Exploring Timebanks and Youth Volunteering in Stonehouse

Not all community support has to look like formal volunteering. Sometimes, it’s a lift to the shops. Or walking someone’s dog. Or sharing tools.

That’s why we’re exploring models like timebanks—systems where people offer skills or time and get something in return.

In Stonehouse, this idea is landing well. Especially with younger residents, who want to help out but don’t always connect with traditional volunteering routes.

As one young person put it: “I’d do it if it felt like it mattered and I wasn’t just filling hours.”

These conversations are helping us think differently about how people contribute to their neighbourhoods. Not as volunteers to be managed, but as neighbours with gifts to share.

We’re learning that belonging grows when people are invited to give and receive, not just show up.

And in Stonehouse, the appetite to try something new is definitely there.