As part of our continued aim to excite the younger generation about careers in digital, Redweb took part in BIMA’s fifth annual Digital Day, joining forces with Bournemouth School for Girls to create digital solutions for modern issues.
Held this year on 15th November, Digital Day is an initiative which takes place across 100 schools around the UK with the aim of getting more young people immersed in the fast-evolving world of digital. It joins up many of the country’s top digital agencies with schools to help students between 13 and 18 years old to become more aware of the UK’s thriving digital industry.
Students in participating schools are faced with three challenges and aided by a top digital agency to find a digitally powered solution. Redweb sent this year’s apprentices and some of their apprenticeship alumni along to help out the students. They were also joined by Tristan White, one of Redweb’s Account Managers, who spoke to the students about how different industries use digital, how this directly impacts on the students’ lives, and the vast number of jobs a career in digital has to offer. Tristan’s presentation also covered the challenges, set this year by Cancer Research UK, Standard Life and TATA Communications.
Cancer Research UK challenged the students to use digital to raise awareness of obesity – a lesser-known cause of cancer. Standard Life set the students the task of designing a fun game based on earning or saving money, using only technology that they had at home or at school. Finally, TATA Communications asked students to use digital for issues related to disadvantaged communities. This included unemployment, poor health or education standards, gender inequality, and poverty. They limited students to three pieces of technology – smartphones, laptops, and drones!
Students presented their ideas to us ‘Dragon’s Den’ style. Following their presentations, Redweb team members selected the winning teams whose ideas were sent to BIMA to be judged against other competitors.
Team Invigorate, made up of Hannah Bennett, Wednesday King, Lauren Jones and Ellie Hayfiel, said, “Redweb’s team were knowledgeable and charismatic with an obvious passion for their work. They were enthusiastic to help us develop our ideas and reach our full potential by encouraging us to think outside the box. This led us to be successful in completing the task to a high standard. Digital Day itself was eye-opening and we learnt a lot about digital, including the professions available. We would love to hear more!”.
Prizes for this year’s overall winners includes Thorpe Park tickets, Vue Cinema tickets, and a cash prize for the winning school’s digital and IT department.
The school’s Deputy Head of Design and Technology James Winrow was really impressed with how the day went. “Digital Day is a really enjoyable way of exposing students to an exciting and growing industry. I think the interactive aspect of the day really helps to promote digital careers and enthuses kids about the kinds of opportunities this modern sector has to offer. Redweb’s staff served as excellent digital ambassadors, offering lots of creative advice while being able to inform students about their experiences, education, and careers in a fun and approachable way.”
Redweb’s CEO Andrew Henning, a BIMA board member, is one of Digital Day’s founder and is a passionate advocate of getting the next generation into digital. As part of Redweb’s mission to inspire students to pursue careers in digital Redweb also founded Digital Wave – an annual interactive conference now entering its 3rd year, which highlights digital career paths to the attending students.
Since its formation in 2012, Digital Day has reached out to several thousand young people, and will hopefully continue to grow and thrive for years to come. Find out more on the Digital Day website.