Terrin Mathew, Technical Data Analyst, Policy in Practice attended the London Ventures children and families hackathon, held on Thursday 21st June. A high energy, outcome orientated event, the hack was attended by 60 cross-sector participants, including representatives from 13 London local authorities, central government, social enterprises, charities and innovators. Following an insightful opening talk from guest speaker Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang (Lighthouse), participants ideated solutions to some of the major challenges facing children and families in London, drawing on a broad range of experiences and backgrounds. Attendees addressed 6 problem areas and pitched solution ideas. The problem areas were: 1. Community support e.g. assets, voluntary groups, interventions, is not always mobilised effectively to support children and families locally, which results in local authorities having to respond to a greater number of referrals at all threshold levels. 2. Vulnerable children are often lacking the required social skills such as the ability to communicate clearly and calmly, or demonstrating consideration for the feelings and interests of their peers, to enable them to live fully and independently. 3. Limited data sharing means local authorities and partners do not usually have a holistic view of the needs of children and their families to enable them to provide effective support. 4. Less emphasis is placed on capturing data when children and families do not require statutory intervention, which in turn makes it difficult to determine what support is most likely to be effective. 5. Local authorities spend a significant amount of time triaging inappropriate new referrals, often from partner organisations who do not always understand the statutory intervention thresholds or are unable to signpost families to appropriate services directly. 6. Vulnerable families are not being provided adequate support at an early stage, leading to increased internal and external pressures on that family, resulting in more acute and specialised support being required from the local authority For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242

1. Children and Families Hackathon
Summary
21st June 2018

2. LondonVentures children and families hackathon: overview
The LondonVentures children and families hackathon, held on Thursday 21st June, was a high energy, outcome orientated event.The hack was
attended by 60 cross-sector participants, including representatives from 13 London local authorities, central government, social enterprises,
charities and innovators. Following an insightful opening talk from guest speaker Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang (Lighthouse), participants ideated
solutions to some of the major challenges facing children and families in London, drawing on a broad range of experiences and backgrounds.
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Community support e.g. assets, voluntary groups, interventions, is not always mobilised
effectively to support children and families locally, which results in local authorities
having to respond to a greater number of referrals at all threshold levels.
Through the solution hackathon we have:
• Brought together a range of stakeholders to share
their ideas and experiences
• Developed a number of innovative solutions using
‘out of the box thinking’
• Ideated solutions that are outcome focused,
deliverable, scalable and sustainable
• Identified individuals from different sectors to
support the development of solutions
The attendees developed solutions to respond to the following
problem statements:
Vulnerable children are often lacking the required social skills such as the ability to
communicate clearly and calmly, or demonstrating consideration for the feelings and
interests of their peers, to enable them to live fully and independently.
Limited data sharing means local authorities and partners do not usually have a
holistic view of the needs of children and their families to enable them to provide
effective support.
Less emphasis is placed on capturing data when children and families do not require
statutory intervention, which in turn makes it difficult to determine what support is
most likely to be effective.
Local authorities spend a significant amount of time triaging inappropriate new
referrals, often from partner organisations who do not always understand the
statutory intervention thresholds or are unable to signpost families to appropriate
services directly.
Vulnerable families are not being provided adequate support at an early stage, leading
to increased internal and external pressures on that family, resulting in more acute
and specialised support being required from the local authority.

3. Summary of the seven solutions pitched to our judges
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Over the course of the morning the seven groups, through a number of ideation rounds, worked together to develop innovative solutions to the
selected problem statement. Their best idea was then pitched to our panel of judges. The ideas were judged on the following criteria; idea quality
(Victoria Evans, EY), deliverability (Sarah Thomas, LB Hammersmith and Fulham), outcome focus (Chris Widgery, MHCLG), and commercial viability
(Neil Sartorio, EY).
#BeTheOne
Team of volunteer
‘Community Navigators’
who are trained to: triage,
sign-post, be a friendly
face, share community
knowledge and build
trusted relationships
ColourTree App
Mobile app, co-designed with
young people, to allow children
to communicate their emotions
in a safe way. Focus on:
• Developing mindfulness
• Providing access to support
• Allowing children to work
more effectively with
professionals
SITapp
Mobile app designed to
reduce the number of in-
appropriate referrals.The app
would be used by teachers,
police officers, health
practitioners etc. Intelligent
(AI) questions will guide
users through the referral
process. It will also include
training modules and other
support functions
Virtual Circle
Secure and user-centric data
capture tool designed to
ensure the voice of the child is
captured and respected.The
single common assessment can
be accessed by both
professionals and the family
leading to improved outcomes
and trust
Happy Nappies
Preventative solution to
support families that are
typically hard to reach by:
• Providing universal advice
to parents with young
children
• Funding targeted
outreach work through
community groups
“Empowering the
community to support the
community”
Support the delivery of a ‘hub
and spoke’ model, with the hub
facilitating the co-ordination and
development of community
leaders.Aim is to support the
most-vulnerable, particularly
those that are ‘hard to reach’
Student-led independent
support
Service design to connect and
build networks in the
community.The student led
support aims to improve
classroom behaviour and
attainment, reduce demand
for local authority services,
crime rates and NEET rates
of young people

4. Next Steps
London Ventures will be continuing to work with local authorities and other organisations over the coming months. We are interested in
identifying all new and best practice solutions, so please do submit your ideas (in any level of detail) via our interactive ideas platform, HunchBuzz.
Next steps for the LondonVentures programme
London Ventures are using the approach outlined below to refine and build solutions. We will be using the outputs from the hackathon, alongside
other ideas, to form a long list of solutions. We will then test these ideas with our challenge panel (subject matter experts including Chief
Executives and Director’s of Children’s Services, as well as charities and innovators) and refine the concepts based on our criteria: deliverability,
commercial sustainability, outcome focus, and suitability for the London Ventures programme. Once developed, our governance board, Capital
Ambition, will make the final decisions on which ideas will be piloted and launched.
How to get involved
We would love you to get involved to help these solutions become successes.We are looking for…
…local authorities interested in developing, owning and delivering solutions
…investors interested in investing in solutions to London’s major social issues
…businesses and entrepreneurs interested in delivering these exciting new ideas
If you would like to be involved or want more information please get in touch with londonventures@uk.ey.com
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Concept portfolio
Dragons’ Den
Crocodiles DenHackathon
Understand
the problem
Find the
solution
Develop the
solution
Build and
LaunchApproach:
Timelines: Phase 1: Apr 18 – Jun 18 Phase 3: Oct 18 – Feb 19 Phase 4: Mar 19 – …Nov 17 – Mar 18
Initial
engagement &
mobilisation
Engagement
Phase 2: Jul 18 – Sep 18
We are here
Choose a
priority area
Improve
outcomes in
priority area
Support the
delivery of
concepts

5. Thank you for attending!
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