Things I’ve helped with
I build websites and tools for charities and local groups, and I advise a research team on using AI. I’ve also helped in person at Islington parks events and my local Mind charity shop.
Building for people
Online and open source
I contribute to Namesake, a non-profit that publishes free name change guides and tools for trans people in the U.S. Five of my changes were accepted into its code in my first week, including a fix to the map on its homepage, and I’m now doing some research for the project, which is still in progress.
More on ProgrammingA website for a park group · age 15
I made the website for Friends of St John’s Garden, a local council group that looks after a small green space in Farringdon.
The garden’s website“I was honestly so impressed with Thomas after working on this project with him. Yes, his technical abilities were great, but actually, it was his strategic mindset and communications skills that made this a good project to work on with him.”
With a research team
I have weekly calls with a TB vaccine modelling team at LSHTM about bringing AI into how they build their model.
More belowAdvising
Weekly calls · age 16
A team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine that builds mathematical models of TB vaccines. It’s the team my dad works in, and they asked me.
Weekly calls about bringing AI into how they build the backend of their model: good AI practice, GitHub practice, and how to write prompts.
One example of advice that changed something for the team (100 to 150 words in total for this block).
One sentence.
Hands-on · around Islington
I’ve helped the Islington Council Parks team at the Grow Show, Apple Day and the Spring Festival at Gillespie Park. Knowing everyone who runs these events makes it hard to get away!
At different events I welcomed visitors, made apple juice and catalogued show entries. I’ve also popped up in Islington Life and the Islington Gazette a few times.
I’ve been at Apple Day every autumn since I was about six, and at the Spring Festival every spring since it started, when I was 13. I’ve helped at the Grow Show once so far. Hopefully I will again soon.
Hands-on · in the shop
I also volunteered at my local Mind charity shop. That meant serving people at the till, sorting donations and helping the other volunteers with whatever needed doing.
I did two hours every weekend for six months. Age 15.
Yep, my hair was stupidly long.