> First 30 minute intro call on Friday November 5th
Lorne Mitchell emphasised the urgent need to re-engage young men who feel lost, isolated, or purposeless, and he positioned the Hitchhikers Project as a potential lifeline for this generation. Drawing from personal experience supporting his ADHD/autistic son, he argued that immersive, game-like environments can meaningfully reconnect young men with learning, motivation, and real-world participation in a way traditional education cannot. Lorne pressed the point that the project must move quickly into immersive tech — AI-driven characters, VR worlds, interactive storytelling — rather than staying too long in wiki-based development, because this is the medium young men already inhabit and trust. He encouraged partnerships with major gaming studios (e.g., Call of Duty, GTA) both for funding and for technical reach, noting their appetite for positive social impact initiatives and their experience building massive worlds. He also framed this as a global social crisis, not a niche design issue: millions of young men are drifting, disconnected from purpose, work, and community. For him, the Hitchhikers Project can become a bridge from escapist virtual worlds to real-world skills, relationships, and contribution. Lorne offered to help with: • building UK-based networks, especially in London • connecting with donors and gaming-sector partners • integrating his “moonshot” and “cathedral thinking” initiatives • shaping programming that supports youth engagement • meeting with David Bovill to coordinate next steps He sees the project as a rare chance to combine humour, philosophy, civic imagination, and immersive tech to transform how young people find identity, purpose, and belonging.