£20,000 Social Impact Investment up for grabs in Essex Hackathon

The Weave, an Essex-based enterprise focused on supporting collaborations between entrepreneurs and students, will host the region’s first Social Impact Hackathon next month.

The two-day immersive Hackathon event, in partnership with organisations including Essex County Council, the University of Essex, the University of Suffolk, Anglia Ruskin University and Writtle, along with the Colchester Business Enterprise Agency (Colbea), aims to bring together students and businesses to generate concepts to improve the social, mental, and physical health, welfare and wellbeing of North Essex Communities.

Concepts will be submitted ahead of a Social Impact Accelerator programme in January 2023, where teams will be invited to develop their ideas and pitch for a share of a £20,000 investment pot available, funded by ACTion, formerly ACT, the charitable arm of ACE CIC.

James Cracknell, a Co-founder of The Weave, says this type of event is long overdue. “We have seen social impact climbing the business agenda for a while now, but it’s now an essential element for every organisation,” says James.

“Bringing the next generation of the workforce together with entrepreneurs and established businesses gives us a unique opportunity to deliver transformative thinking. We are not just looking at what we should be doing socially but how we measure that impact in a world where winning business may rely on those measurements.

“We’re inviting more businesses to join us as we bring together the creative minds of our regional students to collaborate with entrepreneurs and businesses in this exciting and challenging Hackathon.”

The Social Impact Hackathon takes place in a series of online events from 4.30pm on Friday, 18 November 2022 to 4.30pm on Sunday, 20 November at 4.30PM. To find out more visit https://wearetheweave.co.uk/socialimpacthackathon

Pictured: students and businesses work together at a previous event