We're excited to be hosting four young coders during the Festival of Code on 6-12 August, a hack event that's part of the Young Rewired State initiative.

Eduserv is among the 50 regional organisations, large and small, that will play host to local young people, with mentoring help provided by members of our web development team.

Billed as the Digital Olympics, the aims of the event are "to find, foster and challenge the young children and teenagers who are driven to teach themselves how to code. We offer them the support that is missing from schools and colleges by providing mentors, broadening their horizons and introducing them to a network of like-minded peers,” according to founder Emma Mulqueeny.

From Monday to the Friday the centres will welcome kids from their region and challenge them to build digital products: mobile and web, using at least one piece of open government data. At the end of the week everyone piles on coaches, trains and cars to the inspirational Custard Factory in Birmingham, where they will have a night of camping and coding, pizza and camaraderie. On the Saturday afternoon they will show what they have made to an audience of their peers, press, government and industry. Prizes are awarded and lives - hopefully - are changed.

Stephen Butcher, our Chief Executive, comments, “We are delighted to be hosting a group of young coders from Bath and surrounding areas as part of the Festival of Code. As a not-for-profit IT provider, our mission is to improve IT use in the public sector and we rely on talented staff to create innovative solutions. Encouraging young people to get excited about technology and programming is a real privilege. We see it as investing in the future.”

For more details and to apply, please visit www.youngrewiredstate.org.  All children can enter for free as long as they are aged 18 or under and have a rudimentary understanding of programming — although YRS will send out free resources in advance of the week for those who are unsure of their skills. YRS are particularly interested in welcoming more girl-coders.

For enquiries about the Eduserv-hosted event, please contact Jo Bridger.