Time Swap (Time Bank)

Some good news out of our county council to brighten this dull, gray day. After years of trying to get time banks off the ground by all sorts of members of the community, here in Glossopdale and further afield, as well as lots of success at getting thriving ones going – Tameside’s Timebank being a shining beacon to us locally while we tried to get Glossopdale’s going – I see that Derbyshire County Council is now trying its hand at running a time bank, which it is calling Time Swap.

Time Swap Poster

This is an excellent concept, and one I dearly hope takes off – one I have, in fact, been on a committee for in the past. Please go have a look and a think about whether it’d fit in your life. Some points to consider:

  • It’s a marketplace: there’s an exchange of time, rather than a one-way giving.
  • It’s as and when it fits your schedule and needs, whether that’s more or less often; we’re not talking about “every Monday from 10-12” kind of thing, unless you want it to be that. It’s entirely up to you. Also, if you need a hiatus (birth of a child, round-the-world trip, what have you), that’s also perfectly alright. If DCC’s using the same or similar Timebanking database software that we were using, there’s even a status option to tell the system that you’re not available for a time, so you won’t even come up in the search results when they’re looking for, say, gardening if you’ve put down that you’ll do gardening.
  • It’s only to the “friends helping friends” standard: you’re not expected to be an expert landscaper to do a bit of gardening, for example. Just think about what sort of help you’d give and want from your friends and family and neighbours, and that’s the sort of things we’re talking about. For example, you wouldn’t (usually) ask them or offer to create a new garden from scratch, but you might ask them for or offer help trimming your hedges.

You can find out more about DCC’s scheme here and also there’s this information sheet [pdf].

You can sign up by downloading and filling in the questionnaire and sending it back – via email to timeswap@derbyshire.gov.uk or print it and then post it to:

Prevention Team,
Adult Care,
County Hall,
Smedley Street,

Matlock,
Derbyshire,
DE4 3AG

To read even more about the concept, if I’ve piqued your interest, there are the major national organisations, Timebanking UK and Timebank, whose websites I’d recommend as starting points.

Snow Day!

DSCF0761

Very pretty when you don’t have to go anywhere, but a pain to get around in. It’s quite late in the day for this, but I’ll leave it here for future reference. I’ll update it as I think of things to add, or people remind me of what I’ve forgotten (or didn’t know about).

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Last updated 14 January 2016.

Are the Roads Open?

Are the Trains Running?

Are the Buses Running?

What’s the Weather Like?

  • The Met Office – twitter; website.
  • Weather Underground
  • Glossop Weather – a twitter account automatically sharing readings from an amateur weather station right here in our own valley. We have our own weather, different from London’s, so this is a brilliant resource.
  • Webcam: The closest webcam I’m aware of is this one on Kinder Scout. Please email me if you know of any in Glossop!

Are the Schools Open?

Derbyshire County Council – School Closures lists the ones reported to DCC. (If you sign up for the email alerts, be aware that sometimes those come several hours later or even the next day.)

  • Glossop Adult Education Centre – check the Derbyshire County Council twitter or website, or phone 01457 852245.
  • Glossopdale Community College – website, phone 01457 862336.
  • Philip Howard – website, phone 01457 853611.
  • Charlesworth School – website, 01457 853475 (Infant Site); 01457 852711 (Junior Site).
  • Duke of Norfolk Primary – website, phone 01457 852635.
  • Gamesley Primary – website, phone 01457 853721.
  • Hadfield Infant School – website, phone 01457 853958.
  • Hollingworth Primary School – website, twitter, facebook, phone 01457 762 136.
  • Padfield Primary School – website, phone 01457 852751.
  • Tintwistle Primary School – website, phone 01457 852611.
  • Simmondley Primary – website, phone 01457 852721.
  • St Andrew’s C of E Junior School, Hadfield – website, phone 01457 852328.
  • St Charles’ Primary, Hadfield – website, phone 01457 852692
  • St James’ Primary, Glossop – website, twitter, facebook
  • St Luke’s Primary, Glossop – website, twitter, phone 01457 852602.
  • St Margaret’s Primary, Gamesley – website, phone 01457 855818.
  • St Mary’s Primary, Glossop – website, 01457 854473.

General and Miscellaneous

  • Councils:
    • High Peak Borough Council: twitter; website.
    • Derbyshire County Council: twitter; website; phone 01629 533190 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9:30am to 4pm Saturday.
  • Newspapers:
  • Utilities:
    • United Utilities (Water): twitter; website outage listing; 0345 6723 723 emergency number 24 hours a day.
    • National Grid (Gas and Electricity): twitter; website; phone 0800 111 999 if you smell gas; phone 0800 40 40 90 for electricity emergencies.
    • Electricity Northwest (Electricity power cuts): twitter; website; phone 0800 195 4141. Your chosen electricity provider sells you energy but it’s Electricity Northwest who maintains the power lines that connect your home or business to the National Grid, and it’s Electricity Northwest you should get in touch with if you have a power cut. Your chosen electricity provider generally won’t be able to do anything.
  • Police:
  • Health:
    • Northwest Ambulance Service: this is the one that covers Glossop and Greater Manchester. twitter; facebook; website.
    • East Midlands Ambulance Service: this covers all of Derbyshire excluding Glossop. Since I have a number of followers from the rest of the High Peak, I’m including it. twitter; website.
    • Stockport NHS Trust – Stepping Hill Hospital, etc: twitter; website; phone 0161 483 1010.
    • Tameside Hospital: twitter; website; phone 0161 922 6000.
    • Tameside & Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group: twitter; website.
    • GPs:
      • Cottage Lane Surgery: website; phone 01457 861343.
      • Howard Street Medical Practice: phone 01457 854321.
      • Lambgates Surgery: website; phone 01457 869 090.
      • Manor House Surgery: twitter; website; phone 01457 860 860.
      • Simmondley Medical Practice: website; phone 01457 862305.
  • Misc:
    • Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service: twitter; facebook; website.
    • Anthony Mckeown, Gamesley councillor on High Peak Borough Council, has a very helpful webpage drawing together various tweets and resources here; also there’s his twitter.

What About Conditions in Manchester/Greater Manchester?

Good luck getting where you need to go if you must go, and in any event, good luck keeping warm!