Hyperlocal community organisation.
Inspiration
We were inspired by the community spirit which came to the fore during the early months of the pandemic. In particular we wanted to capture and build on the momentum of the 500,000 volunteers who signed up to the NHS 'GoodSAM responder' app. Whilst the NHS app was centrally organised and lacking in the number and scope of available tasks, Culdesac crowdsources a wide range of tasks directly from the local community.
What it does
Culdesac allows local people to add volunteering tasks which need doing in their local area. These tasks could be anything from picking up shopping for a vulnerable resident, to cleaning up a local park. Tasks must have a location associated with them, and can optionally be time limited. Other app users can then browse through the available tasks in their local area, and volunteer to complete any tasks of their choosing. Before accepting any offer to help, the original poster is able to view the profile of the volunteer to verify their identity and message them if any further information is needed.
How we built it
Culesac uses MapBox API, Laravel, and React.
Challenges we ran into
A major challenge we came across was that of ensuring the safety of our users. The 'GoodSAM' app relies on central verification of each volunteer using 2 form of ID. To make Culdersac, we instead rely on person-to-person verification via Facebook. People can view the mutual friends they may have with a volunteer, in order to gauge trustworthiness.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We were able to follow our guiding principles of safety, simplicity, and community. By linking our service with Facebook, we keep users safe by allowing them to view the identity of potential volunteers before accepting their offer of help. By keeping our product as simple to use as possible, we enable users of all levels of technical experience to get involved with community organisation. To build on the sense of community which emerged last year, we make our service local by verifying the address of volunteers and only displaying tasks local to them.
What we learned
There are additionally challenges to working on a project remotely. We found that slow Internet speeds and a reliance on screen sharing were additionally challenge we had to work with.
What's next for Culdesac
We recognise that the most important factor in the success of an app such as Culdesac is community engagement, therefore marketing is key. In particular we would look to open up the app to those without Facebook accounts, in order to widen participation.
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