This project was created as a final year project, with aims to tackle problems with community involvement.
This project was never fully completed, however if anyone would be interested in being involved to get this completed (or just like the idea), let me know.
The below is taken from the report written for this project. All credentials contained in this project are for use as a visual representation only, none are functional or valid
The aim of this project is to foster a sense of community in a local area through the development of a mobile-friendly web application that allows its users to offer volunteering opportunities to other users, using a token based exchange system for participation.
In the UK, there is a slowly decreasing trend of volunteering participation since 2005 with a 6% drop to 70% in volunteering participation at least once a year and a 3% decline in regular volunteering participation. Of those surveyed, it was found that much of those who had volunteered had done so informally; 60% at least once in a year and 34% regularly volunteering. This compares to formal volunteering 40% and 27% respectively (Cabinet Office, 2016).
Volunteering boosts community happiness, lowers crime and provides a greater life satisfaction to volunteers (The Guardian, 2004) however it is speculated that community spirit is in decline, where one study showed that only 6% of people said that the community spirit was strong in their area and that 51% wouldn’t ask their neighbour for help (Daily Mail, 2011). Some even go as far as saying the death of community is currently happening and blaming social media for replacing communities with ‘virtual communities’ (Huffington Post, 2016); removing the need for social interaction between neighbours.
The problems currently facing local areas and communities have been acknowledged by the previous coalition government under plans for a building a ‘Big Society’. The big society wants “neighbourhoods and communities that form the fabric of so much of our everyday lives – to be bigger and stronger than ever before”. Part of this initiative is to encourage people to actively engage with, and volunteer in, their communities (Cabinet Office , 2010).
Therefore, this project will focus on solving the problems outlined above; to increase community volunteering and re-establish a sense community spirit in a local area. A mobile-friendly web application will be created to facilitate volunteering opportunities in local areas.
- C# (.Net Framework 4.5)
- Entity Framework 6
- SQL Server 2014
- Bootstrap
Cabinet Office, 2016 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-life-survey-2015-to-2016-statistical-analysis
The Guardian, 2004 - https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/sep/20/research.highereducation
Daily Mail, 2011 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067048/Community-spirit-disappeared-70-admitting-dont-know-neighbours-name.html
Huffington Post, 2016 - http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sandi-mann/the-death-of-community_b_9048388.html
Cabinet Office, 2010 - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/78979/building-big-society_0.pdf