Operator O2 has announced that it has created a new crowdfunding platform which 
supports social action ideas by young people. Under its existing Think Big programme, O2 already offers young people a grant of £300 to help kickstart their ideas and run projects which grow and benefit their local communities. If successful under O2’s Think Big programme, participants can receive further funding of up to £2,500, enabling young people who have led a Think Big project to raise further income to support their ideas, and engage with supporters of their projects.
O2 has now joined with hubbub.net, a graduate from the Wayra Academy, to create the new crowdfunding platform dedicated to supporting social action ideas. Hayden Taylor, a Think Big Project leader now working at Hubbub.net noted, “This 
partnership will give another unique layer of support to projects and enable project creators to explore crowd funding as a means for financing projects and ventures. As a Think Big alumni myself and having used a Hubbub platform, I know the power it can have and the opportunities it can bring.” The first two Think Big projects to go live on the site are run by 17-year-old Saeed Atcha, from Bolton, and Deborah Abodunrin, 26, from London. Saeed developed Xplode magazine, a registered charity, which aims to enable young people to reach their potential in Bolton.
According to Mobile Today, Saeed believes that crowdfunding on Hubbub is a means 
of growing the size and scale of the project throughout the Greater Manchester area. “It’ll help us raise the profile of the organization and crowdfund some of our charitable activities – with particular emphasis on training young people with soft skills to enable them to be part of our future workforce,” he shared.
Deborah Abodunrin’s project, SMT4Youths – Social Media Training for Youths – has already been delivered in London. Abodunrin hopes to build stronger relationships with the young people that interact with with her project each day. “We hope by crowdfunding through the Think Big platform, we will be able to gain funding to build an online web portal, which will allow us to extend our relationship and service to SMT4Youths attendees and members,” she explained.