The challenge was to tackle some of the biggest gender equality issues and it proved to be a weekend to remember for the winning team NOYO (Not on Your Own) at the Barking and Dagenham Gender Equality Hackathon.

The event which was held at the Barking Learning Centre (BLC) on 3 and 4 February focused on people of all ages and backgrounds from across London to find innovative solutions to two of the biggest gender issues – employment and safety and it proved to be a major success.

24 people attended and were split into four teams who worked together over two days to brainstorm, design and build a range of exciting solutions.

Two of the teams (Robn and Gemdex) focused on inequalities in employment with Robn designing a system to monitor communications within a company, while Gemdex created a system that allowed potential employees to find out more about an organisation’s equality and diversity policies before applying for jobs.

The third team created Talk to HOL (Helper Online) – a website offering anonymous information and support to people experiencing bullying or abuse, with options of accessing online or face-to-face help.

NOYO just had that edge over the others as they have the potential to create real change and we are excited to see what happens next

The final team created an app for real time reporting of incidents of sexual harassment called NOYO (Not on Your Own) and can be used to alert people locally. The reports show on a map as hotspots and this information can be used by the council and police in service planning and targeting work and resources.

All four teams had to pitch their ideas to a judging panel that included Jemima Olchawski from the Fawcett Society, Karen West-Whylie CEO of the Barking Enterprise Centre and Councillor Sade Bright, Cabinet Member for Equalities and Cohesion. NOYO was announced as the winner.

Councillor Bright said: “It was a difficult choice as all four teams came up with some fantastic ideas, prototypes and their presentations were very impressive.

“But we decided that NOYO just had that edge over the others as they have the potential to create real change and we are excited to see what happens next.

“We are now looking at ways of making NOYO a reality in Barking and Dagenham and will be speaking to partners and potential sponsors, involving the winning team in all stages of the development.”