For the last five years or so Jules Lee has combined bringing up her two boys with related volunteer work – Plunket, toy library, children’s playground and Project Lyttelton.
Then it became necessary to get back into paid work. Jules thought it would be cool if she could have paid work which allowed her still to be at home for her children. She was looking for part time work in this community which would link in with her volunteer work.
She was advised by some that you can’t have everything the way you want. Jules didn’t believe this, she was looking for a way that she could be and do things the way she desired – and being a mother, there for her boys was at the top of that priority list. “There has to be another way,” she thought, “to do things, doing what you want.” So she started to ask around.
About four years ago I, the writer, introduced Jules to Time Banking. At that stage Jules saw Time Banking as a sort of child minding club and a way to get gardening done. She did enrol though and for a time delivered the Akaroa Mail when it included the Lyttelton News. She gained about 30 hour credits. Then she did nothing. I had also encouraged her to read the book No More Throw Away People – but she didn’t take that up – “not for me,” she thought.
Back to the present…Jules looking for paid community type work within this community that would allow her still to be there for her boys.
The Lyttelton Time Bank was growing and needed a people’s co-ordinator. No More Throw Away People was required reading to get the position. So Jules started to read the book. Now she realised as she started to read that a Time Bank was not Green Dollars, it was not just a child minding club, it was “so much more. It has so much potential for the community. It’s so obvious and so simple really!”
She hasn’t finished reading the book yet, but is finding it inspirational. It’s the first book in years that Jules finds herself re-reading passages, studying, marking with a pencil. It has got her excited, fired up, passionate. She believes that though written and developed within the US, it is so easily applied and relevant to a New Zealand situation.
Jules talks about an example in the book involving seniors in nursing homes. The usual scenario – insufficient funding to provide full and proper services – and Time Banks were set up within nursing homes – residents began to help one another providing a rich and meaningful life for all in those communities.
Jules likes the concept of co-production introduced in the book. One pivotal sentence for Jules is “We have what we need if we use what we have”. Here was what she was searching for – a different way of doing things that allowed her to do and be what she wanted in her life.
So Jules Lee took on the 10 hours per week paid role under Project Lyttelton (funded by the Tindall Foundation) to be the people’s co-ordinator for the Time Bank. This role includes getting the message across to people –“there are a lot of sceptics out there” – and she admits she was one. But now she has a glimpse of what a Time Bank can mean to a community. Amongst other things it records all the work done that builds a strong community. And have you noticed that when things are counted they begin to take on recognised value! The beginning of redefining and actually acknowledging what constitutes work.
Jules’ role also is to encourage and facilitate trading between members – both individuals and groups.
A local example of how a Time Bank works that Jules has facilitated…
Megan Jamieson and her young family was moving into Lyttelton. A stressful time. Through the Time Bank she got legal advice, her home furnished, some pieces enlivened up with a coat of paint, and the shift arranged. Megan has started to do her side with cooking - but there is no hurry – time for that when she and her family are settled. Megan is amazed at how friendly this community is.
Tiri Pharazyn who had the people’s co-ordinator role before Jules still retains the co-ordinating of working bees as part of what she has to offer. Tiri has moved from part time work with the Time Bank to her full time business working out of Himalaya in London Street giving ‘to die for’ massages.
Vilma Loader was on the receiving end of one of Tiri’s Time Bank working bees. A team came in and tidied up Vilma’s property working in with Henry Couch who did the heavy stuff. All the workers enjoyed being together and tasting Vilma’s fresh baked muffins at the end.
Jules is right. There has to be another way of doing things. And she has discovered it. It’s Time Banking!

Written by Margaret Jefferies - Chair of Project Lyttelton