Member Article

Sheffield Firm Support Women’s Programming Workshop

Affecto Recruitment Sponsor Django Girls

Django Girls, a non-profit organisation that empowers and helps women to organise free, one-day programming workshops, is coming to Sheffield this February.

The volunteer-run organisation is holding a one-day session on the 20th February open to 40 women on how to build an application for the first time, using HTML, CSS, Python and Django – with sign up ending Friday January 15th.

Sheffield-based specialist technology recruiter Affecto is sponsoring the initiative in South Yorkshire with the aim of giving more people, particularly women, the opportunity to get involved in building technology and opening the sector up to everyone.

Typically the day will last around eight hours, working with dedicated coaches to mentor groups through individual tasks. There will be an introductory evening event on Friday 19th February followed by the all-day workshop on Saturday 20th February 2016.

Django Girls’ mission is to make technology more approachable by creating simple tools and resources designed with empathy.

The programme was established in July 2014 in Berlin and started by two Olas: Sitarska and Sendecka. Today, it is managed by volunteers such as Samantha Deakin, Pavi Suomela and Claire Gowler, who are running the Sheffield event.

There are 37 programming events running worldwide in the UK in cities such as Sheffield, Oxford and Manchester and worldwide at locations in Poland, New York, Mexico City, Florence, Lagos and many more.

Samantha Deakin who is organising the event, said: “We’re really excited to bring this programme to Sheffield, particularly during a time when Tech North and the Northern Powerhouse is really moving forward and providing more opportunities for people to get involved in the tech sector.

“The programme aims to give women the opportunity to access, free of charge, a provision to gain the skills needed to take the first steps in creating an application and understanding tech – a workshop that will hopefully be the first of many events to get women into tech.

“It’s great to have the support of local businesses such as Affecto, who support the technology sector in the region at all levels of talent.”

Kate Loach, Senior Recruiter at Affecto, working with technology professionals across Yorkshire, Nottingham and Derby, said: “This workshop is not only a great opportunity for women to get hands-on learning, but it’s raising awareness for the sector and what the possibilities are.

“The tech sector is growing exponentially but as a recruiter we can sometimes see a lack of women involved in some areas of technology. Personally as a woman in technology myself, I think programmes such as Django Girls is a key tool to engage more women in technology and open doors for many who haven’t previously had the opportunity or resources to get involved.”

The deadline to sign up to the workshop is Friday 15th January, to do so visit https://djangogirls.org/sheffield/ or contact sheffield@djangogirls.org.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Affecto .