Co-production has attracted increasing interest from the public and voluntary sectors. It is an approach that repositions users and community members as more central to the design and delivery of public services, a practice that Bovaird (2007: 846) has described as ‘revolutionary’. A growing movement aims to embody the principles of co-production in practice is time banking (Cahn 2000a). Time banking is a community currency that operates on the reciprocal exchange of skills and services. This thesis reports on a multi-method, qualitative case study into the implementation of a time bank in a Welsh secondary school. It explores the extent to which time banking can be used as a mechanism for facilitating co-productive relationships between young people, community members and the school. Drawing on empirical data gained from ethnographic methods and a participatory approach with young people, the research follows the time bank unfolding in practice. It explores the ‘who, how and why’ of youth participation in time banking and charts the development and implementation of the time bank in question. Importantly, the thesis gives voice to young people, exploring their experiences of participation. This research makes an original contribution to generating understanding of the complexity and difficulty of undertaking youth-based time banking in institutional settings. In doing so it shows how these initiatives may benefit young people, in such a way as to extend their entitlements (Welsh Assembly Government 2002), but also how barriers are faced that may ultimately impact on potentially positive outcomes for young people. It augments current debates concerning the position of young people in society and how perceptions of young people can influence the impact of a policy. The thesis problematises the theory and practice of co-production and questions whether, in its current form, it is achievable or, indeed, desirable with young people.