@hackessex – 21st century volunteering

With a focus on doing not talking, hackathons are a collaborative way to solve problems – starting with an issue and collectively developing solutions. It’s all about practical creativity.

This Saturday hack takes a new look at volunteering and asks how can volunteering attract people who wouldn’t usually volunteer? We know that ‘volunteering’ can be a loaded term – with its connotations of charity shop shifts and regular commitment, it can turn off as many people as it attracts. Yet the evidence shows that volunteering benefits the volunteer just as much as it benefits those who the volunteer helps.

We want to understand what can be done to overcome obstacles to volunteering and what would make volunteering a more attractive proposition for more people. Hack participants will set their own agenda and create their own solutions – it’s your hack and your ideas. Remember, a hack is to be enjoyed, not endured – come along, eat pizza, try something different and see what you can achieve in a day.

Theme
Collaborative Citizens

Who should attend
People who work with charities; people who work in charities. People who volunteer; people who don’t volunteer. Citizens; technologists; designers; communicators; service design experts – anyone who is interested in trying a different way to create practical solutions.

About the hosts
@hackessex Civic Camps are an approach that creates, in double-quick time, collective responses to societal challenges. We bring together people from all walks of life with an interest in getting stuff done. Our hacks are entrepreneurial in spirit, and are opportunities to problem-solve for all participants.