Success for Mid Wales Hack of Kindness

Imagine you were given a week to come up with sustainable solutions for social issues in your area. With access to workshops and the chance to pick the brains of experts, what do you think you would achieve? Working alongside several partners in the area, residents of Powys and Ceredigion had the opportunity to find out; and the results were outstanding.

Focus Newtown Enterprise Hub teamed up with Wales Co-operative Centre, which runs the ERDF funded Social Business Wales New Start programme, to hold a virtual ‘Hack of Kindness,’ where participants were separated into teams to research and develop their ideas. Two of these teams have now started to develop their ideas outside of the Hackathon.

One idea was to develop a space where people could use tools, learn new skills and socialise. David Davies and Andrew Deacon put this forward to the pitching panel on the last day of the event.

“I didn’t know what to expect going in, but the Hackathon has been excellent. Once we developed our idea and pitched it, one of the funders contacted us and it looks like we will get some funding from them. We have also continued to receive support from Social Business Wales. This was a very practical hands-on event that should result in a few new social enterprises launching.” David Davies, Hackathon attendee.

“I met with David Davies in the breakout room and he has become an integral part of the enterprise. We have since met with several other team members and are well on our way thanks to their help and guidance. I think this event should be repeated on a regular basis, as having it over one week really helps you understand the information you have been given and be ready for the next meeting.” Andrew Deacon, Hackathon attendee.

Assistant Community Manager at Focus Newtown Enterprise Hub, Holly Jones, said:

“We saw over 40 people register for the week-long event and each brought their own unique ideas, and I’m really pleased to see two of these ideas move into the launch stages and two more applying for funding. It was inspiring to hear about the ways in which we could potentially tackle issues such as housing and employment in Powys and Ceredigion.”

Martin Downes, Social Entrepreneurship Officer at Wales Co-Operative Centre commented:

“The Mid Wales Hack of Kindness was proof that cooperation beats competition every time. What a joy to spend a week with committed people who want to do positive things for their communities. People immersed themselves in a week of learning about social enterprise, generating ideas and developing a sustainable business. We put together a great team of speakers, organisations, funders and judges. The high energy week saw new ideas and teams emerge, and we are thrilled to see these moving forward to make a positive impact in Mid Wales.”

This event was the first of its kind to be held digitally in Wales and saw five teams pitch their ideas to a panel of social enterprise experts. Many have now gone on to arrange further meetings with guest speakers to build on their idea and take it to the next level.

This event was in partnership with Social Business Wales,Aberystwyth University, Big Ideas Wales, The Wales Cooperative Centre, Be the Spark, Tramshed Tech, Coleg Ceredigionand NPTC Group of Colleges.

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