How It Works

LETS explain

North London LETS is an opportunity to place your skills in the community, whilst receiving skills from others. It's also an opportunity to teach, learn, make friends and create a better, warmer environment to live in. North London LETS is a place where you can get services like a babysitter, an electrician, a dog walker and a gardener, by offering your own skills to others. However, you don't have to do a direct barter. Pledges you've earned can be spent on anything in the directory that tickles your fancy. Just think, all those jobs that need doing but which the money isn't there for, can now be done. Goods, eg vegetable produce, crafts, or second-hand items can also be traded in a similar way.
Another thing to understand is that you don't have to earn Pledges before you spend them. Because all the accounts add up to zero, some accounts have to be in debit for the system to work. So if your account is in debit; it is not a bad thing as it means that you have given Pledges to other members for the goods or services they have provided. We use the term "in commitment" rather than "debt" because it implies a promise to do something for someone else in due course, which helps keep your account in balance.
Also, don't worry if people aren't phoning you up, wanting your services, as you can look in the Wants section to see if anyone is looking for your skills and earn some Pledges that way. When you do get people phoning, wanting your work, you can refuse the job for whatever reason and likewise, if you are offering, the other person may refuse you doing the job for them. Negotiation is the key word.

LETS get down to business

How to Join: To take part, you first have to fill in the Application Form. When we were paper-based you had to fill in your Offers & Wants as part of this process - you can mention some of them in the message box, but with the online system you can keep updatiing this information on your profile which makes the system more dynamic. If you have trouble thinking of what to offer then the INSPIRATION LIST may help. The coordinator in your area will try to connect and meet up with you - nowadays this may happen on zoom, and a subscription/donation may be requested. If all is well, the membership secretary will set up an account and you will receive a Welcome emaiil message from the online system with an ID and password, enabling you to log in and explore the members' area..

Transactions: Once the job is done, your customer will carry out a pledge transaction in the membership area of the website - or the online system emables you to invoice them. Alternatively - if a LETS accountant is in post - they can do the transaction from a Pledge cheque. For stall transactions, you may find a Mutual Record Sheet a useful interim record of the exchange if it is not possible for your customer to get to the computer immediately.

News Updates: Before the online system, members received a quarterly priinted newsletter filled with news stories, ideas and social events plus an updated directory of Offers & Wants and List of members with their account balances. Nowadays, all this information is available online, and you have the option of printing it out for yourself for ease of reference, or requesting that this service be provide by another member - or the administrators.

LETS see what I can get

The real question is what can't I get! North London LETS can offer nearly everything. Shopping, domestic help, cooking, building repairs, gardening, painting and decorating, childcare, learning a language, photography or a musical instrument - as long as other members put these offers in their profiles. The list can go on and on. North London LETS can also help you to make friends and find people with similar interests and hobbies, as well as learning and experiencing new ones.
On top of all this, one of the major things that you get from North London LETS is knowing that you are helping to strengthen the community and making it a better place to live in. North London LETS won't end the ills of the World but it's a step in the right direction. And who knows the power of dreams? When we all share the same dream, reality is created: Dreams can come true!