A barter system for Malvern

Submitted by johnh on Mon, 01/02/2010 @ 11:10

There are moves to create a barter system for Malvern, something along the lines of a LETS scheme. Lets Link defines this as "local community-based mutual aid networks in which people exchange all kinds of goods and services with one another, without the need for money".

Here are the (hopefully draft) terms and conditions for Barter Bods: 

  • The aim of the group is to make your life richer, not in a monetary sense, although there are definite financial benefits to being a member.
  • Individual group members barter their skills in exchange for barter pounds (B£) which can be spent with any other member of the group.
  • B£1( Barter Pound) is equivalent to £1 Sterling.
  • The skills and services on offer are listed in the directory alongside the member’s contact details and are updated regularly.
  • All transactions are recorded by the administrator and a statement of your account is emailed to you periodically, or upon request.
  • Once you are a member you can start trading immediately and are permitted to spend before you have earned.
  • It is fine to allow your account to go overdrawn; in fact it can help the system run more smoothly if you do.

And its £10 to join (is that a one-off or annual?)

(I'd hope they'd actually use an online system, not requiring everything to go through one admin person, such as a Drupal module I've checked out.)

Terms

It is the responsibility of the individual members to:
  • Set aside time to put into the scheme
  • agree the terms of every transaction with each other
  • use the barter cheques provided
  • pass any barter cheques received to the administrator
It is the responsibility of the administrator to:
  • deal with registrations and keep all records
  • update individual accounts and the directory at regular intervals
  • provide support to members in using the system

 

There is a meeting arranged for Saturday 20th February, 2-3pm at The Grove, 8 Avenue Road, Malvern. It will be a chance to meet and explain how the group works. Anyone interested in joining/finding out more is welcome.

Or contact Sara Home: 01684 899042, Mobile: 0771 555 7624

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Comments

Tax on LETS

Submitted by johnh on Mon, 01/02/2010 @ 12:04.

I'm not sure the tax position is quite as clear cut as the previous comment indicates, but its been a few years since I checked. And Transition is certainly supportive of the concept, if anything the Transition Handbook encourages going further, with getting 'local currencies' more widely accepted in a community.
A good idea to check out what went wrong last time round, and learn from how other groups have worked across the country too.

A barter system for Malvern

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 01/02/2010 @ 11:51.

There was a LETS scheme in Malvern 15 plus years ago - the units were called "Beacons". I remember there being a lot of therapists listed, and a few people offering gardening and even some decorating. Any new scheme should certainly investigate why the old one ended and also whether simply having "Do stuff for each other" and "Buy Local" campaigns might not achieve the same results without the complication of what, unfortunately, even the Tax man considers money.

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