BJSS in the Community
Growing Tech Talent
With the digital world becoming more and more integral to daily life, BJSS is helping develop the next generation of IT talent and contributing to a diverse, thriving sector.
Towards A Balanced Tech Sector That Is Filled With Opportunities
We are doing our part by inspiring young people to participate in our industry. Alongside our partners, we are delivering sustainable programmes that support our community development themes for Youth and Technology. By combining financial support with pro-bono commercial and technology expertise, our partners can deliver improved community project outcomes.
In our communities, we are creating new opportunities for future innovators, creative thinkers and problem-solvers, and we are taking positive action towards improving diversity. We engage local grassroot community organisations to deliver sustainable programmes that support our community development themes of Youth and Technology in Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, London, Bristol, and Nottingham.
School children benefitted from the BJSS workshops
Young women introduced to careers in technology
New opportunities for disadvantaged children
Leeds
In partnership with Leeds Libraries, we fund and sponsor a series of events that enable the city’s less advantaged young people to learn about the myriad roles and opportunities in the technology sector.
Our workshops are supported by digital makers from various organisations in Leeds and professionals from BJSS. Participants have full access to library collections and resources for each of the events.
The workshops focus on coding, design, film, wearable tech and more. We have hosted a range of events including Inventions Hacks, digital design workshops and activities exploring how tech can be used to help the environment.
The sponsorship covers young people between the ages of five and 17 years of age.
Manchester
It’s simple – we need more women in Digital and Technology. Through our partnership with Manchester Digital, we are encouraging and preparing more young women for careers in the digital and technology industry.
Having been a key sponsor of the #DigitalHer initiative since its inception, BJSS is now lead headline sponsor.
The initiative works closely with schools across Manchester’s 10 boroughs. Each year it inspires over 1,200 young women to consider a future within digital and technology. The programme demonstrates the breadth of roles and opportunities that exist in our industry and it provides the practical skills and experiences that young women need to make informed choices.
Digital Her is effective because it introduces young women to real role models and mentors from across the Manchester Digital network. In addition to our financial sponsorship of Digital Her, key female role models from BJSS provide mentorship and inspiration through interactive workshops.
The BJSS Manchester graduate team also delivered the Digital Her website. It enables businesses, educators and young people to have a space to find resources, information, news and a live inspiration wall.
Glasgow
In partnership with the Glasgow Science Centre and Digital Skills Education Limited, BJSS supports young people aged between 12 and 14 in areas of Glasgow with lower STEM take-up due to socioeconomic factors.
We do this through a series of digital workshops run over the summer holidays. Participants learn the fundamentals of computer coding and use Agile techniques to quickly build prototypes of their ideas. They learn the importance of testing solutions, and the challenges of combining hardware and software.
BJSS covers the programme cost, in addition to funding transportation and lunch. We also gift a micro:bit to each participant so that they can continue to develop their skills and be inspired to take advantage of free digital education pathways provided by the Scottish Government.
London
BJSS sees robotics as an appealing learning platform for young people. Through a partnership with the London School of Mathematics and Programming, we fund Robotics scholarships for 13 to 17 year old schoolchildren.
We also sponsored and provided pro bono support to the 2019 Robotics Triathlon – an open platform contest that any child aged between 7 and 17 can compete in. Uniquely, the Triathlon placed no constraint on the types of controllers, construction sets or languages that can be used, thereby encouraging deep learning and creativity. At the end of the day, BJSS awarded a variety of awards for nine participants.
Robotics is an exciting subject which lies beyond the current school curriculum. Beneficiaries of the BJSS scholarships are guaranteed places in the 2020 Robotics Triathlon to demonstrate the skills and knowledge they develop.
Bristol
We partner with Engine Shed to deliver a series of Tech Tours for young people between the ages of nine and 13. These Tech Tours inspire young people into considering the technology sector for future careers, and they also raise awareness of the concentration and diversity of roles that are available.
The tours take place monthly for a class of children and include workshops from three Bristol-based businesses including a coding session run by BJSS’ staff. Participants are then given an exclusive tour inside the original railway station opened in 1841 – a famous Bristolian landmark that is not usually accessible to the wider public.
Additionally, to enable opportunities for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds, BJSS covers all costs for transportation and lunch.
Nottingham
We partner with Business in the Community to run a programme of events with local schools from our Nottingham office. The events cater for Years 8-10 and aim to showcase the breath of roles in the IT industry.
A blended team of technical and design BJSSers run interactive and engaging design thinking workshops. The project is an immersive activity that gives participants a taste of the full lifecycle of the design thinking process in a short rapid session. Our technical team then take the students through how this would relate to a project that they are currently working on, and they explore how teams are formed of many different roles.
At the end of the session, groups are given a tour of our offices to showcase what it would be like working in a digital office environment.
Get in touch
We operate offices across the UK, US, Europe, and Australia. With the Queen’s Award for Innovation, our proven track-record of delivery and our agile approach, our clients trust us to solve their most complex technology challenges. Let’s get in touch!