TimeBank Raglan recently welcomed Anna Cunningham to the team, sharing the coordination role with Juliana Albertoni de Miranda.
Anna will be a familiar face to many as a Whāingaroa Environment Centre committee member and Raglan Naturally natural environment coordinator.
One of her first jobs is to organise a screening of the TimeBank documentary shot by member Etai Gilad on Saturday, October 27 from 2.30-4.30pm at the Old School Arts Centre. Guest speaker New Zealand Timebank’s founder Margaret Jefferies will talk about her work with Project Lyttleton and how building sustainable communities can impact in surprising ways such as the Lyttelton Harbour TimeBank acting as an emergency management partner during the earthquakes.
Anna’s passionate about community and she will focus on relationship building and networking to increase TimeBank’s reach in Raglan. “I’m looking for opportunities for Timebank to spread out and make a bigger impact in Raglan.”
Currently, Whāingaroa Environment Centre, Raglan Naturally and Raglan Community House are on the TimeBank books and Anna believes there is real opportunity for other organisations to jump on board. The giving and receiving of skills, time and resources can help organisations and they too have something to offer the community of timebankers, Anna says. “TimeBank is all about reciprocity and I’m hoping to connect with organisations we can work with.”
TimeBank’s philosophy is simple – everyone’s time is considered equal and every hour earns a credit that can be used at any time to buy services from other members. Everybody has something to offer, she says, and even a dreaded job for many such as ironing could be the super power that someone else can happily offer.
Connecting the community in ways they wouldn’t ordinarily get to interact is a big part of what TimeBank can offer. “The number of new people to Raglan who have created friendships through TimeBank is invaluable,” she says. With this in mind, Anna hopes to move the organisation towards providing companionship for the more isolated members of the community.
TimeBank is based at the Whāingaroa Environment Centre office at the Raglan Town Hall and drop-in hours are Fridays 12-2pm or email timebank@whaingaroa.org.nz.
Join TimeBank Raglan at the Old School Arts Centre for a screening of the TimeBank Raglan movie, listen to Project Lyttleton’s Margaret Jefferies and share some tasty kai on Saturday, October 27 from 2.30-4.30pm – a free event, all welcome.
Janine Jackson
