west midlands hackathon
On 23rd May 2026, LFG's West Midlands chapter brought together developers, designers, policy thinkers and community builders in Birmingham for a day-long hackathon — building practical tools to tackle the real problems facing people in the region. It was a success.
← back to Agency & ChaptersWhat Happened on the Day
Teams from across the West Midlands gathered at The Exchange in Birmingham to build. Over the course of the day they designed, prototyped and presented tools tackling some of the region's most persistent problems — from fly-tipping to air quality to civic data. The standard was genuinely impressive: the judges had three teams tied for third place.
Every team in the room proved that ordinary people — developers, designers, policy thinkers, first-time builders — can step up and create something real. No permission needed.
Winners: Will, Charlie & Deji — "Ask Ozzy"
The winning team brought Ozzy the Bull to life. Ask Ozzy is an agentic AI with access to all of Birmingham's publicly available data — surfacing the city's problems and the solutions to fix them. Custom dashboards, a chatbot, and a genuinely useful civic tool built in a single day.
"Today we proved that You Can Just Do Stuff."
🏆 WINNERS
— Looking for Growth (@lfg_uk) May 23, 2026
Congratulations to Will, Charlie, and Deji, who designed "Ask Ozzy".
It draws on all publicly available information for Birmingham and summaries the problems and solutions.
Today we proved that You Can Just Do Stuff 🚀 pic.twitter.com/4BAnrpiFnu
Great to win LFG West Mids Hackathon yesterday.
— Will Spensley (@WillSpensley) May 24, 2026
We brought Ozzy the Bull to life.
Ask Ozzy is an agentic AI that has access to all of Birmingham's most important data and he's on a mission to make Birmingham better!
Full access coming very soon... ;) https://t.co/36utvTYRKu pic.twitter.com/MizlnoCEOU
Purpose of the Day
Teams worked across five streams, building prototypes and tools to tackle fixable regional challenges:
- Cleaner Streets — fly-tipping, recycling, littering, graffiti
- Safer Streets — public protection orders, ghost plates, rising crime
- Better Streets — transport, housebuilding, pothole reduction
- Healthier Streets — air pollution, tree coverage, fuel poverty
- Smarter Streets — sensors, innovative construction, civic tech prototypes
Special Thanks
A huge thank you to the West Midlands chapter organisers, Jon and Isaac, whose hard work and dedication made the day possible.
Videos & Photos
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May 24, 2026
"Ask Ozzy" winner Will Spensley reflects on the hackathon — an agentic AI built on Birmingham's city data, coming soon.
Great to win LFG West Mids Hackathon yesterday.
— Will Spensley (@WillSpensley) May 24, 2026
We brought Ozzy the Bull to life.
Ask Ozzy is an agentic AI that has access to all of Birmingham's most important data and he's on a mission to make Birmingham better!
Full access coming very soon... ;) https://t.co/36utvTYRKu pic.twitter.com/MizlnoCEOU
May 23, 2026
Judge's verdict: "Ask Ozzy" — custom dashboards and a chatbot built on Birmingham city data — blew the competition away.
All the participating teams were insane today. I had 3 teams on third place so had to rely on my co-judges!
— Akash 🇬🇧/🇮🇳 (@thewritingdev) May 23, 2026
"Ask Ozzy" was absolutely nuts - custom dashboards and a chatbot built on Birmingham city data.
Definitely want something like that for every city in England! https://t.co/2NQBnQhczl pic.twitter.com/n7FaN9ClUJ
May 23, 2026
Presentations underway at the West Midlands Hackathon.
Presentations are underway! https://t.co/8EAMShjXK5 pic.twitter.com/yqCtOV9xnP
— Looking for Growth (@lfg_uk) May 23, 2026
May 23, 2026
Let the building begin — head down at 4pm to see what's been built at The Exchange, Birmingham.
Let the building begin ⚡️
— Looking for Growth (@lfg_uk) May 23, 2026
Head down at 4pm to see what we've built at @LFG_WM's hackathon!
📍 The Exchange, Birmingham https://t.co/C4coVVRN4t pic.twitter.com/aLcAiGafDD
May 23, 2026
See you soon, Birmingham — the hackathon is underway.
See you soon, Birmingham! pic.twitter.com/chdCmZxcps
— Looking for Growth (@lfg_uk) May 23, 2026
May 16, 2026
One week to go — sign up to help build the future in Birmingham.
One week today. Help us build the future.
— Looking for Growth (@lfg_uk) May 16, 2026
Join us in Birmingham next Saturday to build.
Sign up for free 👇 pic.twitter.com/iNp2SU9s5n
March 18, 2026
LFG West Midlands announces the hackathon — 23rd May, Birmingham.
We're very excited to announce our hackathon on the 23rd of May
— Looking For Growth West Midlands (@LFG_WM) March 18, 2026
👷♀️👷🏽♂️👷🏾👷🏼♀️👷🏽♂️👷🏻♂️👷♂️👷🏼♂️👷🏼 pic.twitter.com/9aX5BlT0la