This sounds like what I know as 'Time-Banking' - a swapping of skills within a local community where time is the currency rather than money. If you go to www.timebanking.org and look under FAQ there's a good explanation of how it might, or might not affect your benefits.
As far as I can understand, time banking seems to have been classifed as 'non-renumerative work' rather than volunteering. As 'time credits' have no monetary value they can't be classed as income or treated as expenses, but being involved in a TimeBank can be classed as time spent working/being active, so people might need to be aware of how this might impact on their Jobseekers agreement, or their fitness to work.
Good luck!
|