National Coding Week, the week-long event offering adults an insight into digital industries, has returned to Manchester for the second time.
With events planned up and down the country, National Coding Week will give adults an opportunity to learn how to write computer code, potentially opening the door to a new career.
Coding organisations across the UK have joined forces with the wider tech industry to support the initiative and run their own events. Some of the events taking place across Manchester include a Women in Tech event at Barclay’s Escalator, A Rasberry Pi workshop at MMU, and a coding support meet-up which will be held by CodeUp Manchester at Building Blocks.
Manchester’s SpacePortX, the community driven tech co-working space is also proud to be supporting the initiative this year. Vimla Appadoo, from SpacePortx said: “It’s our pleasure to announce that we’re supporting National Coding week in September! It’s a great way of getting adults into coding, and showcases how easy it is to learn and what you can accomplish.
“We want to showcase all the amazing things that learning to code can do, and that it’s totally accessible for everyone. You don’t need to be a super computer whizz kid to learn and we want to show that!”
SpacePortX has worked with hubs across Manchester to arrange the events and showcase what the city’s tech scene has to offer. SpacePortX will be hosting a talk by MCRFred, who will provide an insight into the life of a freelance front-end developer.
Shaun Gibson, Doug Ward and Martin Bryant, co-founded SpacePortX as a way of better aligning the tech and start-up communities, and they recently received government funding to open an eight-storey tech incubator space in the city centre, Forward.
Following the success of its inaugural year, National Coding Week will take place from September 21-27. People from across the UK can join local free-to-attend training sessions where they’ll be taught the basics of coding alongside other beginners with little or no previous knowledge.
Richard Rolfe, co-founder of National Coding Week, said: “I’m thrilled that Manchester’s digital community has pulled out all the stops for 2015! The key aims of National Coding Week are to encourage adults of any age to learn an element of computer coding, to encourage digital experts to share their skills, and to collaborate, share, learn and have fun! No matter what age you are, it’s never too late to code – I learnt age 51!”
Organisations supporting this year’s event elsewhere in the UK include Decoded, Women Who Code, Codeclan and International tech conference organisers Future Insights. The Welsh government and the Mayor of London have also pledged their support to National Coding Week. This year’s event is sponsored by JT Group Global.
