Xiaohongshu
Did you know your skills and experience could influence how local charities work and make decisions? Are you interested in working together with others to design solutions that make a real difference?
What's an ideas sprint?
The Ideas Sprint is a fast‑paced, hands‑on day where you’ll team up with London‑based charities to co-create solutions that support their mission. Working in small groups led by industry leading co-creation facilitators you’ll dive into co‑production and co‑creation games designed to unlock your lived experiences—as university students, young people, Londoners, international students, and global citizens. Together, you’ll generate fresh ideas and shape meaningful outputs that directly support each charity’s mission.
Skills you can expect to flex
- Co‑create with confidence by working hands‑on with charities through playful, structured activities
- Listen like a pro and use empathy to understand different perspectives and shape more inclusive ideas
- Communicate across sectors by adapting your language and thinking for different audiences and contexts
- Navigate cultural differences and recognise how identity shapes creativity, collaboration, and problem‑solving
- Grow your social impact mindset through real engagement with organisations driving positive change
- Collaborate with ease and bring stronger relationship‑building and inclusive problem‑solving skills into real‑world projects
The Details
📍 Location: UCL East Marshgate Campus
⏰ Timings: 10 June 2026 from 10.00 - 16:00
🌱 Refreshments: Nourish yourself with purpose, we'll be serving plant-based refreshments and lunch from a East London based social enterprise...so even your snacks will give back
Why do this?
- Make a real contribution to London‑based charities by shaping ideas that matter
- Use your lived experiences to influence how organisations think, plan, and make decisions
- Build cross‑cultural awareness, active listening, and communication skills that employers love
- Collaborate with diverse peers, charity partners, and expert facilitators in a fast‑paced, hands‑on setting
- Strengthen your social responsibility mindset while supporting organisations creating positive change
- Walk away with sharper collaboration and problem‑solving skills you can use anywhere
Meet our inspiring charities
Displaced CIC works with local authorities, schools, and youth organisations across London to provide early, community-led support that young people trust, particularly where statutory services fall short. Their work focuses on culturally respectful, trauma-informed support for young people and families through education, coaching, community-building, and sector development. This includes workshops on recognising risks, ongoing coaching to build confidence and communication skills, and support for families to strengthen relationships.
ReachOut2All is a youth-led organization dedicated to empowering young people aged 16–25 to find their voice, build confidence, and unlock their full potential. Through workshops, events, and creative programmes, it focuses on mental health, wellbeing, and personal development. We create safe, inclusive spaces where young people can share their stories, develop skills, and grow as leaders. ReachOut2All is committed to breaking barriers and amplifying the voices of the next generation.
Meet our fab facilitation team
Sem Lee is a systems designer and strategist working at the intersection of urban planning and public health, convening teams around healthy placemaking. Sem runs OURI Labs, an urban health innovation agency working at the intersection of housing, health and urban planning. Through participatory research, evaluations, and systems thinking, OURI partners with NHS trusts, local authorities, and third sector organisations to design healthier places.
Maksida (Maxie) Sabackic is a community-based researcher, Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner, and a UCL alumna who was the recipient of the Students’ Union’s first-ever “Commitment to Co-Produced Research” award in 2024. Her work focuses on public health and community-centred approaches within the HIV and sexual health sector, collaborating with charities and community organisations across London to advance HIV prevention, sexual health, and equitable access to care. She is especially looking forward to facilitating collaboration between students and charities, and to seeing how diverse perspectives can generate practical, impactful solutions.
Christie Swallow is an artist and designer. They craft kinship between species, foster solidarity through co-creation and encourage exchange through collaborative making. With a focus on hope, joy and accessibility, their work explores the wicked problems of ecological struggle, speculative futures and more-than-human entanglement.
FAQs
- How do I know if this event is for me?
If you’re the kind of student who loves getting stuck into real‑world challenges, meeting new people, and making a genuine impact, this sprint is for you.
Maybe you’re curious about how charities work, passionate about community issues, or just excited to bring your perspective as a Londoner, an international student, or someone with a unique lived experience. If you enjoy creative problem‑solving, want to build confidence working with others, or simply like learning by doing rather than sitting in a lecture, you’ll get a lot out of this day.
- What if feel a bit shy or have no one to attend with?
We know it is easy to say 'don't worry about it'. We have given this a lot of thought though, to make sure students can rock up at one of our events and feel instantly like they belong. We'll start the day off with some super fun icebreakers to shake out those nerves and get conversations flowing, we'll provide you with plenty of refreshments - great conversations start over great coffee, right, making sure you design your own name badge, and finally, making sure each of our event check-ins is run by a one of our lovely Student Event Hosts. Our lead Event Host, will welcome you warmly to our space and help you work out how you want to get started.
Part of the ExtendED Learning Programme
The ExtendED Learning Programme is a collaboration between UCL and Students’ Union UCL with a focus on ensuring you leave university confident and empowered in your abilities. Packed with hands-on opportunities in Term 3, all designed to help you explore new interests without the pressure of grades or deadlines, the programme focusses on transferable skills that will support you in whatever your next steps might be. Explore new interests without the pressure of grades or deadlines in Term 3. Now is the time to invest in your future at your own pace, by curating your own learning experience, and having fun while making friends at the same time.
👉 Find out more about the ExtendED Learning Programme