Apply for our special Social Hackathon day on 17 May!
Applications are now open until midnight 3 May!
There will be an event celebrating the collaboration between volunteers and organisations after the social hackathons!
What are Social Hackathons?
Get ready for our Social Hackathons – where students gather to hack away at real-world problems, but with our own twist! 🎨
🔍 Volunteers are paired with local not-for-profit organizations for a day of problem-solving and solution-creating fun. In teams, you'll tackle issues head-on, learn from industry pros, and connect with new communities across London.
🤝 Plus, with a group of fellow UCL students by your side, it's not just about making an impact – it's also a fantastic opportunity to forge new friendships and hone your skills!
Join us for an unforgettable experience of learning, collaboration, and making a difference with a dash of fun thrown in!
Read more about our previous hackathons and what students got out of them here.
Tell me more...
We've scoured London for some amazing non-profit organisations with pressing challenges that could really use some innovation or solutions. And that's where you come in!
Heard the idiom Two Heads Are Better Than One? It simply means it's easier for two people to figure out a problem together than it is for one person to solve a problem alone. We really believe this and it's where the magic of Social Hackathons really happens...
Imagine...up to 20 people working on a problem set by a non-profit whose sole purpose is to make things better for vulnerable people or global challenges like food poverty or the climate crisis... That's 20 different perspectives coming together. That's 20 different academic backgrounds applied to the same thing.
The beauty is that in solving the problems together, it's not just the Challenger Charity that gains new knowledge - you will learn too. You'll learn from all the others in your team, maybe
- Tips and tricks they have for apps that help with managing all your coursework!
- Tips for great places to eat in London!
- The best library on campus!
I don't have anyone to go with
Totally fine! You'll be welcomed by someone from the super friendly Volunteering Team and they'll orientate you in the space and help introduce you to other students. We will always be there to make sure a fun, friendly, and inclusive space is maintained throughout. Our events celebrate difference and no one is out of place at a Social Hackathon!
We know that takes a little trust on your part. If you want to chat anything through with one of our students who work in the team, they'll give you a really honest answer to any questions you might have. Drop them an email: [email protected]
What skills can I flex?
Think about the last assignment you had to do. Let's say it was a literature review... Did you hate it? Couldn't see the point? Don't think it's relevant here, to a charity? Wrong!
Honestly, you think all you're doing is a literature review actually what you're doing is
- Thinking systematically, assessing written documents according to certain criteria
- Flexing critical thinking skills
- Collating high volumes of information
- Using interpretation skills to work out a higher-level understanding of a lot of data
- Sense-making and reporting
Why would that help a charity? Well we lose count of the number of times a charity will say to us It would be really good to know what works in terms of improving things for young migrant mothers* or I wonder what other charities like us are doing?
So - your literature review skills that you just use for coursework could actually really help out a non-profit organisation and who knows - improve practice? Enable them know what to change about their delivery? Actual real world impact!
* this exact thing has never been said to us but plenty like it, just not necessarily about young, migrant mothers.
What do I have to do?
There's up to 80 spots on each Social Hackathon. Check out the non-profits and their challenges, below, and sign up. Don't miss your change so say I hacked for social impact!
Succeed 2 the Max champion young people to be CEOs of their career destiny and allow them to define success on their own terms. Working with young people from underrepresented backgrounds, they support them to maximise their student experience to the fullest and pursue their dream careers regardless of their circumstances.
The organisation has been able to help a number of young people. Linda, the founder, is looking to grow the organisation, reaching a greater number of stakeholders and supporters. To help her with this, you'll be developing a PR and outreach strategy and helping to refine their storytelling and branding!
Tower Hamlets Cycling Club is a community cycling club focused on supporting women and children who want to learn to cycle and explore their local areas.
The Cycling Club is very popular, but Janice, the founder of the club, has been running it solo. Janice experienced a recent health setback, which has highlighted the need for the club to be more organised with a clearer structure, to ensure its future sustainability if anyone else needed to take over. Your challenge for the day will be to help Tower Hamlets Cycling Club structure its operations and establish frameworks for efficient record-keeping.
The Power Project creates spaces for people who live with the effects of violence on their lives to practice martial arts. They're in an exciting period of growth, scaling up their work to reach everyone who needs it.
You'll be helping them with this through mapping communities and partners, forecasting and understanding their imapct, and identifying tools and methods to to foster a community of practice
The New Black Film Collective (TNBFC) exists to create and cultivate a vibrant Black ecosystem in the UK film and TV sector by championing Black-led film production, distribution, exhibition and preserving Black filmmaking and television. They are seeing an exciting time of growth, and would like support to ensure that this happens sustainably and in a way that aligns with the ethos of the organisation.
You'll be putting together a case for support that captures TNBFC's vision and communicates the value of their work, backed by research, data, and compelling storytelling. Youll create a compelling deck which will be shared with funders, philanthropists, partners, corporate sponsors, and other stakeholders, to secure future support for TNBFC's work
Tell me what the day looks like
Team forming & challenge setting
You will start the day by doing some icebreakers to get to know your team mates
Ideation
You will join your team to research and brainstorm ideas based on the organisation's problems
Solution finding & innovation
After initial brainstorming, the teams will come back together to discuss them and start working on the solutions you will be presenting to the organisation
Creation
You will create an output based on your research and ideas that the organisation will be able to use going forward
Reflection & presenting
After presenting your output, you will reflect on the session as a group and give feedback
Celebrating
And to top it all off, we'll celebrate your collaborative efforts with a special party at UCL East! This is your chance to mingle and connect with fellow hackathon volunteers and representatives from the organizations you've worked with. It's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your achievements, forge new connections, and bask in the joy of making a positive impact together! 🥳
Application
Applications are now open, you can submit yours here.
You will be asked to provide details on your knowledge and experience, and what you would like to get out of volunteering - this will allow us, combined with your availability, to pair you with the charity you could give the most support to.
Reach out to us if you have any questions!