I was made redundant when I was on maternity leave with my second baby a few years ago and I was actually really quite relieved. I had previously worked as an accountant for a big company, and when I was on mat leave, I was more connected to my community than I had ever been, by not escaping every day to go to an all-consuming 9-5 job that didn't give me much joy.
I knew so many people with other skills that they didn’t use or who were doing jobs that they didn’t enjoy, or people who were struggling financially to pay for other people’s expertise and who also had valuable and needed skills to offer in exchange.
It seemed crazy to me, and when I was chatting to a friend about it, it was one of those moments where you both say, “There should be an app for that!”. But instead of throwing the comment away, it became a project, that became an app called Kesero, that connects people who want to swap a few hours of their time doing something they’re good at, for services that they would otherwise have to pay for.
Instead of cash, you trade your own time. After each exchange has taken place, each member will be prompted to rate and review. The time will then transfer from one account to the other, ready to be used for whatever you need. Members can also send time as a gift to another account, including charities.
It took around a year of development activity to create the app before it went live last December. I continued to work virtually through lockdown with the developers. Initially, I had paused the project, before realising this is exactly what people will need as we emerge from the pandemic.
I’m so happy that it's live and having such a positive reaction. There is so much potential in skill sharing, so I’m really looking forward to the future.
My hopes for the future are this can be rolled out across the UK, helping people save money and feel rewarded.
The best thing is that anyone can connect with their community using the app and share their skills for mutual benefit and it opens up lots of opportunities for people. Everything has been carefully thought out to encourage a friendly and supportive environment. It's about people helping people.
For more information or to sign up to share your skills, head to; Kesero
