Together we combat social-isolation
Donation protected
Hi, We are Dhruv Garg and Mehul Garg, students of Reading Boys Grammar School and members of Mensa High IQ Society with top marks. We are passionate young boys with an ambition to make a difference in the world around us!
Our recent achievements :
1. Mensa High IQ test was covered widely by National and International newspapers including an invitation to visit BBC London for a radio interview.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wxx52
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5363403/child-genius-smarter-than-einstein/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/nri-achievers/13-year-old-indian-origin-boy-gets-top-score-in-mensa-iq/articleshow/60258247.cms
http://www.india.com/news/agencies/13-yr-old-indian-origin-boy-gets-top-score-in-mensa-iq-2431607/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/teenager-definitely-cleverer-you-gets-11068174
2. Our initiative won / received Community Excellence Award 2018 by Reading School.
3. We have broken the project in multiple phases and monies raised has helped kick-start development of website.
Phase 1 --> Website Development (In progress)
Phase 2 --> Mobile app on Android (Not started)
Phase 3 --> Mobile app on iOS (Not started)
We will continue the website development work while not letting up our efforts to raise funds to realise this noble dream.
Our Inspiration
Recently, we relocated to a new neighbourhood and encountered many crises. Our parents were looking for a local handyman, cleaner, electrician etc, while we were looking forward to making new friends. Furthermore, as a family we just wanted to feel welcomed into the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, none of this happened and settling down was very a stressful time. It's at that time, from this experience, I and my brother discussed and conceived this idea of facilitating neighbours to interact smoothly using modern technology.
What is our proposal?
There’re a plethora of social networks e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram etc to name a few. All these networks aim to connect friends, family, school friends, colleagues, professionals, travellers ...but none to connect neighbours neither online nor in real life.
To plug this gap, we propose our app, a non-profit initiative, to encourage localisation through sharing creative ideas, resources, skills and social activities to get to know those that live closest to us - our neighbours.
What is social isolation?
Friendship or social contact is a lot like food. We need it to survive and prosper. Human beings, as social animals, have fundamental need for inclusion and for close relationships. The upshot is, we function best when this social need is met and we feel confident and motivated to meet the varied challenges of life.
Studies suggest that when people who have had little social interactions, during childhood, are thrust into high-pressured working environments, the change can be too abrupt for some. These people have lower levels of resilience and can often rapidly start feeling very pressurised. When people don't succeed, they feel demoralised and this triggers social isolation that causes depression, obesity, coronary heart disease etc.
A lack of close friends and a dearth of broader social contact generally bring the emotional discomfort or distress known as social–isolation. This has significant impact on the two most vulnerable age groups – children and elderly.
Social–isolation is dramatically affecting the person’s health and their quality of life. Therefore, it is vital that we address this problem decisively using the modern digital technology. I researched the topic and conducted survey locally - spoke to about 100 families. The survey results show that the majority, overwhelmingly, believes that social interaction needs to be improved.
Thus, we propose an idea of creating an app that creates a small closely-knit online community for neighbours.
How we will use the funds?
We plan to use the money we raise to hire developers and UI/UX experts to make the app and conduct further research to identify more features for the app.
Conclusion
This non-profit app has something for everyone. It will make socialising with neighbours a whole lot easier. All users will benefit in some way or another. Everyone in the community will feel a sense of belonging. Neighbours will feel safer knowing who their neighbours are. Young children will find a motive to stop playing computer games, start socialising!
We have received donations from friends and family and are seeking donations from community to continue our dream of building an app to reduce social isolation and help solve a significant societal challenge.
We plan to use the money we raise to hire developers to make the app and conduct further research to identify more features for the app.
Together we will reduce social isolation and make our neighbourhood Happier, Healthier and Cleaner!!
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS CAMPAIGN AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
Thanks for your time!
Our recent achievements :
1. Mensa High IQ test was covered widely by National and International newspapers including an invitation to visit BBC London for a radio interview.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wxx52
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5363403/child-genius-smarter-than-einstein/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/nri-achievers/13-year-old-indian-origin-boy-gets-top-score-in-mensa-iq/articleshow/60258247.cms
http://www.india.com/news/agencies/13-yr-old-indian-origin-boy-gets-top-score-in-mensa-iq-2431607/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/teenager-definitely-cleverer-you-gets-11068174
2. Our initiative won / received Community Excellence Award 2018 by Reading School.
3. We have broken the project in multiple phases and monies raised has helped kick-start development of website.
Phase 1 --> Website Development (In progress)
Phase 2 --> Mobile app on Android (Not started)
Phase 3 --> Mobile app on iOS (Not started)
We will continue the website development work while not letting up our efforts to raise funds to realise this noble dream.
Our Inspiration
Recently, we relocated to a new neighbourhood and encountered many crises. Our parents were looking for a local handyman, cleaner, electrician etc, while we were looking forward to making new friends. Furthermore, as a family we just wanted to feel welcomed into the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, none of this happened and settling down was very a stressful time. It's at that time, from this experience, I and my brother discussed and conceived this idea of facilitating neighbours to interact smoothly using modern technology.
What is our proposal?
There’re a plethora of social networks e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram etc to name a few. All these networks aim to connect friends, family, school friends, colleagues, professionals, travellers ...but none to connect neighbours neither online nor in real life.
To plug this gap, we propose our app, a non-profit initiative, to encourage localisation through sharing creative ideas, resources, skills and social activities to get to know those that live closest to us - our neighbours.
What is social isolation?
Friendship or social contact is a lot like food. We need it to survive and prosper. Human beings, as social animals, have fundamental need for inclusion and for close relationships. The upshot is, we function best when this social need is met and we feel confident and motivated to meet the varied challenges of life.
Studies suggest that when people who have had little social interactions, during childhood, are thrust into high-pressured working environments, the change can be too abrupt for some. These people have lower levels of resilience and can often rapidly start feeling very pressurised. When people don't succeed, they feel demoralised and this triggers social isolation that causes depression, obesity, coronary heart disease etc.
A lack of close friends and a dearth of broader social contact generally bring the emotional discomfort or distress known as social–isolation. This has significant impact on the two most vulnerable age groups – children and elderly.
Social–isolation is dramatically affecting the person’s health and their quality of life. Therefore, it is vital that we address this problem decisively using the modern digital technology. I researched the topic and conducted survey locally - spoke to about 100 families. The survey results show that the majority, overwhelmingly, believes that social interaction needs to be improved.
Thus, we propose an idea of creating an app that creates a small closely-knit online community for neighbours.
How we will use the funds?
We plan to use the money we raise to hire developers and UI/UX experts to make the app and conduct further research to identify more features for the app.
Conclusion
This non-profit app has something for everyone. It will make socialising with neighbours a whole lot easier. All users will benefit in some way or another. Everyone in the community will feel a sense of belonging. Neighbours will feel safer knowing who their neighbours are. Young children will find a motive to stop playing computer games, start socialising!
We have received donations from friends and family and are seeking donations from community to continue our dream of building an app to reduce social isolation and help solve a significant societal challenge.
We plan to use the money we raise to hire developers to make the app and conduct further research to identify more features for the app.
Together we will reduce social isolation and make our neighbourhood Happier, Healthier and Cleaner!!
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS CAMPAIGN AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
Thanks for your time!
Organizer and beneficiary
Dhruv Garg
Organizer
Gaurav Garg
Beneficiary
