rounds.
Everybody agrees it's a great way to stay active and healthy and it also helps to lose weight!