Our York Club just got a major upgrade!
The Keeping Digital Foundation, Yorkshire’s leading digital inclusion charitable organisation, are excited to partner with the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust to launch improved free coding clubs in York.
Since 2016, the Keeping Digital Foundation has run free digital making activities in Acomb and Tang Hall, however recently the charitable organisation has been experiencing a reduced number of devices available for young people to use at these sessions. Because of this, the Keeping Digital Foundation have been looking for new venues that will help secure Gwiddle Club York a long-term future.
In partnership with our friends at Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust and building on the success of our New Earswick Digital Cafe, Gwiddle Club York (the new name for York CoderDojo) is moving to Folk Hall in New Earswick! And, with thanks to new funding from the City of York Council to further improve our offering in York, we're investing in new laptops to help enable our digital making activities without the need for an IT suite.
The new space is much more relaxed and more than double the size. It also features a larger car park and has frequent bus connections across the city. Even more exciting, we're improving the frequency of Gwiddle Club York from bi-monthly to fortnightly!
Gwiddle Club York relaunches on 30th September 2024 and will run fortnightly from 4pm-6pm in the Discovery Room at the Folk Hall in New Earswick. Free tickets are already available to book for all of our September and October sessions, and can be booked directly through our Gwiddle website. My Gwiddle, our free account that allows you to book onto our services, also provides you with a wide range of projects which you can work on with your young people at home.
This improvement in our digital making activities is enabling the Keeping Digital Foundation to expand their volunteering opportunities. You can sign up for our volunteering roles that allow you to engage with your local community and learn new skills. Training and support is provided, and people can register their interest to volunteer on the Keeping Digital Foundation website.
Luke Castle, Community Coordinator at the Keeping Digital Foundation commented:
“It's been a long summer holiday and we cannot wait to see you all again in September. We're delighted to be partnering again with our friends at the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust to bring our coding clubs to their Folk Hall venue, bringing these free activities to New Earswick. The decision to move the Gwiddle Club from the south of York to north of York was not easy, however, we believe this will give young people better opportunities to learn to code. When attending, young people are encouraged to bring their own laptops so they can continue to make at home, however we will have a supply of laptops to cater to everyone with thanks to our partners at the City of York Council. Our free coding activities have been running in the city since 2016 and have become increasingly popular since we relaunched post-pandemic. In recent months, our coding clubs have become fully booked hence the need to expand these activities into a bigger venue space. This new venue will give our young people the space to create amazing projects and learn vital skills."
Connor Lambert, Digital Inclusion and Information Accessibility Officer at the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust said: “ We are very excited to be supporting Keeping Digital to launch the Gwiddle Coding Club in its new home at the New Earswick Folk Hall. Clubs like this offer a fantastic opportunity for young children to develop their coding skills in a positive environment. They can focus on the projects they want whilst getting support from the Keeping Digital volunteers. We look forward to watching them grow and what exciting projects come out of it!”
Gwiddle became part of the Keeping Digital Foundation in 2023, aiming to improve access to digital technology and also support young people in Computer Science education. To allow more students to get involved and try coding, the Keeping Digital Foundation are rolling out a network of digital making activities across the country.
This announcement follows the news that local train operator Northern has awarded £2,500 to the Keeping Digital Foundation in York, which will go towards helping young people develop the vital skills required to support careers in STEM fields. Eleven projects across the North of England were picked by Northern to receive a share of £100k with the objective to improve social mobility and target deprived areas. Funding from Northern will go towards the improved frequency of these sessions, and new equipment and systems to improve the digital making activities we provide across the local area.
For more information on Gwiddle Club York, visit gwiddle.club/york.
