A group of Horizon CDT students and staff have recently been successful in launching a successful outreach collaboration to empower women through technology and enhance the digital skills of local mums in Nottingham. This was achieved in partnership with #techmums, Top Valley Academy and the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham.
#techmums was founded by Dr Sue Black OBE in order to help mothers improve their IT knowledge, educate their families, return to work after career breaks and even start their own businesses. It has benefited mums across the UK since launching in 2012.
Sue was invited by Horizon CDT students Georgiana Avram and Annie Quandt as an inspirational keynote speaker at a Digital Economy Network funded Women in Leadership event in July 2015, and from this a collaborative working partnership developed, leading to a pilot of #techmums in Nottingham one year later.
You can read Horizon CDT Training Programme Manager Dr Sarah Martindale’s blog which tells the story of how this mutually beneficial outreach opportunity unfolded, leading to the pilot group of mums of pupils from Top Valley Academy in Nottingham completing the #techmums course with the support and backing of the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham.
Top Valley Academy will now be running a second #techmums course at the school in the near future.