Delivery organisation: Inclusive Bytes CIC (Oldham)
Event: Electromagnetic Field (EMF Camp) 2026
Location: Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire
Dates: Friday 17 – Sunday 19 July 2026
Status: Completed
Summary
Inclusive Bytes took a group of young people from Oldham to EMF Camp 2026, a national festival of technology, engineering, and making held at Eastnor Castle Deer Park. A GoFundMe campaign raised £650, used to subsidise the young people’s tickets and lower the cost barrier to attending. On site, the group didn’t just attend, they contributed, running rickshaw karaoke and laser tag sessions for the wider EMF community.
The trip put young people from a community-tech background into one of the UK’s largest hands-on tech events, as participants and as contributors, not just spectators.
Who it was for
A group of young people connected to Inclusive Bytes in Oldham. (Add the headcount and age range — e.g. “X young people aged Y–Z”.)
Many young people never get access to an event like EMF, cost, travel, and unfamiliarity keep it out of reach. Subsidising tickets and running it as a supported group trip removed those barriers.
What we did
Attended EMF Camp 2026 as a supported group, three days immersed in talks, installations, workshops, and the wider maker community.
Ran rickshaw karaoke an interactive, crowd-facing session that put the young people in the role of hosts and operators, engaging festival-goers directly.
Ran laser tag sessions organised and delivered by the group, giving them responsibility for running an activity for the public at a national event.
Running two sessions meant the young people arrived as contributors to EMF, not just attendees building confidence, ownership, and something concrete to point to afterwards.
Funding
- GoFundMe raised: £650
- Used for: subsidising young people’s EMF Camp tickets, reducing the individual cost barrier to attending.
Aims
- Give young people from Oldham access to a national tech and maker event.
- Move them from spectators to contributors by running live sessions.
- Build confidence, teamwork, and public-facing delivery skills.
- Remove the cost barrier through community fundraising.
Outcomes
- A group of young people attended EMF Camp 2026, subsidised by £650 of raised funds.
- Daily sessions, rickshaw karaoke and laser tag delivered by the young people for the wider EMF audience.
- Hands-on experience of planning and running public activities at a national event.
Why it worked
Community fundraising covered the barrier that usually stops young people attending. Giving the group two sessions to run turned a day out into a delivery experience responsibility, public interaction, and something real to show for it. It’s a repeatable model: raise a modest subsidy, take a group, have them contribute rather than just attend.