Technology was a lifeline for people to stay connected through the pandemic as we adapted to new ways of working and socialising. However, many young people were left isolated when their clubs and activities stopped, with no one to help and inspire them.

Now we are seeing the re-emergence of clubs and local networks to inspire and support people, it’s a good time to kick off conversations about coding clubs in Sheffield again. It would be great to re-establish a city-wide network of clubs to help people stay connected through coding.

Matilda Hind, a dedicated social prescribing worker, got in touch recently as she struggled to find a local club for a young man, whose main interest is computers and coding. She is part of the team at Sheffield Futures and supports young people to find social activities when their health and wellbeing could be better supported by a social, rather than medical intervention.

We contacted Zak Ahmed from Aalfy, the social enterprise that operates the engagement space at 108 The Moor in the city centre, and who used to host CoderDojos before the pandemic hit. Zak was very keen to get them started again and we’re now working together to relaunch them, with the first one as soon as 2nd July, 10am – 12pm.

We were delighted to inform Matilda that the clubs are restarting, and she has since referred a second young person to us and hopefully more will follow.

We now need to get the word out, both to young people and families who would like to attend, and to any coders in our community who would be willing to volunteer to support the young coders on the day!

To register to attend the Coder Dojos at 108 The Moor, please use this link and share it with friends, colleagues and on your social media channels.

Note that these workshops are for 7 to 17 year olds, and under 12s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. For more information about referrals through Sheffield Futures you can find details on their website here.

If you would like to volunteer, please get in touch with Zak at hello@aalfy.org.

We’d also like to get more clubs running across the city of course, including for adults, and have started a conversation on the Sheffield Digital Community Slack in the #codingclubs channel, so get involved there or email us at info@sheffield.digital if you’d like to contribute to that effort.