LFG Builds is a nationwide hackathon series run by Looking for Growth (LFG). We pop up in cities where LFG Chapters are located to energise communities, rally practical problem-solvers, and create solutions that improve their area.
Birmingham and the wider West Midlands helped bring about modern industry. The Lunar Society brought together leading engineers, industrialists and intellectuals during the Midlands Enlightenment. The city built a reputation as the "City of a Thousand Trades" — a dense ecosystem of specialised workshops and suppliers that could design, manufacture, and improve almost anything.
That same build-and-improve DNA is exactly what the West Midlands needs again now, and the region is primed for it.
Too many communities in the West Midlands face a persistent daily delivery gap — the street-level basics (cleanliness, safety, connectivity, local environment, responsiveness) that determine lived experience. The result is visible decline, uneven outcomes between neighbourhoods, and a drag on confidence and civic pride.
The hackathon will focus on region-specific problems. Anyone can apply to join, whether you are a developer or you have never built anything before. Participants will build prototypes and tools that address broad but fixable regional challenges across five build streams:
Fly-tipping, recycling, littering, graffiti
Public protection orders, ghost plates, rising crime
better transport, improved housebuilding, pothole reduction
Air pollution visualisation, tree coverage, fuel poverty
sensors, innovative construction, improved lighting, civic tech prototypes, local insight
Join us on Saturday 23rd May in Birmingham. Whether you're a developer, designer, policy thinker, or just someone who wants to build something that matters — we want you in the room.