Thames21 brief for MAKE/TIME +U Mobile Volunteering

Thames21 is London’s leading waterways charity. They work with communities across Greater London to improve rivers, canals, ponds and lakes for people and wildlife.

http :// www . thames 21. org . uk /

Thames21 mobilises over 9000 volunteers every year to clean and green the capital’s 400 mile network of waterways.

Thames21 aims to transform neglected and littered waterways into areas that everyone can use and enjoy with innovative and tailored community projects.

BACKGROUND

Many waterways are spoiled by neglect, litter and vandalism. Thames21 seeks to inspire, motivate and deliver not only immediate, but long-term improvement to waterways, engaging the community through practical participation and by engendering a local sense of ownership and responsibility for waterway areas which will then link into opportunities for ongoing stewardship.

Thames21 engages a growing number of volunteers in waterway improvement activities across London every year. In the past year alone, 9337 volunteers took part in 366 events, giving up at least 19,552 hours of their time to improve our waterways, helping remove 799 cubic metres of litter and debris.

Thames21 works hand-in-hand with local communities to improve and maintain London’s waterways by:

● Engaging people of all ages, abilities and from all parts of society in London’s waterways

● Removing litter● Creating new habitats for wildlife, flora and fauna● Promoting safe and equitable access to waterways● Undertaking monitoring and research● Delivering education projects● Accrediting and training community groups to deliver safe and sustainable waterway

improvement events

Volunteering with Thames21 is inclusive and accessible and welcomes people from all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Volunteers get many benefits out of the experience, including connecting with nature, keeping fit, meeting other people and doing good.

Currently Thames21 promote their volunteer opportunities through a calendar of events on their website, through corporate and community volunteer programmes and through the volunteer aggregate site Do-It.org.uk.

THE BRIEF

Emily Braham, in charge of marketing & communications, and Adrian Spalding, in charge of fundraising, would like to integrate Thames21’s numerous volunteering opportunities on the +U app to increase the uptake of volunteer activity and make the process more efficient and shareable.

Within this, Thames21 have 3 things they’d love help with…

THING 1:

Hack the code with the Waterway Treasure Map concept and help produce an awesome prototype for their funding pitch

Thames21 are developing an online interactive archive of London’s waterway secretsallowing volunteer treasure hunters to discover, survey and record the waterway treasure intheir neighbourhood. The Treasure Map is a working prototype http://www.thames21.org.uk/treasure/By integrating the treasure map with a mobile app, it could add more opportunities tocreate and share content, provide more connections, and build community.

THING 2:

Make +U Work brilliantly for THAMES 21

Specifically they are looking for help to…

Create an efficient system for uploading the volunteer opportunities on to the app and logging volunteer data coming back in.

They are currently uploading the opportunities manually on to the app via the volunteering aggregator site do-it.org and would like to find a quicker, easier and more streamlined process, which can push event data out and harvest volunteer data coming back in.

Make the App slicker and more shareable…

How can +U be made more dynamic for THAMES 21?

Better user experience and more shareable to allow more people to get involved in THAMES 21 projects.

Stuff to consider….

Develop a new version of +U skinned for Thames 21 Use the existing version of +U aggregating through the do-it.org  volunteering platform?Create a mobile web version of +U that works across all platforms for Thames21 users? 

THING 3: Develop engaging communications assets to get more people using the Thames21 +U app

Find creative ways to increase awareness of Thames21 and the +U app through social media, web and communications.

What we have to work with

CSV file with database of volunteer opportunitiesAccess to Thames21 website - backend (Wordpress)Access to online treasure map codePromotional flyers, leaflets and visual identity assets