Benchmark Works to Crack the Code for the Next Generation

23rd March 2015

Benchmark Recruit has partnered with national not for profit organisation, Code Club, to host a networking event at the Workstation on Tuesday, 24th March at 6pm to partner volunteers from digital businesses in Sheffield with South Yorkshire schools - educating the next generation about essential coding skills .

Code Club help volunteers with coding knowledge get into schools to run clubs that teach children to code. The clubs are free for children to attend and for schools to host. There are over 2300 clubs across the UK and over 800 schools on the waiting list. With the Club growing within the South Yorkshire region, there are currently 20 schools in Sheffield looking for volunteers, and the event is designed to encourage businesses to sign up to volunteer. -As recruiters in the IT and Digital sector, at Benchmark we recognised the need to educate the next generation and help plug the gaps in the work force, as at the moment the demand outweighs the supply when it comes to candidates. We are finding the digital sector is booming and there just aren't enough candidates. Through working with Code Club this is a great opportunity to let our clients and candidates inspire the next generation, said Louisa Harrison-Walker, Director at Benchmark Recruit. Code Club have won a number of awards along the way including: Talk Talk's 'Digital Heroes' in 2013; the Europa's ('Greatest influence on society') in 2014. Visit http://www.codeclub.org.uk to find out more. What is Code Club? The Code Club help volunteers with coding knowledge get into schools to run clubs that teach children to code. The clubs are free for children to attend and for schools to host. There are over 2,300 clubs across the UK and over 800 schools on the waiting list. How it works Code Club produce projects that teach Scratch, HTML & CSS and Python Volunteers take these materials into their local primary school The clubs run for one hour a week during term time and contain 10 - 15 children A teacher is always there to help run the club The children learn to program by making fun games, animations, websites and applications with expert guidance from a volunteer The outcome Children gain skills that will be useful to them in their future hobbies, schooling and career Children are inspired to pursue programming and other digital making activities in the future Volunteers get a lot out of the experience too - they join a nationwide community of volunteers from industry; they're helping to inspire the next generation and people tell us it's the best thing they've ever done. So, why not get involved? We'd love it if you could join our Benchmark team in supporting this fantastic project please get in touch with any questions you can have and RSVP to ellis@benchmarkrecruit.co.uk if you plan to attend.