Hi, I’m Naima; I’m currently studying an MSc in Psychology of Education.
I recently got involved in the Social Hackathon, brought to us by none other than UCL Students’ Union as a part of the ExtendED Learning programme for UCL students.
Officially titled Team Up For Social Change! Social Hackathon Day, the event took place at the UCL East Marshgate Campus and brought together students of all disciplines and five charities doing amazing work.
The Organisations
The local non-profits included Roots for Change, Caritas Westminster, Green City Projects, East London LGBT Seniors and Patina People.
It was so great to see everyone engaging with one another right from the beginning and really set the tone for a day full of engaging discussion and enthusiasm.
The Big Day
We started off with a lovely breakfast spread of pastries and hot drinks, which gave plenty of time for getting to know other students. We were assigned into different groups based on the organisation we would be working with and soon after headed off to get stuck into problem solving.
Presented with the Problem
I was in the Roots for Change group, collaborating with the wonderful Julianna. She explained that the organisation aims to empower people, particularly migrants and those of Latin American heritage, to build their skills, recover their independence and connect in community with one another.
Roots for Change was originally founded in Newcastle but are looking also to move to and connect with the Latin American communities in London. The key piece for us was to figure out what this might look like, in particular, with three focuses:
· Identifying key partnerships and connecting with other London-based organisations
· Thinking about volunteer recruitment and retainment
· Strategizing how to onboard and retain community members / service users
Each group, after some initial brainstorming, took one focus each and between us, we got to researching different possibilities. This part was one of the highlights of the day – ultimately fleshing out what we came for: getting to know our own skills and bouncing off each other’s under the pressure of a time constraint. In fact, some of us found that we really flourish when collaborating in this sort of environment, especially knowing that we are working towards something so tangible. I’m sure that having Julianna in the room boosted the work ethic, but even still, everyone was so focussed, and this activity gave a taste into the sort of real-life work that happens outside of the classroom or certain discipline.
Sharing our Solutions
After lunch, we refined our solutions and pitched them to the rest of the groups and to Julianna. This was the trickiest part for me as we had to condense all our ideas into a a mere few minutes!
Our team worked well, designating different sections to one another, and whilst we ran a little overtime, the group and Julianna found our outputs helpful and contemplated on what we presented.
What we Learned
Next, we came together as a larger group to reflect on our day and visualised on a shared piece of paper, the timeline of the day.
This might have been one of the most enjoyable parts for me...it was so interesting to see how our different disciplines shaped our views and ways of working and being able to hear from Julianna in real time was incredible. It was also great to see what we had taken from the day and the tasks as individuals and as a group, particularly around community building and organising.
My key takeaways
Finally, everyone who had taken part in the day congregated in one place to share and celebrate. Each group took it in turns to present their reflections of the day.
Whilst we did not share all the ideas that came from being presented with a challenge, we got to hear the process and see this visualised in real time – thanks to our artist, who took visual notes as we spoke. Different groups’ processes overlapped with one another, and it was quite insightful to see that whilst the highlights of the day differed, the challenges largely remained the same – such as the time crunch, especially when it came to pitching!
Once this part was wrapped up, we were free to grab drinks, network and decompress on the terrace overlooking the Olympic Park.
Taking part in the Social Hackathon gave me a real feel for solving an issue for social good. The context of community organisations was important to me as it meant that these things would have direct and relevant impacts on different communities. I really valued the collaboration element, both from the organisations and the students as it enriched the conversations we had and allowed us to bounce ideas off one another. Shout out to the organisers and facilitators for a memorable event!