Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood visited a valleys time bank which has succeeded in breathing life into an isolated community in the last seven years.
The Garw Timecentre, based in Blaengarw, north of Bridgend, is now the largest time banking project in the UK. It works on the principle that for every hour of time that a member gives to their community via the Garw Timecentre, they can take an hour back by attending a wide range of time-entry social events, including concerts, theatre, cinema and other events.
The aim of the model is to tap into the unused skills, talents, knowledge, experience and abilities within the community. So far, more than 800 people have signed up to be members of the time banking project which is more than half of the village’s population.
Ms Wood visited the project, which is located just outside her South Wales Central region, to see what lessons can be learned for the communities she represents. She was shown around the Garw Timecentre by Geoff Thomas, the chief executive of Timebanking Wales and David Pugh from the project.
Ms Wood said:
“The trip to the Blaengarw was inspirational. In the space of a few years the Garw Timecentre has transformed this small community by taking the people with it and giving them ownership of the project. More than half the population of Blaengarw have signed up to take part and the difference they have made, together, is astonishing.
“Shops and businesses are being re-opened, crime and anti-social behaviour has been reduced, colliery land has been reclaimed for recreational use, a parcel of forestry land has been turned into a community orchard comprising 300 apple trees and people have gained skills and found work as a result.
“There is no reason why the Blaengarw model cannot be replicated in other parts of the valleys. Like many communities in the South Wales Central region I represent, Blaengarw is isolated and miles from the hustle and bustle of a major conurbation.
“It is these characteristics that the people of Blaengarw have turned to their advantage by uniting the community to provide the kind of services and opportunities that the market has failed to.
“Much of the activities run by the Creation Development Trust, the limited company and charity behind the project, take place at the village’s Workmen’s Hall which has meant the future of this heritage building has been secured.”
Ms Wood added:
“Of course, none of the many achievements of the Blaengarw Timecentre would have been possible without community spirit; a quality that is endemic throughout the valleys.
“When I produced ‘A Greenprint for the Valleys’ earlier this year, I argued that community spirit would be a vital quality to fuel the many proposals I put forward to improve our economy.
“The abiding lesson of my visit to Blaengarw has shown me that community spirit is alive and kicking and can be the catalyst for a mini-revolution.”
