Queens Cross Housing Association and Glasgow Kelvin College

This was part of a programme of activity dedicated to developing skills and making extracurricular computing activities available to all young people aged 16 and under, whatever their background and wherever they live in Scotland.

Give local disadvantaged youth the chance to get to grips with computers and coding, and see the opportunities available to those with coding skills.

The project consisted of a series of workshops and experiences, including weekly computing clubs; a Raspberry Pi workshop where pupils used a Pi to set up and install Minecraft; a MAKLab workshop offering hands-on experience of digital design using technologies such as 3D printing and laser cutting; and the chance to gain experience in a real IT department at Queens Cross Housing Association, exploring the practical use of tech for housing and community projects and testing problem-solving skills in a staged IT crisis.

The project involved up to 175 young people aged 9-16 years from disadvantaged areas in North Glasgow.

An important part of the project was promoting the activities to the wider community, allowing the young people to demonstrate the work they had completed to their parents, which in turn led to an understanding of the opportunities that technology and IT offers as a career. No formal evaluation was conducted.