The BBC posted an article on the 30th of October reporting that Care Services minister Paul Burstow has praised a scheme in Japan that rewards people with “time credits” for volunteering to help the elderly or disabled.
Established in 1991, the hureai kippu (Caring Relationship Tickets) allows volunteers to ‘bank’ the hours they spend helping an elderly or disabled person into their own personalised time account. The banked hours are then available as credits to the volunteers, or to someone they know is in need, later on. Different values apply to different kinds of tasks, for example shopping and household chores, or helping someone with their bathing routine, all have different credit values attached.
The article quotes Mr. Burstow as saying: “What they do in Japan is effectively a way of people sharing their time and giving of their time to make a difference for people in different parts of the country.”
However, the BBC also note that some volunteer agencies are wary of ‘rewarding’ volunteer work, saying that it may undermine the whole idea of giving your time freely to others.
The article can be read in full on the BBC website here, while for more information in Japanese please click here.
