Manchester Withington MP Jeff Smith is supporting a new scheme run by Southway Housing Trust to encourage communities to share their skills.

The ‘Community Timebank’ scheme is a network of over 350 South Manchester residents and organisations that come together to pool their resources.

Members of the network offer to help others by donating hours of their time.  These members can then spend those hours on new skills, or donate their hours to somebody else.   So far, members of the Community Timebank have shared over 4,000 hours, with an estimated social value of £331,338.

Jeff said: ‘Everyone has a skill to share and the Community Timebank is a great way to bring people together.

Whether it’s cooking, decorating or learning a new language, I’m encouraging all constituents to go to an information day and start exchanging skills.’

Over the next month, the Southway Housing Trust is running a series of events to encourage new members and publicise the program.  The details are below:

Thursday 15^th September – 3-5pm at Buckthorn House, Arrowfield Estate, M21 7UG

Thursday 27^th October – 3-5pm at Westcroft Community Centre, 24-26 Westcroft Road, M20 6EF.