Volunteer Shopping Service

Software	HTML/CSS plus server-side language plus DBMS
Covers	Web interface development, database development
Skills Required	Interest in ethics, interest in software development or software management
Challenge	Conceptual ? Technical ? Programming ??

Brief Description

Help get ready for the next pandemic! In the Great Lockdown of 2020, many people needed to stay in to self-isolate or because they were ill, and needed help with their shopping. Some could turn to friends and family. Others were a long way from their loved ones, and needed more organised help.

The aim of this project is to provide the computer support needed by charities, churches, or neighbourhood groups to organise the efforts of volunteers doing shopping for their neighbours. This might be in a lockdown, or it might be used to provide continuing support to people who can't easily do their own shopping.

The core of the project is developing a database system for organising volunteers who actually do the shopping and taking groceries and other items to people's homes (which might or might not be one job), as well as tracking all the people who need shopping done for them. Depending on how the system works, it might or might not record the actual items bought. Ideally the system would be able to track or handle payments, if the people can't or shouldn't hand over money or cheques, so that money doesn't go missing or not get paid.

Variants

While the simplest variant is a system for volunteers doing shopping on an ad hoc basis, another way to tackle the problem is a paid commercial delivery system that enables people to get home deliveries from a wider range of retailers than are able to provide their own home deliveries. This could be run by an independent company, or by a group of small businesses that want to work together to provide a delivery service they can't maintain on their own. A commercial service might need to handle payments a bit differently, and pay staff.

What other needs do people have, when they are locked down or otherwise can't get out, that a charity or local group could organize people to meet?

A similar problem is faced by a charity providing food or goods or services to people who can't pay for them in the normal way, or at all.

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